With their tag as traditional powerhouses in schools' track and field, one would think that Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) are dominant in the marquee relay events. They turned out to be, but not before erasing a few relay gold droughts in the girls' A Division and C boys' 4 by 100 metres at the 63rd National Schools Track and Field Championships.
As Harry Irfan Curran crossed the finish line first in the C Division boys’ 4 by 400 metres relay final, he raised his arms into a heart shape directed at his Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) teammates. That gesture stemmed from relief more than anything. A day earlier in the 4x100m relay final, the same quartet — the favourites having qualified fastest — got disqualified when second runner John Tan, the 200m hurdles champion, fell in the exchange zone and outgoing runner Sean Gerard Yoo picked up the baton before his teammate did.
Cedar Girls' Secondary claimed three out of a possible four relay golds at the 63rd National Schools Track and Field Championships, clinching double relay victory in the girls' C Division and crossing the line first in the B girls' 4 by 100 metres race. It was the first time the school has won three or more relay golds in the same meet since the alumna of 1999 also won both C girls' relays as well as the B Division 4x400m.
In a heart-stopping final, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) defeated Raffles Institution by a single unconverted try, to claim their seventh straight title as their parents and friends watched from the stadium stands.
After entering the long jump six-metre club, Hwa Chong Institution (HCI)'s Ethan Kong hopped, stepped and leapt over 12.53 metres to take victory in the C Division boys' triple jump. The Secondary 2 student erased his previous best mark of 12.09m recorded at the Singapore Athletics U16/U18/U20 Championships a month ago, making it two personal bests in a row after claiming the long jump silver with 6.00m the previous week.
By the tiniest of margins, Victoria Junior College (VJC)'s Claudia Tang and Lim Wei Feng of Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) grabbed victories in their respective A Division 800-metre finals to make up for second-place finishes in the 1500m.
With all other events on the track completed and with dozens of pairs of eyes on him, Raffles Institution (RI)’s Aloysius Loh delivered on his final throw — and literally the last piece of action at the meet — to snatch victory and eclipse the A Division boys’ shot put (5kg) record with 17.89 metres.
Tries from Tycen Yeoh (#26) and Eric Chi (#15) helped Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) to a comfortable 76-5 aggregate win over St Andrew’s Junior College in the A Division Rugby National School Games semi-final.
