By REDintern Lim Yu-Han

a div girls 3000m final

Jolene Quek of RI leading the pack. She would lead from start to finish to win in 11:47.12. Tan Wan Xin (#99, behind Ling An), also of RI, was second in 11:55.43 while Ling An (#185) of HCI was third in 11:57.42. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)

 

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Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Wednesday, April 10, 2013 — Jolene Quek of Raffles Institution (RI) took home gold in the the A Division 3,000 metres at the 54th National Schools Track and Field Championships, crossing the line in 11 minutes 47.12 seconds.

This is the second crown for Jolene this year, after having won the 2013 A Division cross country title.

Tan Wan Xin, also of RI, was second in 11:55.43 when she outran Ling An of Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) in the last 50 metres. Ling An finished third in 11:57.42.

Pamela Chia Xian Qing set the electronically-timed record of 10:59.21 in 2003 while running in the colours of Hwa Chong Junior College. Zhang Cuiying, then of Raffles Junior College, set the hand-timed record of 10:34.60 in 1991.

Traditional powerhouses RI and HCI saw their runners taking the first to sixth positions as soon as the start gun went off. Yeo Xin Yi of HCI led the pack for the first 400m, before RI’s Jolene Quek moved up to take the lead. Adeline Bee of RI followed closely behind, the two separating themselves from the chase group of three HCI runners and RI’s Tan Wan Xin.

By the 1,000m mark, Jolene had already pulled away from the pack by 10 metres. This gap continued to widen gradually to 30 metres as she showed no signs of fatigue and simply continued to quicken her pace. Ling An of HCI and Wan Xin of RI put up a valiant fight at the end, but it was too late to close the distance.

RI’s Jolene was immensely thankful about her win. “The 3000m and cross country races were like a dream to me as i never expected myself to achieve such results. I really thank God, my coach, my teacher and my teammates to keep me going throughout the season.”

On her unfaltering lead, she said, “This was the last race of my season…I just kept asking myself, ‘Can I go faster?’ And thanks to all the training I’ve gone through, amazingly, I could.”

Teammate Wan Xin commented, “This was my last race, and my last chance to win a track medal, so I really wanted to end off on a high. That was what drove me to hang on to Ling An, and even at the last lap when she sped up, I didn’t give up and pushed myself to run even harder.”

Ling An of HCI shared, “I just tried to stick close to the Raffles runners as much as possible. The pace seemed reasonable but the sun was insane!”

“I’m proud of my teammates Valerie and Xin Yi for doing their best and also, congratulations to Jolene and Wan Xin for running so well.” Ling An applauded her team and opponents in the spirit of good sportsmanship.

A Div Girls 3,000m Results
1st Quek Qian Ying Jolene (#97, RI) — 11:47.12
2nd Tan Wan Xin (#99, RI) — 11:55.43
3rd Ling An (#185, HCI) — 11:57.42
4th Adeline Bee Wei Ting (#73, RI) — 12:24.64
5th Yeo Xin Yi (#203, HCI) — 12:25.04
6th Chua Qi Wei Valerie (#180, HCI) — 12:37.07
7th Wan Ching Ee Joyce (#176, ACJC) — 12:52.74
8th Tan Xin Hui Blossom (#141, VJC) — 12:53.80
9th Faith Lee Chun Ren (#155, ACJC) — 13:04.81
10th Hoh Wan Ling, Dilys (#116, SJI) — 13:24.89
11th Quek Zhou En (#170, ACJC) — 13:28.47
12th Ng Xin Yi (#52, CJC) — 13:30.94
13th Ng Weiyun Chloe (#51, CJC) — 13:38.21
14th Rohini Anant (#68, NJC) — 13:40.67
15th S Roobini (#17, SRJC) —13:43.75
16th Sumithri Rekha V (#70, NJC) — 13:44.77
17th Abigail Sim E Xuan (#123, VJC) — 13:45.46
18th Tee Jia Xin (#121, DHS) — 13:54.59
19th Kua Ying Li Aleena (#133, VJC) — 14:13.46
20th Sim Tzi Ling (#40, ACS(I)) — 14:26.08
21st Sonia Kaur Sambhi (#41, ACS(I)) — 14:40.46
22nd Quek Yin Hwee Sarah (#38, ACS(I)) — 14:47.43
23rd Fang Shiyuan (#63, NJC) — 15:47.56
24th Tay Mei Gin Alicia (#58, CJC) — 16:07.86
Andrea Choo Jia Qi (#106, SAJC) — WDL

For more photos, go to: Red Sports Images