A Div 400m (Girls): Ruelia Nesaranjini of Serangoon Junior College defends title with time of 60.58s

By Romaine Soh/Red Sports

Ruelia Nesaranjini (#16) of Serangoon Junior College won the A Div 400m final in 1:00.57 while Windy Tay (#177, left) of ACJC was second in 1:02.74. Clarice Mak (not in picture) of VJC was third in 1:02.85. Brittanie Rei Bartlett (#151, right) also of ACJC, was seventh in 1:05.05. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Thursday, April 11, 2013 — Ruelia Nesaranjini of Serangoon Junior College successfully defended her A Division 400 metres title, stopping the clock at 60.58 seconds at the 54th National Schools Track and Field Championships.

Windy Tay of Anglo-Chinese Junior College pipped Clarice Mak of Victoria Junior College (VJC) to the line, grabbing the silver in a time of 62.75. Clarice had to settle for the bronze with a 62.86.

Initially, Shannon Chan of VJC held the lead for the first 150m, having started on the outermost lane, deprived of the benefit of gauging her rivals’ pace.

By the second half of the race, Ruelia started to establish a lead over the rest of the field which no one was able to challenge.

In the home straight, Windy and Clarice started to challenge a slowing Shannon to the line. Clarice caught Shannon in the last 30m, but the finish line came up too soon for her to take on Windy.

“I didn’t manage to go below 60s today,” rued Ruelia.

“There’s still the 200m, of which I’m more confident of, thus I’m gunning for a 25.5!” she said confidently.

A Division Girls 400m Results
1st Ruelia Nesaranjini D/O R R (Serangoon Junior College, #16) — 01:00.57
2nd Windy Tay Si Min (Anglo-Chinese Junior College, #177) — 01:02.74
3rd Mak Keqing Clarice (Victoria Junior College, #135) — 01:02.85
4th Chan Wan Ting, Shannon (Victoria Junior College, #125) — 01:03.18
5th Francisco Andrea Mae (Raffles Institution, #83) — 01:04.82
6th Thia Yi Yi (Hwa Chong Institution, #199) — 01:05.03
7th Brittanie Rei Bartlett (Anglo-Chinese Junior College, #151) — 01:05.05
8th Jessica Tan Shu En (Raffles Institution, #86) — 01:06.18