SINGAPORE - After a long wait of 21 years. Victoria Junior College (VJC) finally won their first girls' A Division athletics title on Friday (April 29) at the National Stadium.
Before the start of Friday's events, the VJC girls were tied on points with Hwa Chong Institution (HCI). A strong performance in the 800m, however, propelled them to an eight-point victory over HCI. Alexandra Wee won in 2 min 36.53 secs, just 0.17s ahead of RI's Corrie Teo, whom she overtook in the last 100m.
Said Alexandra, 17: "For the sprint events, we thought that the other schools were better, so I was one of the anchors of our team.
"It was a pressure that was good because I know it's for the school."
Cedar Girls Secondary won the B Division event, but were beaten in the C Division championships by Nanyang Girls High School.
For the boys, Raffles Institution won its second consecutive A Division title, defeating long-time rivals HCI by 34 points. However, HCI did not go home empty-handed, winning both the boys' B and C Division titles.
Catholic Junior College's A Division boys also had a good outing. Shahmee Ruzain, 17, rose against the odds, including a tweaked hamstring, to win the A Division boys' 100m gold medal with a time of 11.22s, adding to his 200m win (22.49s) on Monday.
These are CJC's first gold medals in a boys' track event in at least 32 years, along with the school's 4x100m A-boys' relay team's unexpected second position with a time of 43.44s.
Another outstanding performer of the meet was Pasir Ris Secondary School's Syed Hussein Aljunied, who secured his third win in school sports, finishing first in the B-boys' 1,500m event with a time of 4 min 15.33s.
The 16-year-old had previously won the B-Boys' 3000m event (9 min 44.86s), as well as an individual gold in the National Schools Cross Country Championships with a time of 16 min 1.66s.
This was the first time the National School Games Track and Field Championships have been held in the new National Stadium. The event was attended by over 15,000 spectators.
