By REDintern Khairulnizam
Louis Shia on his way to making history. He became the first North Vista athlete to win the C Division cross country title. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Bedok Reservoir, Wednesday, March 27, 2013 — Louis Shia of North Vista Secondary just managed to edge out Isaac Tan of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) by 1.47 seconds to win the C Division gold at the 54th National Schools Cross Country Championships.
This is the first time that a North Vista athlete has won the C Division cross country title. Louis clocked 15 minutes and 58.07 seconds* for the 3.6-kilometre route while Isaac was second in 15:59.54. Ierhan Raushan of Singapore Sports School finished third in 16:13.04.
Louis, who dominated at the SAA Cross Country Meet earlier in January, described his race as special.
“It’s a special race for me because during this particular race last year, I came in 51st!” said Louis.
Louis took the lead at the 500m mark and held it until the finishing line.
“I had a few difficulties, like pains in my legs and knees especially towards the end, but I just pushed on,” he added.
Isaac kept pace with Louis until the halfway point before the latter slowly started to pull away with the lead.
“It was good up until the last part. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t sprint to catch up with Louis,” said Issac, adding that the heat also affected him slightly.
Ierhan Raushan of Sports School, who finished third, was also in the lead pack. Ierhan broke away right after the flag off and attempted to keep pace with Louis. His strategy worked well for the first 2,000m, but the latter soon left him behind. Ierhan tried to snatch the second place spot in the final sprint but eventually finished 10m behind.
“It was quite tiring, but I’m satisfied with the race,” said Ierhan.
The top three runners will be taking part in the upcoming National Schools Track and Field Championships.
“I’m looking to break my personal best time of 4:38 and hopefully I can do it this year in the nationals,” said Louis, who will be competing in the 1,500 metres.
For Ierhan, his aim is to win his events.
“I’ll be taking part in the National Schools Track and Field too, and my aim is to try to win the 1,500m and 3,000m event,” he said.
Isaac is planning to run in the 1,500m and 3,000m races.
“My aim will be a podium finish at least for both races,” Isaac said with a smile.
In the team event, ACS(I) came out on top with 35 points to win their schools first-ever team title. Their team, anchored by Isaac who came in second, was made up of Gideon Phong (4th), Habib Nur (12th) and Neal Kok (17th).
Hwa Chong Institution were second with 64 points. Their team was made up of Hu Hua Xin (8th), Er Wen Han (9th), Seah Kia Luck (13th) and James Mah (34th).
Raffles Institution were third with 71 points based on the foursome of Aaron Chan (10th), Chadalavada Abhijit (18th), Jacques Liao (21st) and Ashton Tan (22nd).
*Based on interviews with the top runners and their coaches, the official timings are 3:30 more than actual race times for the C Division boys. All timings reported in this article are based on the officially published timings available at schoolsports.sg.
C Division Individual Results (Top 20)*
1st Louis Shia (#5232, North Vista) —15:58.07
2nd Isaac Tan (#5006, Anglo-Chinese School Independent) — 15:59.54
3rd Ierhan Muhd Raushan (#5305, Singapore Sports School) — 16:13.04
4th Gideon Phong (#5008, Anglo-Chinese School Independent) — 16:20.20
5th Isaiah Boh (#5087, Catholic High School) — 16:34.71
6th Brandon Quek (#5098, Commonwealth) — 16:37.32
7th Ayden Mohan (#5285, St Joseph’s Institution) — 16:38.38
8th Hu Hua Xin (#5133, Hwa Chong Institution) — 16:39.34
9th Er Wen Han (#5130, Hwa Chong Institution) — 16:41.10
10th Aaron Chan (#5275, Raffles Institution) —16:45.13
11th Aaron Shane Tan (#5307, Singapore Sports School) —16:47.00
12th Habib Nur (#5004, Anglo-Chinese School Independent) —16:49.17
13th Seah Kia Luck (#5134, Hwa Chong Institution) — 16:50.84
14th Marcus Ong (#5212, Nan Hua High) — 16:51.28
15th Andrew Chan (#5283, St Joseph’s Institution) — 16:51.82
16th Ezra Goh (#5081, Catholic High) — 16:54.07
17th Neal Kok (#5005, Anglo-Chinese School Independent) — 16:55.46
18th Chadalavada Abhijit (#5270, Raffles Institution) — 16:55.92
19th Lie Jia Jiang (#5243, Outram) — 17:00.34
20th Diniy Alfian (#5093, Commonwealth) — 17:00.61
C Division Team Results (Top 4)
1st Anglo Chinese School (Independent) – 35 pts
2nd Isaac Tan (#5006) — 15:59.54
4th Gideon Phong (#5008) — 16:20.20
12th Habib Nur (#5004) —16:49.17
17th Neal Kok (#5005) — 16:55.16
2nd Hwa Chong Institution – 64 pts
8th Hu Hua Xin (#5133) — 16:39.34
9th Er Wen Han (#5130) — 16:41.10
13th Seah Kia Luck (#5134) — 16:50.84
34th James Mah (#5132) — 17:24.29
3rd Raffles Institution – 71 pts
10th Aaron Chan (#5275) — 16:45.13
18th Chadalavada Abhijit (#5270) — 16:55.92
21st Jacques Liao (#5272) — 17:02.81
22nd Ashton Tan (#5269) — 17:04.76
4th Catholic High – 88 pts
5th Isaiah Boh (#5087, Catholic High School) — 16:34.71
16th Ezra Goh (#5081) — 16:54.07
31st Dylan Tay (#5085) — 17:18.27
36th Vincent Chua (#5083) — 17:25.81
Complete Individual C Boys Results
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[…] Division boys also run 3.6km. Louis Shia of North Vista Secondary was the 2013 winner with a time of […]