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

(Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Vera Wah (CG #643) finished second in 20:48 and was the fastest Cedar Girls’ runner. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Bedok Reservoir, Saturday, February 6, 2016 — Cedar Girls’ Secondary proved their prowess when they clinched the under-18 team title with ease at the 65th Singapore Athletics Cross Country Championships.

Vera Wah was the fastest Cedar Girls’ runner over the 5km route after she stopped the clock at 20 minutes 48 seconds, 10 seconds behind winner Isabelle Ghersi. The subsequent 2nd, 4th, and 6th placings of the Cedar Team 1 runners earned them the team title.

The start of the race saw the JS Athletics runners swiftly breaking away, leaving the rest boxed in. With no distinct front pack to chase, the runners were scattered throughout the duration of the 5km course.

When asked about the race, Vera said, “I was intimidated in the first half of the race as the JS Athletics runners were all in front. However, I sped up in the later half and eventually caught up to most of them. I’m glad I improved from last year, and it was a good learning experience to be in a race where I needed to overtake people.”

Vera had come in first runner-up in the C Division category at last year’s National Schools Cross Country, and this was her first U-18 race.

Her teammate, Joyceleen Yap, added, “I was initially boxed in at the start. However I managed to catch up when people started to tire, and found my way to the front by the halfway mark. I am satisfied with my timing for this race.”

Girls U-18 Results (Top 10)
1st Isabelle Ghersi (#668, JS Athletics) — 20:38
2nd Vera Wah (#643, Cedar Girls’) — 20:48
3rd Kate Callon (#691, Individual) — 21:04
4th Joyceleen Yap (#640, Cedar Girls’) — 21:24
5th Vanessa Simley (#670, JS Athletics) — 21:58
6th Yi Zhong (#641, Cedar Girls’) — 22:02
7th Sarah Koh (#642, Cedar Girls’) — 22:05
8th Anna Fong (#637, Cedar Girls’) — 22:29
9th Reyna Tan Rui Na (#663, EVG BIG) — 22:36
10th Keh Chin Yip (#688, North Vista) — 22:46

U-18 Team Results
1st Cedar Girls’ Team 1 — 12 points
Vera Wah (2nd), Joyceleen Yap (4th), Yi Zhong (6th), Sarah Koh (7th)

2nd JS Athletics Team 3 — 17 points
Isabelle Ghersi (1st), Vanessa Simley (5th), Caylee Chua His-ern (11th), Emily Whitehouse (12th)

3rd Cedar Girls’ Team 2 – 38 points
Anna Fong (8th), Grace Wang (13th), Cheryl Chng (17th), Denise Ng (36th)

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