Story by REDintern Jessica Soo. Photos by REDintern Julianna Jothi.
Lim En Ning of Dunman High School (second from right) claimed the gold medal, followed by Valencia Ho Ting Yin of Raffles Institution placing second. Along with Rachel Cheong of Singapore Sports School clinching third and Tan Tse Teng of Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) in the fourth position. (Photo 1 © REDintern Julianna Jothi)
Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Wednesday, March 13, 2019 — Lim En Ning of Dunman High School (DHS) defied her injuries and leaped to an impressive 5.66 metres to clinch her third consecutive long jump title in the annual National Schools Track and Field Championships, retaining the A Division girls’ gold she won last year.
While the distance failed to match up to her personal best of 5.79m two years ago, the winning jump was her season’s best and accomplished in her first attempt.
“I was quite happy as I was not expecting that on the first jump. Especially since after Monday, when my injuries got worse after competing in high jump,” said En Ning who had to compete with a back and shin injury.
This is En Ning’s second medal of the championship after her silver in the high jump event, in which she lost out only to Tham Mei Shuen of Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) on a countback decision.
However, the high jump final she took part in earlier on Monday was to be one of her last attempts at competing in that event, as she had made the decision to focus less on high jump in the future since it was the main cause of her injuries. Nevertheless, En Ning displayed a true show of athleticism as she still managed to pull off the win despite her worsened injuries.
Her long-running competitor Valencia Ho of Raffles Institution (RI) grabbed silver with a distance of 5.32m while Singapore Sports School’s Rachel Cheong attained bronze with a distance of 5.11m.
Though falling short of gold, Valencia managed to achieve a new personal best and was all smiles when spoken to.
“I never expected to get 5.32m as I had to balance training hurdles as well. I never expected (to achieve PB), so I’m quite happy.”
“Last time, I used to feel disappointed and be tough on myself. But I guess I learned that track is not all about winning,” she further explained.
The teen had an optimistic outlook on the event and promised that as long as she improved consistently, she will ‘come back stronger’ next year.
Looking ahead, the top two athletes will meet each other again on March 29, during the 4x100m relay race in the National Stadium.
A Division Girls’ High Jump – Top 8
1st Lim En Ning (#439 Dunman High School) — 5.66 metres
2nd Valencia Ho (#410 Raffles Institution) — 5.32
3rd Rachel Cheong (#325 Singapore Sports School — 5.11
4th Tan Tse Teng (#521 Hwa Chong Institution) — 4.99
5th Hannah Loo (#456 Victoria Junior College) — 4.98
6th Joanne Erica Soh (#509 Hwa Chong Institution) — 4.91
7th Kelly Chan Xin Hui (#513 Hwa Chong Institution) — 4.74
8th Gerlyn Sun (#318 Eunoia Junior College) — 4.47
More photos next page
“third consecutive A division girls’ long jump title”
but there’s only two years in A div 🙂
Thank you for pointing that out! The story has been updated accordingly 🙂