A Div 1500m (Girls): Nah Yi Xin of RI overtakes in last 50m to take gold in 5:08.33

Story by Nicole Lum/Red Sports. Photos by Lee Jian Wei and Clara Yuan/Red Sports

Nah Yi Xin (#92) of Raffles Institution in action alongside teammate Natalie Soh (#99). The Raffles Institution duo clinched the gold and silver medals with a time of 5 minutes 8.33 seconds and 5 minutes 8.63 seconds respectively. (Photo 1 © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)

Bukit Gombak Stadium, Thursday, April 16, 2015 — An exciting end to the A Division girls’ 1500m at the 56th National Inter-School Track and Field Championships saw Nah Yi Xin of Raffles Institution (RI) overtake in the last 50m to bring the gold home. Her winning time was 5 minutes and 8.33 seconds.

The race started with a demanding pace set by Nicole Low of Victoria Junior College (VJC). This gave her a widening lead while Yi Xin and fellow teammate Natalie Soh followed behind.

However, Nicole, who is this year’s cross country and 3000m champion, faded towards the end of the race. She could not hold on when the two RI runners displayed their late burst of speed in the last 50m, with Yi Xin pipping Natalie by 0.3 seconds at the finish line.

Silver thus went to Natalie with 5:08.63 and Nicole, who ran 5:10.33, settled for bronze.

Both Yi Xin and Natalie were surprised at the outcome.

“I have been experiencing back pain so I wasn’t expecting it,” said Yi Xin, who was the champion in last year’s B Division girls’ 1500m and fourth in the recently concluded 56th National Inter-School Cross Country Championships.

“I always speed up in the last 200m,” she explained, when asked about her final surge.

“Our training, which is very mentally challenging, helped as it gave us the ability to do so,” said Natalie, who agreed with Yi Xin.

As for Natalie, she expressed that it was a good race. “I wanted to do my best by keeping close to the front,” explained the bronze medalist of this year’s National Inter-School Cross Country Championships.

On the other hand, there was disappointment for VJC’s Nicole Low. “It was a tough fight and I didn’t expect anyone to come up behind me. But I did give my best and achieved a personal best. I hope to work towards it,” she said.

“It was a good performance (for the two RI winners), and I want to congratulate them on that,” she concluded.

Defending champion Carys Hor from Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) failed to regain her crown and finished sixth. Before this event, she had been winning the 1500m for five years straight. However, she expected the result. “I think I did well, despite not being on form,” she explained.

Likewise, she thought that her competitors did well, and lauded them for their effort.

The electronically-timed record stands at 4:54.02, set by Jurong Junior College alumna Rahmah Begum in 1999, while the hand-timed record is 4:53.70, set by Zhang Cuiying, then of Raffles Junior College in 1991.

A Division 1500m (Girls) Results
1st: Nah Yi Xin (#92, Raffles Institution) – 5:08.33
2nd: Soh Hann, Natalie (#99, Raffles Institution) – 5:08.63
3rd: Nicole Low Sui Xuan (#133, Victoria Junior College) – 5:10.33
4th: Lok Xin Ying (#130, Victoria Junior College) – 5:20.22
5th: Lin Yuxin, Kathleen (#193, Hwa Chong Institution) – 5:26.96
6th: Hor Kar Yin Carys (#184, Hwa Chong Institution) – 5:28.73
7th: Pyone Myat Thwe (#137, Victoria Junior College) – 5:29.87
8th: Liu Yujia (#157, Anglo-Chinese Junior College) – 5:34.31
9th: Lai Zi Qing, Valarie (#85, Raffles Institution) – 5:43.81
10th: Awe Wan Qi, Valencia (#59, National Junior College) – 5:44.65

More photos next page