Story by REDintern Denise Chia. Photos by Les Tan and Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports

a div girls 2000m steeplechase

Vanessa Lee (#155, VJC) smashed her own record to win gold in a time of 7:38.16. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Bishan Stadium, Monday, April 25, 2016 — Vanessa Lee of Victoria Junior College (VJC) smashed her own A Division 2000m Steeplechase record by more than 21 seconds with a timing of 7 minutes 38.16 seconds despite the heat at the 57th National Schools Track and Field Championships.

Her previous record, which was set last year, stood at 8:00.94 minutes.

Teammate Nicole Low also broke the old record with a time of 7:56.82 despite running the steeplechase event for the first time. Faye Chiang (#71, RI) finished third in 8:25.16.

Vanessa took the lead from the start, creating a 20m lead within the first lap and clearing the steeples with ease. Faye Chiang of Raffles Institution (RI) and Nicole also pulled away from the main pack of runners, quickly establishing themselves as the stronger competitors of the race.

Nicole then broke away from Faye with three laps remaining. By the end of the fourth lap, the first three runners were stretched out over 50m, with Vanessa pushing hard to break her record.

Vanessa threw her hands in the air in triumph as she crossed the finish line with a new record time following a superb finishing kick.

When asked how she felt about her new record time, Vanessa said, “I didn’t hit my target of 7 minutes and 30 seconds but it’s okay.”

“We didn’t really have much strategy going in for the race; we both (Nicole and I) just knew we had to do well for the team for the points.”

Nicole’s effort in the race was equally impressive as it was her first time trying the water jump and the full course steeple race.

“My shoelaces came off!” laughed Nicole. “My right shoelace came off in the second round and the left shoelace came off in the second last round. But nobody noticed.”

“According to our plan, Vanessa would break the record and I would secure second place. I know my steeple techniques aren’t very good so I was counting on my stamina to make up for my lack of technique and was just hoping my shoelaces wouldn’t come off. I didn’t think they would!”

A Division 2000m Steeplechase (Girls) Results (Top 10)
1st Vanessa Lee Ying Zhuang (#155, Victoria Junior College) — 07:38.16 (N.R.)
2nd Nicole Low Sui Xuan (#147, Victoria Junior College) — 07:56.82 (N.R.)
3rd Chiang Aiting, Faye (#71, Raffles Institution) — 08:25.16
4th Hor Wai Yin Dilys (#200, Hwa Chong Institution) — 08:53.45
5th Shi Peng Yi (#209, Hwa Chong Institution) — 08:58.86
6th Lau Jia En, Ashley (#55, National Junior College) — 09:09.41
7th Pyone Myat Thwe (#149, Victoria Junior College) — 09:10.42
8th Phay Renne (#95, Raffles Institution) — 09:11.45
9th Christy Wu Kui (#167, Anglo-Chinese Junior College) — 09:27.02
10th Gladys Ang Hui’en (#172, Anglo-Chinese Junior College) — 09:54.08

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