Story by Iman Hashim/Red Sports. Photos by Benedict Yeo and Rebekah Abbott/Red Sports.
Rachel Chin (SSP #80), Valencia Ho (NYGH #469) and Raine Oh (SSP #88) racing to the finish line after clearing their final hurdle. They cliched gold, silver, and bronze respectively. (Photo 1 © Rebekah Abbott/Red Sports)
Bishan Stadium, Thursday, April 20, 2017 — A mere tenth of a second was all that separated the top three in the B Division girls’ 100m hurdles.
Such was the intense competition, as Rachel Chin of Singapore Sports School hurdled home to gold at the 58th National Schools Track and Field Championships.
Rachel clocked 15.60 seconds, while Valencia Ho of Nanyang Girls’ High School finished just 0.03s behind in second. Rachel’s teammate, Raine Oh, completed the podium in 15.70s.
Based on recent form, Valencia was in fact the favourite going into the final, having clocked consistent sub-15.5s timings in other races this year. Most notably, she notched a personal best of 15.43s last month at the 43rd Singapore U18/U20 Athletics Championships.
Rachel also has an identical personal best time, but it was clocked last year when she won the silver in this event.
True to expectation, Valencia led for practically the entire race, before losing out to Rachel’s late surge and dip after the last hurdle.
“To be honest, I had a few doubts (about winning gold),” Rachel said. “But I just calmed myself down and believed in myself.”
The win gives Rachel her first ever gold at the national schools championships, despite running only the third fastest time in the heats. The last six winners in this event had all ranked first overall in their respective heats.
On her hopes for the future, she said, “For this race I didn’t hit my personal best so I guess for the subsequent races I have to, and hopefully sub-15s one day.”
The following day, both Valencia and Rachel also competed in the B Division girls’ long jump.
Valencia earned her second silver of the championships, while Rachel came in ninth.
B Division Girls 100m Hurdles – Top 8
1st Rachel Chin (#80, Singapore Sports School) – 15.60 seconds
2nd Valencia Ho (#469, Nanyang Girls’ High School) – 15.63
3rd Raine Oh (#88, Singapore Sports School) – 15.70
4th Rachel Loh (#274, Cedar Girls Secondary) – 16.16
5th Tiffany Yau (#471, Nanyang Girls’ High School) – 16.32
6th Sheikha Edhora (#89, Singapore Sports School) – 16.91
7th Janelle Tham (#31, CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School) – 16.99
8th Andrea Sonia Nelson (#20, CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School) – 17.21
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