Story by Iman Hashim/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan and Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports.
Ringo Han of RI celebrates after crossing the finishing line first in 3:28.36. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
National Stadium, Friday, April 29, 2016 — Raffles Institution (RI) led from start to finish, clocking 3 minutes 28.36 seconds to claim the A Division boys’ 4x400m relay gold at the 57th National Schools Track and Field Championships.
Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) finished in second with a 3:30.70 timing while St. Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) came in third in 3:31.17.
This was RI’s fourth A boys’ 4x400m relay gold in the last six years. After 2010, only Anglo-Chinese Junior College (2013, 2014) – helped partly by alumnus and national 400m record-holder Zubin Percy Muncherji – have won this event apart from RI.
The RI quartet consisted of Ryan James Tan (100m 2nd; 200m 5th), Mark Llewellyn Lim (800m 1st; 400m 3rd), Isaac Ming (400m hurdles 5th) and Ringo Han (400m 4th; 200m 6th).
Ryan gave RI the early lead on the first leg, while Mark pulled away further on the second. Isaac maintained the comfortable lead before Ringo successfully held off HCI’s Ow Yeong Wei Bin – the A boys’ 400m champion and 400m hurdles record-breaker – who tried charging him down on the anchor leg.
RI second runner Mark exclaimed, “I feel extremely blessed and delighted with the win today. For me, I was running with a torn muscle and could feel the pain during the run. Nonetheless, we still pulled through and retained the title because of our faith in each other and in God.”
“I would definitely like to thank our coach Mr Melvin Tan, friends who have always cheered for me, family, and most importantly God.”
Earlier in the day, first runner Ryan and anchor runner Ringo had also clinched the 4x100m relay gold for RI, together with teammates Joshua Yap and Prem Sathiamoorthy.
When asked if there were any challenges his team had to overcome prior to the relay finals, Ringo explained, “Before the start of the season, Prem and Mark had sustained injuries from training. We were initially uncertain whether both of them could run, but we still managed to have some baton passing practices with them.”
“However as they were not 100% certain to run, we also had to practise a few times with the reserve runner Lee Joon Hei. We prepared for every possibility so that any last-minute changes would not greatly affect the team.”
Ryan added, “It’s an amazing feeling to be able to achieve (the double relay gold) with my teammates. Especially with the seniors who are leaving. I suffered a bad abrasion on my shoulder and hip after falling at the end of the 100m final, but I told myself that the pain wasn’t going to stop me from running the relays.”
RI’s double relay victories were the icing on the cake for their season, as they successfully wrestled back the A boys’ divisional title from HCI, finishing 34 points ahead of their perennial rivals.
Said Mark, “I feel both surprised and extremely grateful. This year didn’t seem like our year as many obstacles had plagued us along the way until the final day. Many of us were injured and it wasn’t very optimistic. However, albeit these circumstances we managed to win the title and I am very grateful to God for that. Winning it by 34 points definitely made up for the loss by 2 points last year.”
Ringo also remarked, “I’m really glad that we managed to get the title back this year, as we lost the title by a mere 2 points last year which felt really painful. So we trained harder and came back stronger this year, and I’m really glad our efforts have paid off.”
He continued, “I would firstly like to thank our coach Mr Tan for training us. He put in a lot of effort for the team, and took time off his own schedule to organise extra training sessions so that we could improve. He also never fails to motivate us and believe in us, and without him all of this would not have been possible.”
“Secondly, I wish to thank my teammates for constantly pushing and motivating me in training. We constantly strove to do better thanks to one another. Lastly, I would like to thank my friends and family for supporting me throughout this difficult journey.”
A Division Boys’ 4x400m Relay – Top 8
1st Raffles Institution — 3:28.36
2nd Hwa Chong Institution — 3:30.70
3rd St. Andrew’s Junior College — 3:31.17
4th Victoria Junior College — 3:32.30
5th Singapore Sports School — 3:37.23
6th Catholic Junior College — 3:39.08
7th Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) — 3:40.59
8th Serangoon Junior College — 3:43.55
More photos next page
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