Story and photos by Stefanus Ian/Red Sports.

Ann Lee of NYGH came in first in the B Division Girls Long Jump event with a final distance of 5.11m. (Photo 1 © Stefanus Ian/Red Sports)

Ann Lee of NYGH came in first in the B Division Girls Long Jump event with a final distance of 5.11m. (Photo 1 © Stefanus Ian/Red Sports)

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Monday, March 25, 2019 — Ann Lee of Nanyang Girls High School (NYGH) bettered her personal best by one centimetre with a winning jump of 5.11 metres in the Girls’ B Division Long Jump event to clinch gold.

Despite clinching first place, Ann said she knew she could have done better.

“I was kind of still anxious because I know 5.11 is also not my best. I was still aiming further than that,” said the 15-year-old student, who had to make adjustments to her run up during the course of the competition.

“At first my run-up was actually not on the board so I kind of adjusted quite a lot to make sure that I was on the board,” she added.

“So the first few jumps were not as good.”

But the highlight of the long jump event, according to Ann was not so much her win but the persistent disturbance of a white bird at the track. The white bird would periodically swoop towards some of the long jump participants and even forcing the officials to restart the jump countdown for some of the girls.

“It was during our jumps when (the bird) started like flying around… I think because I wanted to get away from the bird quickly so I kind of faster finished the jumps,” she said.

“The highlight of the whole jump was actually the bird,” added Ann with a laugh.

Despite not attaining her PBs for long jump and triple jump in the Nationals, Ann Lee said it was still a “sweet” season for her.

“I would like to express my thanks to coach Kamarulzaman Bin Tahir for helping me become a stronger athlete and achieving distances I didn’t imagine possible,” said Ann.

“Thank you also to my training mates who pressed on with me even on days when we felt like giving up. Lastly, thank you to my family, friends, and favourite aunties for their unwavering support and always cheering for me.”

Singapore Sports School’s Chandru Bhavika came in second with a final distance of 5.09 metres while Mabel Leow of Cedar Girls’ Secondary School rounded off the top three with a distance of 4.93 metres.

Girls’ B Division Long Jump Results
1 Ann Lee (#1025 Nanyang Girls’ High School) — 5.11m
2 Chandru Bhavika (#723 Singapore Sports School) — 5.09m
3 Mabel Leow (#889 Cedar Girls’ Secondary School) — 4.93m
4 Jovyn Lim (#853 Raffles Girls’ School) — 4.87m
5 Faith Yeong Rui Min (#750 CHIJ Secondary Toa Payoh) — 4.82m
6 Chung Ning Xin (#664 CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’) — 4.80m
7 Woo Shi Ying (#905 Cedar Girls’ Secondary School) — 4.78m
8 Du Mei Qian @Du Kaixuan (#1037 Nanyang Girls’ High School) — 4.70m

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