Story by REDintern Alyssa Almas. Photos by REDintern Jared Khoo and Iman Hashim/Red Sports.
Grace Shani Anthony (#399) of RI finished in first place in the A Division Girls’ 100m final with a time of 12.72s. (Photo 1 © REDintern Jared Khoo)
Singapore Sports Hub, Friday, March 29, 2019 — Grace Shani Anthony of Raffles Institution and Tedd Toh of Hwa Chong Institution proved their mettle by winning the gold in the respective Girls’ and Boys’ A Division 100-metre finals at the 60th National Schools Track and Field Championships.
Grace clinched the gold medal in the Girls’ event with a timing of 12.72 seconds, beating her previous personal best of 12.84s achieved in the semis. In doing so, she edged out Kathya Kodikara of Victoria Junior College by a mere three hundredths of a second.
The timing was also a new personal best for Tedd, who crossed the finish line in the Boys’ event with a time of 11.15s, leading a 1-2 finish for HCI with teammate Bryan Lam clocking 11.24s to nick the silver. Tedd’s previous personal best was also set during the semis — a timing of 11.23s.
Speaking about Grace’s performance, her coach Mr Melvin Tan said: “Grace had a bad start today. Instead of taking the lead and pulling away, she struggled to get into top gear. However, it was great that she fought back from the jaw of defeat to clinch the gold. I was confident that she would win the race and achieve a personal best as a result. But I did not expect the race to be so close.”
“After all that she had gone through over the past year, I would say that she had done extremely well given the circumstances. She won the gold in the 200m event a few days back and that had certainly boosted her confidence and enabled her to believe that she could perform at a high level again,” added Mr Tan, who is also the sprints coach for Nanyang Girls’ High School and the women’s national relay coach.
Mr Tan was thankful for the great competition that had been fielded against Grace, saying: “Just like Grace, they were there to push their limits in their attempts to achieve personal bests. They were really competitive on the track and gave their best which was most important.”
When asked what he said to Grace right before her race, Mr Tan said that he only hoped for her to believe in herself.
“I had told her that she needed to believe in her God-given ability and win the race for the school, her teammates as well as her loved ones — like her parents who were there to support her,” he said.
Ending it off, he said: “Do your utmost to chase your dreams. But do not stop at that; try to surpass your dreams.”
Having won the gold in the Boys’ event, Tedd was all smiles after the race, having set a new personal record.
“I am definitely satisfied about my performance today. Going into the race, my teammate Bryan (Lam) and I were confident and determined to get the 1-2 finish. We were glad that we were able to put on a good show for our school and our coach,” he said.
“Before my race, I just kept repeating to myself my race plan and really just kept calm and focus on the race itself,” he added.
Having won the gold medal in the long jump event, as well as the 4x100m relay later in the day, Tedd completed a triple gold medal haul this year.
“I felt determined and hopeful going into today’s competition as I really wanted to complete the triple gold feat ever since last year,” said the 17-year-old student.
Commending his competitors, he said: “I thought my competitors did really well and I am grateful for them. My competitors are the ones that pushed me to my very best and I think that is the beauty of the sport because at the end of the day, we wouldn’t be anywhere without our competitors so I am really grateful for them.”
With his eventful year in the A Division, Tedd had nothing but words of thanks for his biggest supporters.
“I would like to thank my coaches Mr Han Zong Jian, Mr John Seem, my parents and lastly my teammates especially Bryan. I am extremely grateful for him sticking by me every training and seeing him persevere through every training despite his injury really inspired me to train even harder for my team,” said Tedd.
A Division Girls’ 100m Final – Results
1st Grace Shani Anthony (Raffles Institution, #399) — 12.72 seconds
2nd Kathya Kodikara (Victoria Junior College, #458) — 12.75
3rd Nurul Insyirah Bte Mohamad F (Anglo-Chinese Junior College, #485) — 13.03
4th Camille Alix Damas (Anglo Chinese School (International), #352) — 13.12
5th Ashleigh Sonia Hazra (Saint Andrew’s Junior College, #414) — 13.13
6th Lim Xin Yu, Clarissa (National Junior College, #380) — 13.14
7th Lin Peiqin (Victoria Junior College, #460) — 13.41
8th Chloe Vanessa Sea Wen Min (Catholic Junior College, #353) — 13.45
A Division Boys’ 100m Final – Results
1st Tedd Toh Jun Xi (Hwa Chong Institution, #271) — 11.15 seconds
2nd Bryan Lam Jung Kang (Hwa Chong Institution, #234) — 11.24
3rd Ibrahim B Halil (Millennia Institute, #293) — 11.29
4th Timothy Joshua D’Cruz (Raffles Institution, #114) — 11.36
5th Justin Toh Ping Sian (Eunoia Junior College, #18) — 11.43
6th Gerard Wirawan (St. Joseph’s Institution (International), #165) — 11.46
7th Jerrick Ng Sheng Cong (Anglo Chinese School (Independent), #63) — 11.57
8th Solaiy Meyapan (Saint Andrew’s Junior College, #150) — 11.64
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