Story by Ryan Lim/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan and Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports

c div boys 200m

Reuben Lee of Sports School won gold in 23.07s, missing the record by 0.08s. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Bishan Stadium, Monday, April 25, 2016 — Reuben Lee of Singapore Sports School dominated the C Division 200m contest in 23.07 seconds to claim the gold medal at the 57th National Schools Track and Field Championships.

Reuben came close to breaking the championship record for the event, missing out by a mere 0.08s. The 22.99s record was set in the 2003 final by Mohd Yusof Bin Azhari, then of St. Joseph’s Institution. Mohd Yusof had also ran a 23.02s in the heats. Reuben’s timing here is the third fastest ever in the C division.

In second place was Bryan Lam of Hwa Chong Institution clocking 24.58s. Mohamed Ishal of Raffles Institution was third in 24.61s.

In 2015, Reuben registered a time of 24.26s to finish fifth place in the C Division 200m final. This marked an improvement of more than one and a half seconds for the athlete.

However, this timing was not Reuben’s fastest, with his personal best being 23.06s recorded at the WALA Perth State Meet earlier this year.

The race was a straightforward one for Reuben, as he led from beginning to end. He made a blazing start and finished strongly, not allowing his opponents back into contention at any point in the race.

The four runners trailing behind were neck and neck as they approached the final 10m. It was a close finish for silver and bronze with only 0.24s separating second and fifth place.

After the race, Reuben commented, “My race was good, the first 100m was a fast start because my coach wanted me to go fast. I just gave it my best for the last 100m, to try and hit the record.“

When quizzed on his goals, he said, “To represent my country in the future.”

Reuben’s next events are the 100m final, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay on April 29, at the National Stadium.

C Div 200m (Boys) Results
1st Lee Siong En, Reuben Rainer (#110, SSP) — 00:23.07
2nd Bryan Lam Jung Kang (#423, HCI) — 00:24.58
3rd Mohamed Ishal Zikang Bin Mohamed Yousoof (#218, RI) — 00:24.61
4th Chua Chong Sun (#465, NUSHS) — 00:24.79
5th Ng Sheng Cong, Jerrick (#158, ACS(I)) — 00:24.82
6th Toh Ping Sian, Justin (#55, CH) — 00:25.04
7th Tan Wei Jie, Jovan (#134, YTS) — 00:25.25
8th Au Tze Xuan (#85, NV) — 00:25.57
Wind speed: 1.8 metres per second

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