Story by REDintern Jessica Soo. Photos by Iman Hashim/Red Sports.
Eryka Pasupathy of Cedar Girls’ Secondary clinched the C Division girls’ 3000m gold in 13:01.08. (Photo 1 © Iman Hashim/Red Sports)
Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Monday, March 25, 2019 — Just three days before, she bagged home her first silver during the C Division Girls’ 1500-metres final at the 60th National Schools Track and Field Championships.
In the 3000m final, Eryka Anna Kerner Pasupathy of Cedar Girls’ Secondary then rose to the occasion to clinch her first individual gold medal with a winning timing of 13 minutes and 01.08 seconds.
“I feel very happy. In fact, I was kind of pressured to get another medal after getting second the first time,” the 14-year-old athlete said.
Like her 1500m race, Eryka’s strategy was to stay with the leading pack for majority of the race. In fact, for the first two laps Koh Jia En of Commonwealth Secondary School led the pack, at a pace that was comfortable for Eryka.
Even as the race went on, the humble athlete did not envision herself on the highest spot of the podium. Yet it was the support she had from the stands that pushed her to have a strong finish.
“I was just following (the pack) and hearing my coach and friends cheering for me motivated me throughout the race. It was only until the last bit where I would give it my all and push as hard as I can. That’s what I usually do,” she explained.
True enough, Eryka started to burst across the track on the last lap, breaking away from the pack and establishing a substantial distance between herself and runner-up Natalie Tan of CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School.
Natalie finished two seconds behind in a timing of 13:03.95, earning herself the silver medal. Following very closely behind in third place was Eryka’s Cedar teammate Sofia Sameer Grewal, who stopped the clock at 13:04.41.
Wan Yi Ling of CHIJ St. Theresa’s Convent, who initially held the lead, ran out of steam in the final 400m after she miscounted her laps and started sprinting one round too early.
While Eryka did not manage to break her personal best of 12:47.66 set during the heats, she maintained that she remains satisfied with her victory.
B Division Girls’ 3000m Final – Results
1st Eryka Anna Kerner Pasupathy (Cedar Girls’ Secondary, #762) — 13:01.08
2nd Natalie Tan Li Ying (CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School, #556) — 13:03.95
3rd Sofia Sameer Grewal (Cedar Girls’ Secondary, #781) — 13:04.41
4th Ng Rui Shi (Raffles Girls’ School, #742) — 13:04.56
5th Tan Ser Gi Chloe (CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School, #565) — 13:04.77
6th Yap Yi Jun, Jaime (Raffles Girls’ School, #745) — 13:11.96
7th Kok Jin En (Bendemeer Secondary School, #626) — 13:14.76
8th Glorie Ong Zuo Yu (Cedar Girls’ Secondary, #765) — 13:20.44
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