B Div Cross Country Review: Will Cedar Girls’ defend their title?

By REDintern Romaine Soh

Nah Yi Xin (#2140) of Cedar Girls’ clinches the U-18 gold medal with a time of 15:33. (Photo © Joseph Lee/Red Sports)

One of the most anticipated national schools championships is just around the corner.

Some of the fittest student-athletes from all across the nation will convene next Wednesday, March 27 at the National Schools Cross Country Championships, where they will match their endurance, speed and wits against each other. This year’s competition will be held at Bedok Reservoir, with the first race flagging off at 9 a.m.

With less than a week to go before the championships, let us take a look at the potential title contenders, and potential clashes.

B Division (3.6 km) — Will history be on their side?
The B Division title looks set to be a contest between 2012 C Division silver medallist, Nah Yi Xin of Cedar Girls’ Secondary, and Valerie Lai of River Valley High, who placed fourth last year. Valerie has had a good season, having won the individual titles at the SAA and Swift meets, but Yi Xin upstaged her at the Wings Cross Country meet, so she will have to count on her high endurance to outlast Yi Xin on the day of the nationals.

Lok Xin Ying of Cedar Girls’ is another contender for the title. She has history on her side, having won the silver in the C Division two years ago, and finishing third among those her age last year. Although 13 seconds separated her and Valerie at Wings, anything can happen on the day.

The Commonwealth Secondary trio, consisting of Pyone Myat Thwe, Peh Jia Wen and Shervon Goh, have started to make their mark this season, all of them finishing among the top 15 in the Swift and Wings meets. Although these three pose a risk to those gunning for the top 20 at nationals, where only the first 20 get an individual medal, they lack a strong fourth runner to help secure them a team medal.

This season, the River Valley team consisting of Valerie Lai, Carissa Choo, Wong Shi Ying and Crystabelle Wang managed to win the team titles at the SAA and Swift meets. However, at the most recent Wings meet, the Cedar quartet of Nah Yi Xin, Lok Xin Ying, Edina Tan and Lee Yuet Zhen managed to upstage River Valley, clinching the team title with six points to spare.

Since 2009, Cedar have taken home the B Division champions’ shield, with the exception of 2011 when River Valley broke Cedar’s winning streak. Will Cedar manage to rise to the occasion on the day of nationals and defend their title?

Who are your favourite 2013 A, B and C Division cross country runners?