Story by REDintern Edina Tan. Photos by Les Tan/Red Sports

(Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Vanessa Lee of VJC was the fastest female runner on the day with a 19:21 timing for the 5km route. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Bedok Reservoir, Saturday, February 6, 2016 — Vanessa Lee of Victoria Junior College (VJC) merged as the champion in the Under-20 category at the Singapore Athletics Cross Country Championships.

She clocked 19 minutes 21 seconds for the 5km course while teammate Nicole Low finished just five seconds behind. Nicole had won the A Division category at last year’s National Schools Cross Country Championships.

However, it was Raffles Institution (RI) that won the team title with their 3rd, 4th, and 5th finishes.

The race started off fast, with the front pack established swiftly. Vanessa led at the start, but soon settled down into a steadier and slower pace. At the 400 metre mark, her teammate Nicole caught up with her.

Together with Vivian Tang, who went on to win in the Masters category, the trio made up the front pack for the entire race.

A sprint in the final 300m saw Vanessa overtake Nicole and Vivian and she was the first to cross the finish line, beating the runners also from the Open and Masters categories.

Said Vanessa about her win, “I hope I can continue to improve and not stagnate. This race is a good benchmark for future races to come.”

Despite the 1-2 placing of Vanessa and Nicole respectively, the Raffles Institution Team 1 consisting of Natalie Soh, Faye Chang, Nah Yi Xin and Valarie Lai managed to clinch the team title with their impressive 3-4-5 finish respectively.

Natalie Soh of RI said, “This race was a good start to the season, and I’m excited for more races to come with the team!”

With the close fight for top placings between the runners of VJC and RI, the next race at the Wings Cross Country Championships will be an exciting one to watch.

Girls U-20 Results (Top 10)
1st Vanessa Lee (#803, Victoria Junior College) — 19:21
2nd Nicole Low (#805, Victoria Junior College) — 19:26
3rd Natalie Soh Hann (#786, Raffles Institution) — 20:06
4th Chiang Aiting Faye (#785, Raffles Institution) — 21:09
5th Nah Yi Xin (#787, Raffles Institution) — 21:16
6th Lok Xin Ying (#806, Victoria Junior College) — 21:25
7th Valarie Lai Zi Qing (#788, Raffles Institution) — 21:53
8th Mariana Branicio (#799, Catholic Junior College) — 22:49
9th Alexandra Wee (#804, Victoria Junior Colllege) — 22:53
10th Keiko Hirano-Lee (#810, Club Zoom) — 23:38

U-20 Team Results
1st RI Team 1 (Yr 5-6) — 12 points
Natalie Soh (3rd), Chang Aiting Faye (4th), Nah Yi Xin (5th), Valarie Lai (7th)

2nd VJC Team 3 — 12 points
Vanessa Lee (1st), Nicole Low (2nd), Alexandra Wee (9th), Pyone Soh (14th)

3rd HCI A Girls — 44 points
Crystabelle Wang (11th), Shi Peng Yi (13th), Amelia Wong (20th), Jo-Lea Lee (29th)

Women Open (Top 10)
1st Fleur Legrain (#857, NUS) — 20:02
2nd Qua Bi Qi (#855, NUS) — 20:22
3rd Faith Lee (#858, NUS) — 21:13
4th Foo Piao Lin (#859, NUS) — 21:16
5th Janielle Lim (#856, NUS) — 21:20
6th Tan Mariviv (#871, Flexifitness) — 22:14
7th Amanda Cheng (#862, NUS) — 22:36
8th Nicole Lum (#861, NUS) — 22:47
9th Kacy Tan (#874, Flexifitness) — 23:00
10th Tiffany Tan (#860, NUS) — 23:44

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