Zachary Devaraj of ACS(I) wins highly-anticipated B Division cross-country race

Story by Erwin Wong/Red Sports. Photos by Marvin Lowe, Lai Jun Wei and Tan Jon Han/Red Sports

Temasek Polytechnic, Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - Zachary Ryan Devaraj of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) came out tops in the B Division category, arguably the most eyeballed race of the 51st National Inter-School Cross-Country Championship meet.

The battle for the individual title looked set to be down to Zachary, Aldrich Lim of Naval Base Secondary, and T. Haarishankar from the Singapore Sports School. Zachary has been looked upon as a rising middle-distance runner at national schools level ever since he won the 1500 metres at the 2007 National Inter-School Track and Field Championships as a Secondary One student. Three years on, his posted times not only place him at the top of the heap at national schools level, but also at the national level.

His 1500m performance of 4 minutes 11.0 seconds at the Second All-Comers Meet in February was the fastest Under-17 time since 1994 (and the second-fastest by a Singaporean in the past year after Madankumar Balakrishnan’s winning time of 4:10.85 at the 2009 Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic Championships), and he is the quickest Singaporean over 1000 metres this year. His time of 2:33.20 for the 1000m is more than 12 seconds quicker than his middle-teen peers.

Aldrich upstaged both Zachary and Haarishankar at January's National Cross-Country Championships to finish as the top under-18 boy, while Haarishankar himself had relegated Zachary to the bridesmaid role two years ago in winning the C Division cross-country crown. Zachary had finished over 30 seconds behind Haarishankar then.

But what appeared to be a three-horse race to the finish was whittled down to two when Haarishankar became a non-factor in the race. He finished in 48th place and revealed after the race that he has been suffering from patellar tendinitis in his left knee, and had not been training for seven weeks.

"I just wanted to finish the race. If I was not injured, I think I would have challenged for the individual title. I am quite disappointed," said a despondent Haarishankar, whose priority now will be the National Inter-School Track and Field Championships which starts in a week’s time.

Meanwhile, Zachary ran a brilliant tactical race to trump Aldrich. The latter did the early pace-making, but Zachary was not the least bit flustered.

"I was just planning to stay a good distance behind him, and slowly catch up on the gravel, and maybe overtake him around after the metal bridge," said Zachary, as he recounted the race.

"But I overtook him earlier because he started slowing down. I knew I was going to win at the metal bridge, because I have a better sprint finish. But I kept on going and around here (pointing to the straight finish), I thought I would just raise my hands up for fun."

It certainly signalled a triumphant victory for the 15 year-old, and his win in 15:41.45 made up for the disappointment of finishing 46th last year, when he tripped while overtaking a front-runner towards the end and lost all momentum thereafter.

"I made it a point to go faster at the point where I slowed last year," said Zachary.

Although Aldrich finished about six seconds behind in second place with a time of 15:47.67, he was not disappointed.

"My expectation was just to finish in the top 10. This is my first time at the Nationals and I was not quite sure how it will be like," said the Secondary Four student, who was slightly taken aback with the start.

"The start was too packed, and there were bigger-sized runners pushing me. The start was fast, and they pushed and intercepted my path. So it was difficult for me to lead, until the uphill portion when it was better, and I was leading."

Zachary caught up and overtook Aldrich at the canoe station, and the latter found it difficult to respond.

"When I saw him, I was worried. I tried to run faster, but he was too fast," recounted Aldrich.

The next event on the calendar for these athletes will be the National Inter-School Track and Field Championships, but the two will not cross swords there.

Events like the 3000 metres and the 3000m Steeplechase are not long enough for Aldrich, and his next race will be on May 22nd at the Singapore Passion Run, where he has targeted a top-10 finish in the 10km Men's Open.

On that very same weekend, Zachary will be running the 1000m at the Asian Area Qualification for the Youth Olympic Games, but on his immediate agenda will be the National Inter-School Track and Field Championships at Choa Chu Kang Stadium, where he has lofty ambitions in the 800m and 1500m races.

"I'll try to break the records this year. I think I should be able to do 2 minutes (for the 800m) but I'm aiming for a 1:56," said Zachary.

The B Division 800m and 1500m records are 1:56.7 and 4:07.3 respectively. They were set in 1994 by current Singapore Athletic Association Technical Director C. Veeramani.

Individual Results (Top 20)

B Division Boys (4.6km):
1. Zachary Devaraj, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) – 15:41.45
2. Aldrich Lim, Naval Base Secondary – 15:47.67
3. Karthic Harish Ragupathy, St Joseph’s Institution – 16:04.04
4. Venuraam S/O Selvan, Victoria School – 16:20.22
5. Joel-David Wong, Victoria School – 16:27.01
6. Bryan Yong, Victoria School – 16:28.47
7. Jonathan Tan, Raffles Institution – 16:28.93
8. Ivan Tan, Singapore Sports School – 16:30.10
9. Sean Lim, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) – 16:32.08
10. Chin Joo Ern, Hwa Chong Institution – 16:32.93
11. Tan Teck Chye, NUS High School – 16:33.64
12. James Iau, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) – 16:40.13
13. Vikram Tiakarajah, St. Joseph’s Institution – 16:41.08
14. Ryan Wee, Catholic High – 16:41.43
15. Sherwin Yeo, Catholic High – 16:42.45
16. Prakash S/O Arasu, Singapore Sports School – 16:50.09
17. Justin Tan, St. Joseph’s Institution – 16:56.33
18. Hieng Pheak Kdey, Victoria School – 17:06.44
19. Lim Yue Zhong, St. Joseph’s Institution – 17:08.33
20. Dion Lee, St. Joseph’s Institution – 17:11.91

Team Results (Top 5)

B Division Boys:
1. Victoria School – 33
2. St. Joseph’s Institution – 52
3. Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) – 53
4. Catholic High – 72
5. Singapore Sports School – 95

Complete Results (Excel file format)
51st Inter-School Cross-Country Championships

More pictures in the gallery

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