Favourites find differing fortunes in girls’ hurdles at inter-school track and field

Story by Erwin Wong/Red Sports. Photos by Marvin Lowe/Red Sports

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Friday, April 9, 2010 - The three girls' hurdles finals in the morning session of the sixth day of the 51st National Schools Track and Field Championships had an overwhelming favourite in each race.

As it turned out, the three finished with contrasting outcomes.

Katong Convent's Jannah Wong has been undefeated in the 80 metres Hurdles since 2008 when she made clearing the obstacles an art form with her rare three-step technique during the inter-primary championships. She won last year's C Division race as a Secondary One student and was bidding to do the double this year, a feat only achieved once in the past 25 years.

Jannah was the odds-on favourite, having already broken Goh Wei Ning's 2008 record of 12.52 seconds with her 12.44 performance in the heats. She had gone even faster in the National Junior Championships last month when she clocked 12.37, and another top-notch showing was on the cards.

She was the quickest off the blocks, held her lead from gun to tape and won handily by nearly half a second from Sports School's Jermaine Liang, but stopped the clock at 12.48 seconds, just off her day-old record.

The B Division 100 metres Hurdles race was next and Wei Ning, like Jannah, had also broken the championship record in the heats. The Sports School student had bettered Inez Leong's record of 15.14 seconds set last year with her personal best of 15.00.

This was the fourth time this year alone that Wei Ning had bettered Inez's mark, which was then a National Under-17 record, and all eyes were on her to venture into sub-15 seconds territory.

Wei Ning surged into the lead and was cruising home towards another fast time, but tragedy struck at the seventh hurdle when she seemed to have brushed her leg against it as she glided over. Her rhythm completely thrown off, she cleared the next two hurdles in unconvincing fashion, and her record-breaking attempt finally came crashing to a halt when Wei Ning was unable to get over the final one.

She pushed past that last hurdle with her hands and walked across the finish line, before squatting down in abject disappointment. Wei Ning was officially listed in the results as being disqualified, while Jessica Tan from St Nicholas Girls' School claimed the gold in a time of 15.60 seconds.

2009 Asian Youth Games bronze medalist Inez, who battled Wei Ning long and hard last year for the AYG spot, had watched the proceedings of that race from her starting blocks as she prepared for her own A Division final, and was sympathetic of her fellow athlete's plight.

"I think it's quite sad. She's quite talented, and she trains very hard, so it was quite a waste," said the first year Raffles Institution student.

Nevertheless, Inez had her own race to focus on, which she did and won eventually. Her time of 15.03 seconds bettered Amanda Tan's championship record of 15.47 set in 2008.

Fellow Rafflesian Cheryl Lie was second in 15.88 seconds while Hwa Chong's Sarah Lee was a hundredth of a second behind to claim her third consecutive bronze in the event. It was the first time ever in the schools' track and field history that three athletes have gone below 16 seconds in the girls' A Division 100m Hurdles.

80m Hurdles C Division Girls’ Results
[Record: Jannah Wong (CHIJ Katong Convent, 2010) – 12.44]

1st Jannah Wong (CHIJ Katong Convent) – 12.48
2nd Jermaine Liang (Singapore Sports School) – 12.96
3rd Naomi Louis Tan (Nanyang Girls’ High School) – 13.10

100m Hurdles B Division Girls’ Results
[Record: Goh Wei Ning (Singapore Sports School, 2010) – 15.00]

1st Jessica Tan (CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School) – 15.60
2nd Pan Shi Yu (Singapore Sports School) – 16.56
3rd Meaghan Chan (Cedar Girls’ Secondary School) – 16.63

100m Hurdles A Division Girls’ Results
[Record: Amanda Tan (Hwa Chong Institution, 2008) – 15.47]

1st Inez Leong (Raffles Institution) – 15.03 (New Record)
2nd Cheryl Lie (Raffles Institution) – 15.88
3rd Sarah Lee (Hwa Chong Institution) – 15.89