By Zachary Foo/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck, Soh Jun Wei, Clara Yuan and Laura Lee/Red Sports
Tan Chong Qi of RI bagged the individual gold with a timing of 14:26.7. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
Bedok Reservoir Park, Tuesday, March 25, 2014 — Tan Chong Qi of Raffles Institution and Natalie Soh Hann of Paya Lebar Methodist Girls School (Secondary) claimed the B Division golds at the 55th National Schools Cross Country Championships.
Chong Qi claimed the boys’ gold by running the 4.3-kilometre route in a time of 14 minutes 26.7 seconds. This is a personal best for him, having previously clocked 14:36 last year in the same event.
Natalie also posted a personal best of 14:28.7 to win her 3.6km race. This is an improvement of almost a minute over her previous timing, which according to her was in the range of 15:20.
Chong Qi finished about 10 seconds ahead of Ierhan Raushan of Singapore Sports School, who clocked 14:36.4 to finish second. Isaac Tan Wei Long of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) finished third with a timing of 14:38.1.
“My race plan was simple, lead from the start and run to the end. With about 600 metres to go, I overtook someone in front of me and pulled away for the win,” said Chong Qi.
Ierhan managed to sneak up on Isaac at the finishing line, pipping him by a mere 1.7 seconds. “I was leading from the start, until the last part when I tried to push. I was second near the finish line, until Ierhan managed to cut in front of me to take second,” recounted Isaac.
In the girls’ race, Nah Yi Xin of Cedar Girls’ Secondary finished second in a time of 14:30.2, while Shervon Goh of Commonwealth Secondary finished third in 14:39.2.
Natalie made it a point to keep pace with the front pack throughout the race, making her move in the closing stages of the race to seal her win. She caught Yi Xin right before the finish line to beat her to the gold by 1.5 seconds.
When asked about her race, Natalie said, “I was in third place when we crossed the white building (about 700m from the finishing line). That was when the three of us started pushing really hard. I found myself catching up with the girl in second place and overtook her. Soon enough, with about 10 metres left to go, I overtook the girl in first place as well.”
She added, “I’m really proud of my school. I don’t think anyone expected me to win this race. I would like to thank my parents, coach and team. The support from the team has been amazing and I think that really helped me through this race.”
Yi Xin was among the trio of runners who pulled away from the front pack towards the end. “I started to speed up along the curve and around the final stretch, I started to slow,” said Yi Xin, as she described the final stages of her race.
In the team category, team score is calculated by adding up the positions of the top four runners in each team, and the team with the lowest number of points wins.
Raffles Institution topped the boys’ category, with the quartet of Tan Chong Qi (1st), Aaron Chan (10th), Goh Si Yuan (12th) and Chirag Gupta (#17) combining for a total of 40 points.
Chong Qi is the first male individual champion in this division, since ACSI’s Elliot Eu in 2004, to claim team honours as well.
River Valley High school triumphed in the girls category, scoring 41 points. Carissa Choo (5th), Valarie Lai (6th), Crystabelle Wang (11th) and Jayne Lim (19th) contributed to their team’s strong showing.
River Valley and Cedar have won the last six girls’ B Division titles, but have not seen a runner from their schools top the individual field.
In fact, the last runner from either school to cross the line first in this race was River Valley’s Goh Teng Yin in 1993.
B Division Boys – 4.3km (Top 20)
1st Tan Chong Qi (#3201, Raffles Institution) — 14:26.7
2nd Ierhan B Muhammad Raushan (#3078, Singapore Sports School) — 14:36.4
3rd Tan Wei Long Isaac (#3097, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)) — 14:38.1
4th Mohammad Shafiq Anshad (#3210, St. Joseph’s Institution) — 14:49.0
5th Lee Zhong Kian, Chester (#3120, Catholic High School) — 14:50.0
6th Wong Kwok Ho (#3327, Nan Hua High School) — 14:50.9
7th Chia Zhi Hong (#3325, Nan Hua High School) — 14:52.2
8th Teng Jian Ling (#3296, Commonwealth Secondary School) — 14:55.7
9th Brandon Quek (#3295, Commonwealth Secondary School) — 14:57.3
10th Aaron Chan Siang Joo (#3204, Raffles Institution) — 14:57.9
11th Glen Brian Palmer (#3209, St. Joseph’s Institution) — 15:00.2
12th Elisha Goh Si Yuan (#3202, Raffles Institution) — 15:07.1
13th Tan Yong Jin, Dylan (#3308, Hwa Chong Institution) — 15:09.0
14th Yap Sae-Hwa Daniel (#3098, Anglo-Chinese School(Independent)) — 15:09.5
15th Brandon Tan Zhiying (#3269, Victoria School) — 15:13.2
16th Mandip Rai (#3270, Victoria School) — 15:15.2
17th Chirag Gupta (#3208, Raffles Institution) — 15:15.3
18th Gideon Phong Wei Sheng (#3100, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)) — 15:16.9
19th Keith Yong Sheng Wei (#3077, Singapore Sports School) — 15:16.9
20th Lie Jia Jiang (#3167, Outram Secondary) — 15:24.2
Boys Team Category (Top 4)
1st Raffles Institution — 40 points
1st Tan Chong Qi (#3201) — 14:26.7
10th Aaron Chan Siang Joo (#3204) — 14:57.9
12th Elisha Goh Si Yuan (#3202) — 15:07.1
17th Chirag Gupta (#3208) — 15:15.3
2nd Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) — 61 points
3rd Tan Wei Long Isaac (#3097) — 14:38.1
14th Yap Sae-Hwa Daniel (#3098) — 15:09.5
18th Gideon Phong Wei Sheng (#3100) — 15:16.9
26th Kwong Wei Tat, Charles (#3101) — 15:43.1
3rd St. Joseph’s Institution — 91 points
4th Mohammad Shafiq Anshad (#3210) — 14:49.0
11th Glen Brian Palmer (#3209) — 15:00.2
25th Garrepalli Deepak (#3212) — 15:41.5
51st Andrew Chan Siang Ee (#3216) — 16:17.3
4th Nan Hua High School — 94 points
6th Wong Kwok Ho (#3327) — 14:50.9
7th Chia Zhi Hong (#3325) — 14:52.2
40th Yap Chee Hong (#3324) — 16:03.4
41st Wee Ze Hong, Benjamin (#3323) — 16:06.0
B Division Girls – 3.6km (Top 20)
1st Soh Hann, Natalie (#4176, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary)) — 14:28.7
2nd Nah Yi Xin (#4076, Cedar Girls’ Secondary School) — 14:30.2
3rd Shervon Goh Yue Qi (#4206, Commonwealth Secondary School) — 14:39.2
4th Vanessa Lee Ying Zhuang (#4188, Tanjong Katong Girls’ School) — 14:46.8
5th Choo Xing Yi, Carissa (#4247, River Valley High School) — 14:47.3
6th Lai Zi Qing, Valerie (#4246, River Valley High School) — 14:48.1
7th Pyone Myat Thwe (#4207, Commonwealth Secondary School) — 14:54.0
8th Jillian See Shu Xin (#4153, Chung Cheng High School (Main) — 15:04.1
9th Peh Jia Wen (#4208, Commonwealth Secondary School) — 15:04.8
10th Saranniya K Rajendran (#4130, Queensway Secondary School) — 15:06.6
11th Crystabelle Wang Jia Yu (#4248, River Valley High School) — 15:09.6
12th Khin Yadanar Oo (#4142, Raffles Girls’ School) — 15:11.2
13th Khoo Xin Hui (#4081, Cedar Girls’ Secondary School) — 15:12.5
14th B. Lochana (#4079, Cedar Girls’ Secondary School) — 15:16.0
15th Felyn Toh Leh Chun (#4143, Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary)) — 15:18.3
16th Lok Qi Ying Amanda (#4140, Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary)) — 15:18.4
17th Goh Shao Ping Charmaine (#4060, Woodlands Secondary School) — 15:22.7
18th Corrie Jireh Teo (#4225, Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary)) — 15:24.7
19th Lim Hui Yi, Jayne (#4249, River Valley High School) — 15:29.6
20th Mock Tian Qi, Annika (#4084, CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh)) — 15:32.4
Girls Team Category (Top 4)
1st River Valley High School — 41 points
5th Choo Xing Yi, Carissa (#4247) — 14:47.3
6th Lai Zi Qing, Valerie (#4246) — 14:48.1
11th Crystabelle Wang Jia Yu (#4248) — 15:09.6
19th Lim Hui Yi, Jayne (#4249) — 15:29.6
2nd Cedar Girls’ Secondary School — 52 points
2nd Nah Yi Xin (#4076) — 14:30.2
13th Khoo Xin Hui (#4081) — 15:12.5
14th B. Lochana (#4079) — 15:16.0
23rd Zhong Yi (#4078) — 15:38.9
3rd Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) — 76 points
12th Khin Yadanar Oo (#4142) — 15:11.2
15th Felyn Toh Leh Chun (#4143) — 15:18.3
16th Lok Qi Ying Amanda (#4140) — 15:18.4
33rd Natasha Lim Rui Ting (#4141) — 16:00.9
4th Commonwealth Secondary School — 84 points
3rd Shervon Goh Yue Qi (#4206) — 14:39.2
7th Pyone Myat Thwe (#4207) — 14:54.0
9th Peh Jia Wen (#4208) — 15:04.8
65th Madeliene Adean Hindle (#4210) — 17:21.5
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