Story by Clement Tan/Red Sports. Pictures by REDintern Benedict Yeo and Rebekah Abbott/Red Sports.

Lim Yu Zhe (NHHS #509) leading the pack in the C Boys 3000m finals. He narrowly lost out to Sean Tay (RI #254) to finish second. (Photo 1 © Benedict Yeo/Red Sports)

Bishan Stadium, Thursday, April 20, 2017 — Three seconds were all that separated Raffles Institution’s Sean Tay and Nan Hua High School’s Lim Yu Zhe at the cross country nationals a month ago. The gap came down to 0.06 second between the two boys in the C Division 3000m race at the 58th National Schools Track and Field Championships.

On both occasions, Sean emerged victorious. This time round, he clocked 10:26.34, barely edging out Yu Zhe who posted 10:26.40. Hwa Chong Institution’s Chew Yue Bin, who had finished fourth at the cross country nationals, claimed the bronze medal this time with 10:36.67.

“I just wanted to win,” Sean said after the race, before he left shortly after to compete in the swimming finals. “My biggest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the leading pack.”

The two boys broke away from the leading pack of five with less than a lap to go, with Yu Zhe kicking into the lead first before Sean overtook him as they approached the final bend. Sean then barely held off Yu Zhe’s final push on the home straight.

“It’s disappointing, but I’ll take the defeat and come back from this,” said Yu Zhe. “At least now I know I can match his kick. It’s much closer this time compared to cross country.”

In the girls’ race, Kylie Tan of Cedar Girls’ Secondary School also completed a double, adding the 3000m crown to her cross country win last month. She ran 11:37.14, shaving 25 seconds off her previous personal best. Her time was also a full 10 seconds ahead of second-placed North Vista Secondary’s Alyssa Yeong who clocked 11:47.25.

C Division Girls 3000m, Top Eight
1st Kylie Tan (#259 Cedar Girls’ Secondary) 11:37.14
2nd Alyssa Yeong (#67 North Vista Secondary) 11:47.25
3rd Claudia Tang (#260 Cedar Girls) 11:50.50
4th Tang Ler Shuan (#385 Nan Hua High School) 12:30.13
5th Nur Humairah Bte Mohamad Helmi (#61 Evergreen Secondary) 12:31.37
6th Joyce Ong (#38 CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School) 12:31.38
7th Yeo Limin (#410 Nanyang Girls’ High School) 12:40.46
8th Chua Ting Jing (#382 Nan Hua High School) 12:44.19

C Division Boys 3000m, Top Eight
1st Sean Tay (#254 Raffles Institution) 10:26.34
2nd Lim Yu Zhe (#509 Nan Hua High School) 10:26.40
3rd Chew Yue Bin (#464 Hwa Chong Institution) 10:36.67
4th Chai Jiacheng (#229 Raffles Institution) 10:37.23
5th Ernest Low (#477 Hwa Chong Institution) 10:44.12
6th Daniel Ho (#409 Victoria School) 10:45.71
7th Xavier Tan (#192 Gan Eng Seng School) 10:49.08
8th G Shyam Naidu (#411 Victoria School) 10:53.69

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