Zachary Devaraj and T. Haarishankar to face off at National Inter-School Cross-Country Championships

By REDintern Soh Rui Yong

Zachary Devaraj and T Haarishankar are the kings of B Division boys middle-distance and long-distance running and have won numerous awards and medals between them. Come 24th March, 2010, they will cross swords at the 2010 National Inter-School Cross-Country Championships.

At barely 16 years of age, both have already become familiar names in the local athletics fraternity with their differing attributes.

Zachary often controls the race in the early stages, and uses a devastating finishing kick over the closing stretch of a race to leave opponents trailing in his wake. Shankar, on the other hand, seldom allows the pace to lag, and relies on sustained, even pace running to drain the energy of fellow competitors as they attempt to keep up with his punishing pace.

Zachary possesses a muscular, defined upper body, sculptured from months of core muscle training, giving him superior power and speed over his peers.

Shankar stands at 1.75m and weighs no more than 50kg, with week after week of long runs and endurance training having trained his body to carry no more weight than necessary.

Zachary dons the traditional blue of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), while Shankar competes in the fierce red of the Singapore Sports School.

Despite their numerous differences and contrasts, Zach and Shankar do share one goal in common – winning the highly coveted B Division boys crown at the upcoming National Inter-School Cross-Country Championships.

The National Inter-School Cross-Country Championships is one of the most popular events in the school sports calendar, with the best endurance athletes from schools all around Singapore coming together to pit their stamina, speed, tactics and mental fortitude against one another.

This year's edition will feature a clash of titans between Zach and Shankar, two immensely talented athletes who have been doing their school and country proud ever since their rise to prominence in 2008.

Redemption
Adding to the spice of this already mouth-watering clash is the chance for redemption. Both Zach and Shankar disappointed in their first B Division outing in 2009, with Shankar finishing only 14th despite starting as a pre-race favourite and Zach dropping off towards the end of the race, exhausted and disillusioned.

The double shock allowed Sumanthiran Selvarajoo of SJI to score an amazing upset victory, which not many, apart from his teammates and coaches, had predicted. Both athletes were visibly disappointed with their performances, and have been waiting for almost a year for a chance at redemption.

Crossing swords
This year's cross country finals will be the fourth time Zach and Shankar have raced head-to-head at the national schools level.

Their first clash came in the 2008 cross country final, when Shankar pulled away from Zach to win by a comfortable 30-second margin over a 4.1km course at the scenic Botanic Gardens. Spectators present on that day will remember the memorable sight of Shankar waving his arms and blowing kisses to the crowd along the final straight, with no other competitor in sight even as he crossed the finish line.

Zach however, exacted revenge just three months later in the National School Track and Field 1500m final, using his superior speed to his advantage in the shorter event. He defeated Shankar by seven seconds, (4:23 to 4:30) an eternity in middle-distance running, and narrowly missed the championship record of 4:21.37, set by Kannan Poobalan of Victoria School in 1997.

Since the disappointing cross country final for both athletes in 2009 however, the duo have not met in a national school race, with them going separate ways in the 2009 National School Track and Field Championships.

Zach was entered for the 800m and 1500m, in which he used his trademark finishing drive to win gold in both races.

Shankar also had an enjoyable championships, and demonstrated his new-found tactical nerve, pulling away midway and outlasting his opponents in the longer events, the 2000m steeplechase and the 3000m.

Making these victories all the more admirable is the fact that both athletes were only 15, studying in Secondary 3 at the time, and faced older competitors from the Secondary 4 and 5 levels.

Having seen off competition from their seniors, Zach and Shankar now turn their attention to each other in this year's cross country finals. One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out it should be one heck of a race.

Dark horses
Of course, with over 300 runners taking to the field, the battle for the title will by no means be a two-horse race. An appealing aspect of the cross country finals is its unpredictability, as Zach and Shankar will testify. With competitors not only having to battle each other, but also the challenging terrain and suffocating heat, many surprises lie in wait.

The surprise package this year may come in the form of Aldrich Lim of Naval Base Secondary. Aldrich has never before competed at the National Schools' level, as his school does not have a cross country team. However, he sprung into the spotlight this year, first winning the national U-17 title at the 2010 Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) Cross Country Championships, before following that up with another victory at the Wings Cross Country Championships, also in the U-17 age group.

With him enjoying a rich vein of form, Aldrich will surely be gunning to cap off his remarkable debut season with the B Division National Schools crown.

Ruben Galen Demetrius of Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School capitalised on the mistakes of many favourites to bag the silver medal in last year's championships, losing the gold to Sumanthiran by just 0.06 seconds.

Ruben has indeed shown that he can perform in the toughest of conditions, even when many others falter, and will surely be aiming to score another upset. Also, it was neither Zach nor Shankar who was the top secondary three runner at the 2009 cross-country finals, but Benjamin Leong of Raffles Institution (in 5th place). Benjamin has been a consistent performer throughout the years and may spring a surprise.

These are just three of the many notable dark horses that lie in wait for their opportunity, and if past results are anything to go by, any one of them could well have their day.

Verdict
Past credentials would suggest that Zach and Shankar have the upper hand over the rest of the field, but as a former cross country runner and having competed in all six editions of the cross country championships during his time in secondary school and junior college, this writer has this piece of advice to offer to all competitors: The winner on the day is often not he who has won the most gold medals, but he who manages to turn in the best performance on the day itself. As Rocky Balboa says, "it ain't over till it's over".

So, with all that being said, come down to Bedok Reservoir on the 24th of March to witness our best school athletes in action, and find out who manages to claim the B Division boys crown!

Shankar? Zach? Aldrich? Ruben perhaps? How about Benjamin? Until the first boy crosses the tape, we can only wonder.

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