By REDintern Soh Rui Yong

Video used with permission of SAA and SSSC

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Wednesday, April 27, 2011 — Zachary Ryan Devaraj of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) (ACS(I)) proved unstoppable in the 1500m once again, beating down a brave challenge from reigning national schools cross-country and 5000m champion Jeevaneesh S/O Soundararajah of Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) to win his fifth 1500m gold medal in five years at the 52nd National Schools Track and Field Championships.

Zachary led the race from start to finish and stopped the clock at 4 minutes 07.13 seconds, missing out on the championship record of 4:06.40 set by Nigel Foo Siang Kee of Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) back in 1995.

The 1500m final was the fourth race this year between Zach and Jeevan, after the Wings Cross Country Championships held on 19th February, the National Schools Cross Country Championships on 23rd March, and the 4 x 800m relay at the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) School Relays Championships on 27th March.

Jeevan had reigned supreme over his rival at both cross country races, beating Zach by well over a minute at Wings over the 4.2km route (13:36 to 14:47), and almost a minute at National Schools (14:57 to 15:54). Zach, however, showed that he was in his element at the shorter distances.

With both athletes running the fourth and final leg of the 4 x 800m relay at the SPH meet, HCI ran up a big lead in the third leg, allowing Jeevan to receive the baton 3 seconds before Zach, an eternity in the 800m event. With ACS(I) backs to the wall, Zach grabbed the baton and turned it on, blazing after Jeevan, catching him after just 200m, and tearing away in the final 100m of the race, much to the delight of his teammates and the ACS(I) supporters.

Prior to the 1500m final at the schools championships, Jeevan had grabbed the 5000m gold medal after a fierce battle with Raffles Institution (RI)’s Benjamin Amaldas Samynathan, while Zach defeated Seow Yeong Yang, also of RI, for the first time in three attempts this year to win the 800m gold.

This set up the stage on the final day of the track and field championships as Jeevan aimed to put a stop to Zach’s 100 percent winning record in the 1500m event since his first appearance as a Secondary One student back in 2007.

With Jeevan’s superior endurance, many felt that the best way he could threaten Zach would be to run a fast, punishing pace early on, which would hopefully allow him to tire out Zach and render the latter unable to use his devastating speed late in the race. However, as the starting gun boomed into the clear afternoon skies, Zach demonstrated immense confidence in surging decisively into the lead.

Jeevan, meanwhile, had his route of advance blocked off by athletes who had started faster than him, and was dead last after the first 100m of the race. He swung wide on the bend and moved up the field quickly, managing to catch up with Zach at the 300m mark. Zach led the field through the first lap in 65.9 seconds, on track for a 4:07 finishing time. Zach was seen checking over his shoulder periodically, no doubt keeping a lookout for Jeevan, who was tracking him closely.

Zach then allowed the pace to drift slightly in the second lap, which was covered in 68.7 seconds. The runners were no longer on championship-record pace, and it appeared that Zach was more concerned about winning the race than going for a fast time. Jeevan was visibly suffering from the pace though, and his running form began to falter as he lost ground on his opponent with every step taken.

After a few more checks over his shoulder, Zach pounced as the duo entered the last lap and displayed his superior finishing speed, accelerating away from the 5000m champion and widening his advantage all the way round the last lap. Zach raised his arms in sheer delight as he crossed the finish line after a 62.7 second final lap which left the rest of the field trailing in his wake, narrowly missing the championship record, but preserving his undefeated status in the 1500m.

“I feel that I ran a bit too conservatively in the middle stages of the race as I was preoccupied with keeping aware of where Jeevan was all the time,” Zach shared.

“It was my first 1500m race of the year, and as such I was not used to running at the 1500m rhythm yet. Next year I’ll just target to run 4 minutes flat and go for it from the very start,” he continued.

With the closure of National Schools Track and Field Championships, Zach and Jeevan now look set to join forces as they represent our nation at the ASEAN Schools Games from 4th to 10th July. The games will be hosted by Singapore this year.

A Boys 1500m Results
1st Zachary Devaraj (76 ACS(I)) — 04:07.13
2nd Jeevaneesh S/O Soundararajah (275 HCI) — 04:16.28
3rd Lee Guan Lin (146 RI) — 04:20.16
4th Sean Lim Yi Fang (69 ACS(I)) — 04:21.93
5th Chin Joo Ern (274 HCI) — 04:23.44
6th Tan Qing Yu Ivan (71 ACS(I)) — 04:27.21
7th Aw Xin Sheng Freeman (271 HCI) — 04:31.03
8th Norman Lai Jun Bin (310 JJC) — 04:31.76
9th Roy Chiang Wei Hao (221 VJC) — 04:32.00
10th Hui Jia Sheng Jared (83 CJC) — 04:33.60
11th James Iau Nan Hoong (242 ACJC) — 04:33.83
12th Yeo Jun Kang Sherwin (232 VJC) — 04:39.86
13th Teng Wee Loong Joel (121 NJC) — 04:40.56
14th Manudeep N S (216 VJC) — 04:41.34
15th Leng Kenn Siang (249 ACJC) — 04:46.31
16th Chew Liang Yuh (199 TJC) — 04:46.75