Story and pictures by Les Tan/Red Sports
The Nanyang Primary track and field team with their sweep of trophies. They won four out of eight divisional titles. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Wednesday, July 22, 2009 – Nanyang Primary School won four out of eight divisional titles at the 50th Inter-Primary Track and Field Championship.
Nanyang Primary won the B-Boys divisional titles and swept the B, C and D-Girls divisional titles by big margins.
18 records fell during the course of the championships which saw triple jump removed for the first time this year because organisers said that research has shown the discipline was suitable only for older youth.
Last year, the 800m and 400m events were replaced by the 600m and 300m races respectively for the same reason.
Preparations for this year’s championships were also affected by the H1N1 virus with schools suspending training for up to one month in the lead up to the event.
Event Stats
89 schools took part
1378 boys
995 girls
13 new records set
Joe David Trophy winner: Kang Yee Cher
Divisional Rankings
A-Boys
Marsiling Pri – 54 points
Sembawang Pri – 32
Pioneer Pri – 29
Juying Pri – 25
B-Boys
Nanyang Pri – 79
Temasek Pri – 57
St Stephen’s – 33
St. Joseph’s Institution – 30
C-Boys
Fuhua Pri – 46 (first by virtue of four 1st-place finishes)
St Stephen’s – 46
Gongshang Pri – 32
Greenwood Pri – 31
D-Boys
Temasek Pri – 60
Canberra Pri – 25
Nanyang Pri – 22
St Stephen’s – 21
A-Girls
Balestier Hill Pri – 89
Anderson Pri – 35
Sembawang Pri -34
Fuhua Pri – 25
B-Girls
Nanyang Pri – 86
Canberra Pri – 49
CHIJ St Nicholas – 35
CHIJ Katong Pri – 31
C-Girls
Nanyang Pri – 51
Gongshang Pri – 37
Temasek Pri – 27
Pei Hwa Pres. Pri – 27
D-Girls
Nanyang Pri – 67
Red Swastika – 31
Gongshang Pri – 29
Balestier Hill Pri – 25
Esther Lim of Nanyang Primary cleared 1.13m to win the High Jump D-Girls event. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Hoong En Qi of Nanyang Primary powers home in 2min 6.74sec in the 600m D-Girls race. Celeste Goh of Canberra Primary follows her in 2min 8.24sec while Corrie Teo of Pioneer Primary is third in 2min 9.54sec. (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Megan Ang (#273) of Nanyang Primary set a new record of 14.56sec in the 100m D-Girls sprint. Roslinda Bte Hussin (#132) of Balestier Hill Primary finished second in 14.81sec. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Megan broke the old record of 14.65sec set in 2000 by Balpreet Kaur Purba who was then in Paya Lebar MGS (Primary). Balpreet is a current national athlete. (Photo 5 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Carys Hor (#271) of Nanyang Primary leads from the front in the 600m B-Girls race and eventually wins in a new record time of 1min 46.67sec. Rachel Lum (#166, dark blue) of Katong Convent was second in 1min 53.59sec. Carys broke her own record of 1min 50.41sec set in the heats. (Photo 6 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
4x100m relay D-Boys anchor runner Ryan Ng of Nanyang Primary finished second to Temasek Primary with a time of 59.53sec. Temasek Pri were first in 59.28sec while Gongshang were third in 59.86sec. (Photo 7 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Megan Ang of Nanyang Primary is a face of determination as she sprints for the finish line. Nanyang Primary won the 4x100m D-Girls relay in a time of 1min 0.84sec. (Photo 8 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Karin Wong, the anchor runner of the 4x100m B-Girls team from Nanyang on the way to the finish line. Her team won the race in 55.22sec, beating Canberra Primary into second place. (Photo 9 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
“On your marks…” Ng Kee Hsien, the first runner of the Nanyang 4x100m B-Boys relay team, gets ready to go. (Photo 10 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Samuel Chin, the anchor runner for the Nanyang Primary 4x100m B-Boys relay team, on his way to a record-breaking 50.70s finish and a gold medal. Temasek Primary (in orange) finished second in 51.34sec. The old record of 50.99sec was set by Canberra Primary in 2004. (Photo 11 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
@Josie. Wat is ur name? I’m frm pei hwa too.
Thanks, Ellie.
I’ve updated the captions with their names.
the 4th runner of the 4x100m B-Girls is Karin Wong, the first runner of the 4x100m B-Boys is Ng Kee Hsien and the last runner is Samuel Chin. The last runner for the 4x100m D-Boys is Ryan Ng
Great pictures and great reporting. Thanks Les, for capturing those memorable events. Hope you will keep up the great work.To me the 50th addition of this inter-prmary track and field will always be remembered for 3 things. (1)My daughter’s first school athletics ( btw, you got a great shot of her and it is posted in your article) and (2)The H1N1 scare and the over-cautious measures taken.
Oh yes, I did mention there were 3 things about the inter-primary I will never forget. Well…I guess everyone will agree with me…we will probably always remember ice Milo on a hot afternoon. Three cheers for the Milo delivery van uncle…hip hip hooray…….
@Chris: Thanks for your kind words and congrats on your daughter taking part. I hope she enjoyed the experience.
And yes, the Milo van – three cheers!
Nanyang primary so pro im frm Pei Hwa Primary c-girls my division got 4th and i won in 4 by 100 m. Every other schools r jealous that nanyang won so many.
Yvonne, you are under the bizarre illusion that Red Sports owes you something. It does not. Instead of expending your energy on that uniquely Singapore habit of complaining, why not be more positive and submit a story about the swimming championship?
If I may paraphrase – “This is your own backyard. Not a peep about the meet from you. I am very disappointed.”
@yvonne: Red Sports is a reader-generated, volunteer-driven site. You send it, we post it.
There are no full-time Red Sports reporters.
If you wish to write a story about the inter-primary swimming championships, please do so and we’ll happily post it up for you.
I take care of this site and have to do other things to bring in the money so that this site can be free for readers.
No volunteer is in Rome, obviously. There’s something called the internet.
Whatever happened to coverage of Inter-Primary Swimming Championships? RedSports reporters too busy at the World Swimming Championships in Rome? This happened in our own backyard – the Singapore Sports School – last week. Not a peep about the meet. I am very disappointed…