Story and photos by Iman Hashim/Red Sports

Eleana Goh (#85) of HCI clinched victory in the A Div girls' 200m final in a personal best 26.16s, as Singapore Sports School's Tong Yan Yee (#164) and Laura Wong of ACJC finished second and third in 27.19s and 27.28s respectively. (Photo 1 © Iman Hashim/Red Sports)

Eleana Goh (#85) of HCI clinched victory in the A Div girls’ 200m final in a personal best 26.16s, as Singapore Sports School’s Tong Yan Yee (#164) and Laura Wong of ACJC finished second and third in 27.19s and 27.28s respectively. (Photo 1 © Iman Hashim/Red Sports)

Bukit Gombak Stadium, Monday, April 25, 2022 — Hwa Chong Institution (HCI)’s Eleana Goh shook off fatigue and niggling doubts to clinch victory in the A Division girls’ 200 metres final, crossing the line in a huge personal best of 26.16 seconds.

“Actually I wasn’t feeling very good today… I was feeling very tired,” admitted the 17-year-old.

“I didn’t sleep well yesterday, I was too nervous… I was actually quite worried about today’s race.”

But she showed no signs of doubt as she stopped the clock more than one second ahead of her nearest competitors, as Singapore Sports School’s Tong Yan Yee and Laura Wong of Anglo-Chinese Junior College finished second and third in 27.19s and 27.28s respectively.

It turned out to be Eleana’s maiden individual gold medal at this annual schools meet, with her last outing in 2019 culminating in two individual silvers in the C Division 100m and 200m — before the Covid-19 pandemic forced a two-year hiatus of the championships.

She also improved greatly on her previous lifetime best of 26.69s, which he clocked in the heats last week.

“Based on the timings and the results of the heats… and from what people told me also, I would probably get first… but to me, what was more important was that I broke my PB again, because I want to keep improving,” said the former Nanyang Girls’ High School athlete.

“I think honestly if I had gotten the gold but didn’t break my PB, I would be a bit disappointed,” she added.

Eleana will now turn her attention to the 100m final on Friday (April 29), of which she has qualified second fastest from the semis with a time of 12.95s, narrowly behind Victoria Junior College’s 100m hurdles champion Ashley Tan, who clocked 12.87s in the 100m semis.

Though she admitted her nervousness for the century sprint final, Eleana is relishing the challenge.

“It’s going to be a really tough fight, and once again I don’t know what to expect,” she said.

“I think I’ll just try my best, and either way, I’m very close to beating my 100m PB, so to me what’s more important is that I am able to break my PB for that as well.”

Elsewhere on the track on Monday, Cedar Girls’ Prisha Kaushal and Lin Ziqing emerged victorious in the C Div and B Div girls’ 1500m racewalk respectively, while schoolmate Nadya Wong also took gold on the field in the B Div girls’ shot put. HCI’s Darwin Sua finished first in the C Div boys’ 1500m racewalk.

63rd National Schools Track and Field Championships 2022
April 25 – Selected Results

A Div Girls’ 200m Final
1st Eleana Goh En Ya (#85, Hwa Chong Institution) — 26.16 seconds
2nd Tong Yan Yee (#164, Singapore Sports School) — 27.19
3rd Laura Wong (#15, Anglo-Chinese Junior College) — 27.28
4th Lyn Liau (#142, Raffles Institution) — 27.42
5th Heng Ann Xin (#87, Hwa Chong Institution) — 27.78
6th Felicia Sng (#199, Victoria Junior College) — 27.98
7th Kirsten May Leong (#141, Raffles Institution) — 28.17
8th Leanne Li En Massang (#16, Anglo-Chinese Junior College) — 28.64

B Div Girls’ Shot Put Final
1st Nadya Wong (#79, Cedar Girls’ Secondary) — 11.45 metres
2nd Neo Ee Nin (#184, CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’) — 11.08
3rd Angel Lim (#158, CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’) — 10.79
4th Thang Ying Yue (#363, Nanyang Girls’ High) — 10.38
5th Raechelle Siu (#188, CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’) — 9.92
6th Miya Christine Alexanderovna Knight (Cedar Girls’ Secondary) — 9.84
7th Lim Ci Rui (#350, Nanyang Girls’ High) — 9.30
8th Nur Hidayah Bte Mohamed Sani (#146, CHIJ Secondary Toa Payoh) — 8.88

C Div Girls’ 1500m Racewalk Final
1st Prisha Kaushal (#71, Cedar Girls’ Secondary) — 10:07.88
2nd Hannah Bte Haron (#55, Cedar Girls’ Secondary) — 10:16.99
3rd Klarisse Ng (#349, Raffles Girls’ School) — 10:40.92
4th Karthikeyan Medha Reddy (#293, National Junior College) — 11:02.19
5th Germaine Goh (#54, Cedar Girls’ Secondary) — 11:33.89
6th Nur Syahana Bte Muhammad Kamaruddin (#412, Unity Secondary) — 11:57.46
7th Muthukumar Mahisha (#408, Unity Secondary) — 12:10.33
8th Sharlize Iman Bte Shahul Ali (#385, St. Anthony’s Canossian) — 12:10.77

C Div Boys’ 1500m Racewalk Final
1st Darwin Sua (#228, Hwa Chong Institution) — 8:33.54
2nd Lee Koon Kai (#217, Hwa Chong Institution) — 8:50.38
3rd Jude Toh (#115, Catholic High School) — 9:01.21
4th Gareth Tan (#230, Hwa Chong Institution) — 9:01.46
5th Wilbert Lai (#343, Raffles Institution) — 9:24.42
6th Sudhir Balamurugan (#335, Raffles Institution) — 9:25.36
7th Aaron Chia (#306, Raffles Institution) — 9:29.18
8th Fabian Tay (#480, Victoria School) — 9:30.26

B Div Girls’ 1500m Racewalk Final
1st Lin Ziqing (#75, Cedar Girls’ Secondary) — 8:41.08
2nd Kuek Yu Jing (#381, National Junior College) — 8:44.34
3rd Sem Shan Ya (#91, Cedar Girls’ Secondary) — 9:21.11
4th Nur Hidayah Bte Mohd Suhaimi (#86, Cedar Girls’ Secondary) — 9:23.26
5th Adora Seet (#449, Raffles Girls’ School) — 9:42.83
6th Nurul Iman Bte Mohammed Rohan (#459, Raffles Girls’ School) — 9:57.55
7th Audrey Tay (#372, National Junior College) — 10:09.74
8th Kaydence Tay (#405, North Vista Secondary) — 10:16.41

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