B Div 3,000m: Nah Yi Xin of Cedar Girls’ leads from start to finish to win in 11:47.50

By Tay Jun Wen/Red Sports

Nah Yi Xin (#149) of Cedar Girls’ coming home first in 11:47.50 in the B Div 3,000m final. Her teammate Edina Tan (#158) was second in 11:53.92 while Tan Yin Lin (#216) of RGS was third in 11:55.04. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Choa Chu Kang Sports Complex, Monday, April 15, 2013 — At the 54th National Inter-School Track and Field Championships, Nah Yi Xin (#149) of Cedar Girls’ Secondary clinched gold in the B Division 3,000 metres final.

Leading from start to finish, Yi Xin won in 11 minutes 47.50 seconds. Her teammate, Edina Tan (#158), was second in 11:53.92. Tan Yin Lin (#216) of Raffles Girls’ School came in third, stopping the clock at 11:55.04.

The record for the 3,000m event was set by Yvonne Lin Cui Wen back in 2006. Then, the Singapore Sports School athlete finished in 10:47.09.

The race was a clear cut one with Yi Xin taking the lead right at the very beginning. Edina was second with Marianne Elizabeth John (#166) of Crescent Girls’ School behind her. With four rounds to go, Yi Xin and Edina started to pull away from Marianne. Raffles’ Yin Lin and Chung Cheng High’s Jillian See were also catching up with the leaders.

With three rounds to go, Marianne started to fall behind, leaving Yin Lin and Jillian to fight it out for third place. However, Yin Lin started to increase her pace and overtook Jillian, thus allowing her to close the gap between her and Edina.

In the final 100m stretch, Yin Lin was just a couple of strides away but Edina’s persistence paid off and she completed the race before Yin Lin could catch up with her.

Upon reviewing her performance today, Yi Xin commented: “I did not expect that I could be able to lead all the way.”

With regards to the dynamics of the race, Edina said: “It was a very competitive race from the start. I’m glad I managed to keep second.”

Looking back, the two Cedar girls admitted that they could have picked up their pace quicker, especially with 500 metres to go.

“Our coach expected us to start sprinting the last 500m,” said Edina, with Yi Xin nodding in agreement.

B Division Girls 3,000m Results
1st Nah Yi Xin (Cedar Girls’ Secondary, #149) — 11:47.50
2nd Tan Yi-Qin Edina (Cedar Girls’ Secondary, #158) — 11:53.92
3rd Tan Yin Lin (Raffles Girls’ School, #216) — 11:55.04
4th Jillian See Shu Xin (Chung Cheng High (Main), #252) — 12:04.61
5th Shervon Goh Yue Qi (Commonwealth Secondary, #325) — 12:19.83
6th Marianne Elizabeth John (Crescent Girls’ School, #166) — 12:25.09
7th Yeo Yue (CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’, #52) — 12:42.25
8th Ho Shuen (CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’, #30) — 12:48.19
9th Koh Jin Lin Eliza (Gan Eng Seng School, #173) — 12:55.22
10th Lok Xin Ying (Cedar Girls’ Secondary, #147) — 12:57.30
11th Collins Chloe Ariana (Methodist Girls’ School, #345) — 12:57.56
12th Nurul Nathasha Bte Azman (Bendemeer Secondary, #101) — 12:58.51
13th Pyone Myat Thwe (Commonweath Secondary, #324) — 13:00.57
14th Melanie Anne Hui Fen Bickham (CHIJ St. Theresa’s Convent, #124) — 13:16.28
15th Chiang Aiting Faye (Raffles Girls’ School, #201) — 13:18.32
16th Cheng Wei Bin (Nan Hua High School, #351) — 13:18.51