The final day of Schools National Track and Field Championships was laden with drama - lightning warnings suspended all events for nearly two hours, an attempt at setting a new national record was thwarted, and traditional sporting powerhouses were dethroned.
Indeed, it was a day to savour at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium on the finale of the annual track and field meet.
Singapore Sports School (SSP) was one of the biggest winners of the day, adding its first-ever B Division Girls' title to the B Division Boys' trophy it retained yesterday. The SSP had wrested it from 22-time defending champions Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) last year.
The SSP girls swept the podium for the B Division Girls' 100m event and clinched the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
SSP's B Division girls' captain Nur Izlyn Zaini, who won the 100m final and anchored the 4x100m relay team, was delighted to win the title for the first time.
"We needed the clean sweep to win the trophy, and I'm very happy that we managed to do it," said the 16-year-old.
Raffles Institution (RI) was dominant in the 100m events, winning the A, B and C Boys' and the A Girls' event. RI won its first A Division Boys' title since 2010, beating rivals HCI after a strong showing in the relays on the final day.
"Everyone was training really hard before the competition, because we wanted to surpass our own standards, and we managed to come here and performed at our best," said RI's sprints-captain Ang Ding Hui, 18.
National pole vaulter Chan Sheng Yao of HCI, who held the national record as recently as last month, was shocked in the A Division Boys' pole vault event, after his bid to break the national record backfired. It led to a surprise victory for school-mate Bennett Yong.
HCI won the A Division Girls' and C Division Boys' titles, while Cedar Girls' Secondary School retained their C Division Girls' championship.
Overall Schools National Track and Field Championships winners:
C Division
Boys: Hwa Chong Institution
Girls: Cedar Girls' Secondary School
B Division
Boys: Singapore Sports School
Girls: Singapore Sports School
A Division
Boys: Raffles Institution
Girls: Hwa Chong Institution
