NYGH's Huang Tianai (#283) anchors her team to gold in the C Div girls' 4x400m relay final. NJC finished second, while Tanjong Katong Secondary finished third. (Photo X © Iman Hashim/Red Sports)

NYGH’s Huang Tianai (#283) anchors her team to gold in the C Div girls’ 4x400m relay final. NJC finished second, while Tanjong Katong Secondary finished third. (Photo 8 © Iman Hashim/Red Sports)

C Div Girls’ 4x400m Relay Final
Dilys Koh, Luanne Chua, Laura Leong and Huang Tianai brought home the C Div girls’ 4x400m relay gold for Nanyang Girls’ High School (NYGH), clinching their school’s first win in this event since 2017.

Only in third place halfway through the race, they turned up a gear on the final two legs to finish first in 4:31.48.

In a very tight finish where less than three seconds separated 1st and 4th, Tamara Tyles of National Junior College (NJC) brought her team from fifth place to silver position on the anchor, finishing in 4:33.25, while Tanjong Katong Secondary (TKSS) came in third in 4:33.43. Cedar Girls’ were fourth in 4:34.18.

NJC’s second place, together with their 4x100m relay silver earlier, meant the school has garnered its first ever C Division relay medals. TKSS’s bronze was also the school’s first ever C girls’ relay medal, since 1970 at least.

Though NYGH’s 4:31.48 is the slowest winning time in this event since 1986 (4:34.4, also NYGH), the timings across the board in the final have improved. For good measure, the difference between the 1st- and 8th-place timings in this race was only 9.68 seconds, while the average of this stat in the previous 21 editions of the meet is 29.10s.

Results
1st Nanyang Girls’ High School — 4 minutes 31.48 seconds
2nd National Junior College — 4:33.25
3rd Tanjong Katong Secondary School — 4:33.43
4th Cedar Girls’ Secondary School — 4:34.18
5th Crescent Girls’ School — 4:35.92
6th Methodist Girls’ School — 4:37.18
7th Singapore Sports School — 4:38.99
8th CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) — 4:41.16
9th Dunman High School — 4:42.95

Final baton exchanges in the B Div girls' 4x400m relay final. SSP's Neo En Yu twists her ankle as she hands over the baton to anchor Victoria Chua.  SSP went on to win the gold. (Photo X © Iman Hashim/Red Sports)

Final baton exchanges in the B Div girls’ 4x400m relay final. SSP’s Neo En Yu twists her ankle as she hands over the baton to anchor Victoria Chua. SSP went on to win the gold. (Photo 9 © Iman Hashim/Red Sports)

B Div Girls’ 4x400m Relay Final
Singapore Sports School (SSP) defended the B Div girls’ 4x400m relay gold in 4:15.71, with Nanyang Girls’ High second in 4:16.54 and Raffles Girls’ School (RGS) third in 4:19.70. Cedar Girls’ were fourth in 4:20.76.

It was SSP’s 14th win in this event in the last 17 editions of the championships, ever since the school’s establishment. This was despite none of its individual 400m runners making the semis this year.

First runner Siti Nurhidayah was not registered for any individual events, while second runner Navitha Yovan took part in the long jump and triple jump. Neo En Yu, who competed in the 100m and 200m, brought SSP from second to first place on the penultimate leg — twisting her ankle during the baton exchange — before 800m-1500m runner Victoria Chua ensured the victory.

Results
1st Singapore Sports School — 4 minutes 15.71 seconds
2nd Nanyang Girls’ High School — 4:16.54
3rd Raffles Girls’ School — 4:19.70
4th Cedar Girls’ Secondary School — 4:20.76
5th CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School — 4:22.65
6th CHIJ St. Theresa’s Convent — 4:23.11
7th Crescent Girls’ School — 4:25.32
8th National Junior College — 4:30.02
9th Dunman High School — 4:34.16

RI's Kirsten May Leong (#149) and HCI's Tan Kit Kaye (#99) on anchor in the A Div girls' 4x400m relay final. RI pipped HCI by 0.56s to win gold. (Photo X © Iman Hashim/Red Sports)

RI’s Kirsten May Leong (#149) and HCI’s Tan Kit Kaye (#99) on anchor in the A Div girls’ 4x400m relay final. RI pipped HCI by 0.56s to win gold. (Photo 10 © Iman Hashim/Red Sports)

A Div Girls’ 4x400m Relay Final
A topsy-turvy affair in the A Div girls’ 4x400m relay final saw the top 3 teams exchange the lead multiple times before RI’s Chloe Wong, Niesha Kim Bhandari, Lyn Liau and Kirsten May Leong marginally took gold in 4:15.00, 0.56 seconds ahead of silver medalists HCI.

SSP, in the absence of 400m-400m hurdles champ Audrey Koh who was in Uzbekistan for the Asian U18 Championships, took bronze in 4:18.75.

All three schools’ lead-off runners completed their runs almost simultaneously, before Cass Chan brought SSP in front midway through the second leg. That lead got threatened after Niesha’s strong kick on the home straight for RI, but HCI went from third to first place by the end of the penultimate leg via Eleana Goh.

It came down to a neck-and-neck contest between RI’s Kirsten and HCI’s Tan Kit Kaye on the anchor, and the 400m bronze medalist prevailed to reclaim RI’s gold in this event which the school last won in 2019.

Results
1st Raffles Institution — 4 minutes 15.00 seconds
2nd Hwa Chong Institution — 4:15.56
3rd Singapore Sports School — 4:18.75
4th Victoria Junior College — 4:26.99
5th National Junior College — 4:36.45
6th Anglo-Chinese Junior College — 4:37.57
7th St. Andrew’s Junior College — 4:38.25
8th Eunoia Junior College — 4:45.60
9th Dunman High School — 5:00.29

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