A Div 400m Hurdles: Clarice Mak of Victoria Junior College comes from behind to win gold in 68.30s

By Tay Jun Wen/Red Sports. Additional reporting by Romaine Soh/Red Sports.

Clarice Mak (#135, left) of VJC won the A Div 400m hurdles final in 1:08.30. Shannon Chan (#125, second from right), also of VJC, overtook Windy Tay (#177) of ACJC to finish 1:10.29. Windy followed just 0.10s later in third. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Choa Chu Kang Sports Complex, Monday, April 15, 2013 — Clarice Mak of Victoria Junior College (VJC) emerged victorious in the A Division girls’ 400 metres hurdles final, clocking a time of 1 minute 8 seconds at the 54th National Schools Track and Field Championships.

Her VJC teammate, Shannon Chan, was second with a time of 1:10.29, just 0.1s ahead of Anglo-Chinese Junior College’s Windy Tay, who clocked 1:10.39.

The record for this event is 1:06.42, set in 2002 by Mirian Lee Chang Yi, then of National Junior College.

Windy, the 400m silver medallist, charged into the lead from the start, with both Clarice and Shannon close behind. All was well until Windy clipped the final hurdle, making her lose momentum. Both Victorians capitalised on this hiccup to sprint ahead to the top two positions.

“I was just aiming to be in the top three, but never did I imagine that I would clinch the gold. I was shocked yet excited when I clocked a new personal best!” Clarice exclaimed.

“I feel very happy to have come this far, to win the gold. I was very nervous going into the race as many of my competitors have had years of experience, whilst this was only my fourth hurdle competition. However, I am more confident in the 400m hurdles as that is where my passion lies. I like the feeling of being able to glide in the air and attacking the hurdles.”

“Next year, I would like to further explore my passion in hurdles, and take on the 100m hurdles!” Clarice added.

A Division Girls’ 400m Hurdles Results
1st Mak Keqing Clarice (Victoria Junior College, #135) — 01:08.30
2nd Chan Wan Ting Shannon (Victoria Junior College, #125) — 01:10.29
3rd Windy Tay Si Min (Anglo-Chinese Junior College, #177) — 01:10.39
4th Lim Jayne (Victoria Junior College, #134) — 01:11.05
5th Magdalene Ho Yan Yoong (Hwa Chong Institution, #190) — 01:11.79
6th Jessica Tan Shu En (Raffles Institution, #86) — 01:12.16
7th Sim Yi Shien (National Junior College, #69) — 01:13.32