Cross Country: Jeevaneesh Soundararajah sets new course record as Hwa Chong end Rafflesian dominance to win first A Div title since 2007

By REDintern Soh Rui Yong

Bedok Reservoir Park, Wednesday, March 23, 2011 — Raffles Institution’s three-year stranglehold on the A Division boys’ championship team title was finally brought to end last Wednesday when Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) conjured up a remarkable 1-7-9-10 finish, scoring a team total of 27 points to help them finish nine points clear of the defending champions.

Reigning A Division 1500m gold-medalist and pre-race favourite Jeevaneesh s/o Soundararajah added the icing on the cake for Hwa Chong when he ran 14 minutes 57.05 seconds on the 4.6km route to obliterate the previous course record of 15:20.86 set by Soh Rui Yong of RI back in 2009. He also crossed a significant benchmark by becoming the first schoolboy to go below 15 minutes for the course.

Jeeva had suffered a bad start to the race, being unfortunate enough to be standing on a loose patch of muddy grass which gave way as he tried to push off at the sound of the gun. Things soon got worse for him as he was then tripped by the runners behind him, but he managed to recover his balance and avoid falling to the ground.

Not to be deterred by this stroke of bad luck, Jeeva quickly switched gears, and swiftly worked his way through the field. He moved into the lead by the 200m mark, with 2010 B Division champion Zachary Ryan Devaraj of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Benjamin Amaldas Samynathan of RI hot on his heels.

Reigning 3000m steeplechase champion Eugene Rodrigo of Victoria Junior College (VJC) and Wilbert Ho, also of RI, were also following in close order, as Jeeva continued to push hard in an attempt to gain a gap on his competitors.

The punishing pace Jeeva was setting soon brought him away from his pursuers, and he approached the only hill of the course with approximately a 70m lead over the chasing pack consisting of Eugene, Benjamin, Zachary, Wilbert, and 2010 B Division runner-up Aldrich Lim of Catholic Junior College.

“My tactic was to start fast and set a quick pace in the early stages of the race, in order to make it difficult for anybody who wished to stick with me,” Jeeva later shared.

Asked if he was afraid of the resulting lactic acid that often plagues runners who run beyond their means too early in a race, Jeeva replied: “I have been practising this tactic, by starting fast and trying to hang on in training sessions. Thus, I knew that I could handle running with lactic in my blood, and would be more prepared both physically and mentally to run in this way as compared to my opponents.”

Jeeva, aware of the huge gap he had over the chasing pack, chose to relax and catch his breath on the way down the hill. He then stepped up the pace again upon reaching the gravel path, “running as fast as (he) could in order to maintain (his) advantage”.

“I was beginning to pay for running so fast early on, but I kept reminding of myself of my target — to go below 15 minutes. With this in mind, I tried my best to ignore the pain and soldiered on.”

The chasing pack had now been strung out, with Benjamin, a former member of the Raffles Guitar Ensemble and running in his first ever cross country nationals, having broken away from the rest and focusing his attention on the tiring leader. Bit by bit, he chipped away at the mega lead that Jeeva had established.

With every step taken, Benjamin made up centimetres on the leader. Slowly but surely, he reeled his opponent in. Jeeva seemed to tire with each stride, the dreaded lactic acid gradually spreading through his body, suffocating every muscle, while the Rafflesian’s confidence grew increasingly as he narrowed the gap first from 100m to 80, then to 60m, as Jeeva reached the metal bridge leading to Temasek Poly.

There was to be no exciting grandstand finish, however, as Jeeva’s lead ultimately proved too massive to be closed down. Despite Benjamin’s brave effort, Jeeva was never caught, and the HCI runner finally ended his agony, crossing the finish line in championship record time, nine seconds clear of Benjamin.

Despite his valiant effort to challenge the race favourite in the second half of the race, Benjamin had to be content with the silver medal. However, the amazing underdog story of the former guitarist, who only traded in his instrument for a pair of running shoes less than a year ago, is one worthy of becoming a Hollywood movie script.

Finishing close behind Benjamin was VJC’s captain Eugene, who also dipped under the old championship record, clocking 15:19.21. He had visibly given the race everything he had, and soon collapsed onto the ground, vomiting and complaining of a severe headache. Thankfully, the medical staff were on hand to escort the exhausted athlete to safety.

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