Story by Ryan Lim/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan and Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports.

c div boys 4x400m

Reuben Lee of Sports School finishing more than 12 seconds ahead of the competition. The Sports School quartet clocked 3:35.17 to set a new record. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

National Stadium, Friday, April 29, 2016 — Singapore Sports School (SSP) clocked 3 minutes 35.17 seconds to break the C Division Boys 4x400m record at the 57th National Schools Track and Field Championships.

Before this race, the electronically-timed record for the event was 3:37.25, clocked in 2008 by Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). An excellent run from the SSP quartet saw the 8-year-old record replaced.

Raffles Institution (RI) clinched the silver medal in 3:47.80, while St. Joseph’s Institution (SJI) took home bronze, clocking 3:50.63.

Coming into this race, the SSP runners already had three gold medals between themselves – Brandon Norton was the 800m and 1500m champion, and Reuben Lee the 200m gold medalist.

This win also meant that SSP runners Lucas Lim, Mohd Haziq and Reuben Lee broken both the 4x100m and 4x400m record in one day.

SSP led the race right from the get-go. First runner Lucas Lim ensured that his team got on the front foot early in the relay. The baton was passed to Brandon Norton, who extended SSP’s lead going into the halfway mark of the race.

When third runner Mohd Haziq received the baton, he had a 50m lead. RI, SJI and Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) were joint second going into the third lap.

SSP’s last runner, Reuben Lee, eventually finished more than 12 seconds ahead of second-placed RI to break the record.

After the race, Reuben Lee commented, “It felt really great because all of our training finally paid off and showed us that we can push the limit of our bodies.”

When quizzed on breaking both records, he added, “It felt good as we didn’t expect to break the record.”

C Div 4x400m (Boys) Results
1st Singapore Sports School — 03:35.17
2nd Raffles Institution — 03:47.80
3rd St. Joseph’s Institution — 03:50.63
4th Hwa Chong Institution — 03:51.10
5th Hua Yi Secondary School — 03:54.60
6th Catholic High School — 03:56.24
7th Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) — 03:56.96
8th North Vista Secondary School — 03:57.52

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