Story by Nicole Lum/Red Sports. Photos by Lee Jian Wei and Clara Yuan/Red Sports
Calista Chan (#386) of Nanyang Girls’ High School in action. She clocked a time of 12.79 seconds to clinch the gold medal. (Photo 1 © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)
Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Wednesday, April 22, 2015 — A long-standing back injury of two years did not deter Calista Chan of Nanyang Girls’ High (NYGH) from the gold in the B Division girls’ 100m final at the 56th National Inter-School Track and Field Championships. She finished the race in 12.79 seconds to claim first place.
Singapore Sports School teammates Portia Tan and Nurul Syarah were second and third respectively. Portia crossed the finish line in 12.85s while Syarah took bronze with 12.87s, just 0.02s behind.
Calista was over the moon with her achievement. “I feel extremely overjoyed and happy that I have won something in this nationals!”
The Secondary Four student sustained a lower back injury and had to pull out from competing in the National Inter-School Track and Field Championships for the last two years.
“It didn’t feel good to be out of the competition for two years and so I was determined to get back this year,” Calista explained, who was also a finalist in the C Division girls’ 100m in 2012.
“Even though in the initial stages, it was very tough to get back on path, I think that all was worth it and I am just very glad that I am finally able to achieve something like this in this nationals.”
But Calista did not go through recovery alone, as her coach, parents, teachers and friends all had a part to play.
“It was never easy but their support made me push through tough times and helped me overcome my two-year-long inury to get back on track,” she said.
While Calista earned a satisfactory performance, she did not hit her personal best time of 12.76s set last month.
The electronically-timed record for the B Division girls’ 100m is 12.39s, set by Singapore Sports School alumna Eugenia Tan in 2012. Mona Kunalan, then of St. Theresa’s Convent in 1987, holds the hand-timed record of 12.20s.
B Division Girls’ 100m Results
1st Calista Chan Li Ann (#386, Nanyang Girls’ High School) – 12.79s
2nd Tan Tying, Portia (#100, Singapore Sports School) – 12.85s
3rd Nurul Syarah Bte Razali (#98, Singapore Sports School) – 12.87s
4th Lim Lee Lin, Anastasia (#95, Singapore Sports School) – 12.92s
5th Tanisha Moghe (#268, Cedar Girls’ Secondary) – 13.09s
6th Yeo Hui Wen Hannah (#58, CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’) – 13.45s
7th Neo Xi (#260, Cedar Girls’ Secondary) – 13.71s
8th Wang Kai Qing (#131, CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh)) – 13.75s
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