Story by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports. Photos by Clara Yuan and Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports
Thia Yi Yi (#225) of HCI took home the girls’ A Division 400m gold medal with a timing of 59.50s. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)
Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Friday, April 11, 2014 — Thia Yi Yi of Hwa Chong Institution took home the girls’ A Division 400m gold medal in a new personal best of 59.50 seconds at the 55th National Inter-School Track & Field Championships.
The result is Yi Yi’s first gold medal in the A Division 400m event at the National Championships. In last year’s edition, she only managed a sixth-place finish with a timing of 1:05.03. “It feels great. I was actually trying to aim for the record. I want to thank my coach, and all my friends who are here with me. They have always been very supportive of me,” commented the final-year HCI student.
Yi Yi bettered her three-year-old PB, registered at the 2011 Schools’ meet when she finished second in the B Division, by a tenth of a second. She was also a repeat winner of this event in the C Division in 2009 and 2010.
The run makes Yi Yi the third Singaporean female to go below the minute mark in this event this year. Shanti Pereira (58.66s) and Tyra Summer (59.44s) lead the rankings.
Victoria Junior College’s Clarice Mak and Shannon Chan finished second and third in 1:03.14 and 1:03.65 respectively.
The electronically-timed A Division 400m record is 58.65s and was set by National Junior College alumna, Shalom Danielle See, in 2008. The hand-timed record is 56.4s and was set by Prema Govindan, then of Ang Mo Kio Secondary, in 1984.
A Div 400m (Girls) Results
1st Thia Yi Yi (#225, Hwa Chong Institution) – 59.50s
2nd Mak Keqing Clarice [#159, Victoria Junior College] – 1:03.14
3rd Chan Wan Ting Shannon (#141, Victoria Junior College) – 1:03.65
4th Ong Jia Ling (#89, National Junior College) – 1:03.88
5th Zheng Yanlei (#173, Victoria Junior College) – 1:04.94
6th Lim Si Yi (#111, Raffles Institution) – 1:05.11
7th Nur Haidah Bte Ahmad Kamal (#117, Raffles Institution) – 1:05.19
8th Rachel Liew (#16, Innova Junior College) – 1:05.25
Video © SAA. Used with permission.
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