Story by Edina Tan/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan and Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports.
Anchor runner Wu Shu Han of Nanyang Girls’ crossing the finishing line first in 4:17.23. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
National Stadium, Friday, April 29, 2016 – Nanyang Girls’ High (NYGH) won the C Division Girls’ 4x400m relay final at the 57th National Schools Track and Field Championships.
The quartet of Ngoh Ye Xin, Woo Ern Xi, Elizabeth-Ann Tan, and Wu Shu Han clocked 4 minutes 17.23 seconds in a fight to the finish.
The electronically-timed record for this event still stands at 4:12.84, set by the team from Singapore Sports School in 2004.
Singapore Sports School (SSP) and CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School (SNG) came in second and third with timings of 4:21.92 and 4:25.67 respectively.
The end of the first leg saw Raffles Girls’ School (RGS) in the lead, followed closely by SNG and SSP.
By the next leg, SSP’s second runner Tyeisha Khoo had caught up and taken the lead, followed by SNG.
With Cedar Girls’ Secondary (CG) fast closing the gap, it was a tight race between SSP, NYGH and CG by the start of the third leg.
Nurul Insyirah of SSP managed to maintain their lead in the third leg, but third runner Elizabeth-Ann of NYGH swiftly closed the gap, and the two runners were neck and neck in the final stretch.
A seamless pass between Elizabeth-Ann and Shu Han saw NYGH move into the lead in the final leg. Shu Han increased the gap between herself and SSP’s anchor runner, Nur Ria Isabelle, and she maintained the lead to give NYGH a comfortable victory.
When asked about the race, Elizabeth-Ann said, on behalf of her team, “The race was a very tense one as the expectations were very high and we felt the pressure as a team. However, we managed to overcome these fears and focus on the race.
“It was a mental game and the race was certainly not an easy one. Indeed, we executed our skills well and were able to apply our strategy. The memorable moments were how we managed to catch up from fourth position to first and open up the gap.
“In the beginning, we were trailing but we managed to gain momentum and managed to close the gap and eventually pulled away from Sports School to clinch the gold medal,” added Elizabeth-Ann.
“I was very nervous and tense at first (about running in the National Stadium) but I embraced the crowd and let their support spur me on. This is my team’s personal best, and it is the best timing this team has ever clocked as we managed to shave off a good 15 seconds.
“As a team, we are all very happy with our results as we didn’t expect to win. We would like to thank our coaches, Mr Tan Kim Seng and Ms Tan Yew Ling, and our assistant coaches, Charmaine Oh and Yan Chun. The support from our school, principal, teachers and family indeed boosted our confidence,” she added.
C Division 4x400m (Girls) Results
1st Nanyang Girls’ High School – 04:17.23
2nd Singapore Sports School – 04:21.92
3rd CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School – 04:25.67
4th Cedar Girls’ Sec School – 04:27.37
5th CHIJ Katong Convent – 04:28.22
6th Raffles Girls’ School (Sec) – 04:34.43
7th CHIJ Sec (Toa Payoh) – 04:40.39
8th St Anthony’s Canossian Sec School – 04:58.44
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