Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight

3/26/09 11:56 PM

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Browse > Home / Front Page News II, Youth in Motion, boys, cross-country / Soh Rui Yong achieves
rare A Division double as six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight

Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as

six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight
Today

Story by REDintern Colin Tung. Pictures by Vanessa Lim, Marvin Lowe and Les Tan.

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Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight 3/26/09 11:56 PM

Rui Yong crosses the finish line ahead of team-mate and runner-up Lim Zhiming (#2058). (Photo 1 ©
Les Tan/Red Sports)

Temasek Polytechnic Stadium, Wednesday, March 25, 2009 - Soh Rui Yong of Raffles Institution won
the A Division individual cross-country title for the second consecutive year as the Raffles boys filled six
of the top eight positions in a masterful 1-2-4-5-7-8 finish to claim the team title.

Running the 4.6km route around Bedok Reservoir and ending at the Temasek Polytechnic track, Soh
triumphantly crossed the finished line in a time of 15 minutes 20.86 seconds. Team-mate Lim Zhi Ming,
who finished second at the recent Singapore Biathlon behind Mok Ying Ren, trailed him in a time of
15:21.90. Lee Ming Hui of Victoria Junior College prevented a Raffles Institution sweep of the podium
by coming in third in a time of 15:34.92.

Soh arose on Wednesday morning with the tag of defending A Division cross-country champion and was
seeking to join an exclusive club of double cross-country champions at A Division level.

Admittedly, he was nervous on the night before the race and ‘only slept four hours.’

Despite being a cross-country and 5000m champion in 2008 at the National Schools Championships, this
race was different from the rest.

“It’s the first time I am going into a race as the favourite,” said Rui Yong after the race. “I have run most
races recently with Mok (at the SAA National Cross-Country Championships and Wings Cross-Country
Championships) or others (such as the Gurkhas in the 10 km event at Standard Chartered Singapore
Marathon) who would lead the pace. This time, I had to be the one leading the pace and running from
the front.”

The Raffles Institution team can also be proud of the commanding manner of their win. Their team score
of twelve points is only two points above the lowest possible of ten. Even if their fifth and sixth runners’
scores were added to their total team score, Raffles Institution would still have won with 27 points.
Victoria Junior College had 33 points from their top-four runners.

When asked about how he felt about his team’s win, Raffles Institution captain Su Yen Bing, in a
struggle for words, said that he was ‘very happy’.

When probed about the secret to their flourishing success, Su added “We trained very hard, controlled
our diets and were very focused and determined. We also struck a balance between studies and running.”

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Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight 3/26/09 11:56 PM

While the A Division boys’ race saw a display in strength and depth of the Raffles Institution team, the
B Division boys’ race proved just as exciting with a photo finish and an upset.

Ruben Galen Demetrius of Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary, after leading for most parts of the race,
was caught unaware by Sumanthran Selvarajo of St. Joseph’s Institution in the last few metres of the
race and lost the individual championship title by a hair’s breadth. Only six thousandths of a second
separated the winner Selvarajo in a time of 15:43.85 from runner-up Demetrius in a time of 15:43.91.
Rodrigo Eugene Cyril of Victoria School was third in 15:49.92.

Sumanthran Selvarajo, who was the 2007 C Division boys’ champion, was evidently happy with the
result.

“I trained for four years for this. I didn’t want to waste any of it.”

On the flipside, Ruben Demetrius displayed obvious disappointment at coming so close to winning.

“I didn’t know he was coming. I only pushed when I realised him closing down on me.”

Demetrius gave an indication of the mistake he made when he said that he thought he ‘won the race
already’ though he knew Selvarajo’s ‘finishing kick is very strong’.

The surprise of the B Division boys race came when Zachary Devaraj of Anglo-Chinese School
(Independent) tripped up near the end of the race before the bridge that took them into the Temasek
Polytechnic grounds.

“I was in second place, just overtaking the first guy (at the time) - Ruben Demetrius of Kuo Chuan
Presbyterian Secondary - when I tripped and stumbled,” said Zachary. “It disrupted my momentum and I
just couldn’t recover.”

Zachary Devaraj had been one of the favourites to win in the B Division with his victories in the last
month at the Wings Cross-Country Championships and the Akira-Swift Cross-Country Championships.

Naturally, he was disappointed but conveyed a sense of optimism saying “there’s next year”. Zachary is
15 and in Secondary Three this year.

With the A and B Divisions, there is always a heightened sense of competitiveness amongst the runners.
With the C division runners though, there is a greater sense of unadulterated fun and free-spiritedness.

The top-two runners in the C Division, Karthic Ragupathy of St. Joseph’s Institution and Venuraam
Selvan of Victoria School who finished first and second respectively, both shared that they are first-
timers in the National Inter-School Cross-Country scene. Karthic and Venuraam finished in times of
16:30.24 and 16:30.80 respectively. The top-three finished less than a second apart as Heng Yu Jie of
Catholic High School completed the trio in a time of 16:30.99.

The winner, Karthic, showed his youthful exuberance as he eloquently articulated the feelings that went
through him as he approached the home-straight down the finish line.

“I had wanted to stop before the track but a creature inside of me erupted and told me to go for it - for
the medal and beat the SJI guy. I didn’t expect myself to win. It is a surprise. My parents are also very
proud of me,” he said.

In finishing second, Venuraam Selvan said that he was ‘overjoyed’.

LTC Fred Cheong, guest-of-honour at the event and a wing commander at the Officer Cadet School
(OCS) also could not help but let on that the ‘vibrant sound of youth’ that he heard ‘reminded (him) of

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Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight 3/26/09 11:56 PM

(his) youth’.

Related Stories
Raffles Institution sweeps boys’ and girls’ titles at National Inter-School Cross-Country Championships

Note: This story only covers the boys’ races. Do return for the story on the girls’ races.

Boys’ Individual Results (top-ten only)

A Division
1. Soh Rui Yong Raffles Institution 15:20.86
2. Lim Zhi Ming Raffles Institution 15:21.90
3. Lee Ming Hui Victoria Junior College 15:34.92
4. Soh Hua Qun Raffles Institution 15:38.80
5. Su Yen Bing Raffles Institution 15:39.47
6. Lian Wei Cong Victoria Junior College 15:42.72
7. Tay You Wei Adriel Raffles Institution 15:46.80
8. Goh Di Yao Kevin Raffles Institution 15:48.33
9. Tse Rong Gary Hwa Chong Institution (College) 16:10.37
10. Saripalli Kundan Reddy Victoria Junior College 16:14.06

B Division
1. Sumanthran S/O Selvarajo St. Joseph’s Institution 15:43.85
2. Ruben Galen Demetrius Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary 15:43.91
3. Rodrigo Eugene Cyril Victoria School 15:49.92
4. Prakash S/O Arasu Singapore Sports School 16:01.80
5. Leong Jia Juin Benjamin Raffles Institution 16:03.90
6. Jeevaneesh S/O Soundarar Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary 16:10.61
7. Sherwin Yeo Jun Kang Catholic High School 16:16.37
8. Leo Geoffrey Westerhout Victoria School 16:17.34
9. Teng Jian Hong Commonwealth Secondary School 16:20.29
10. Koh Yi Thong River Valley High 16:20.34

C Division
1. Karthic Harish Ragupathy St. Joseph’s Institution 16:30.24
2. Venuraam S/O Selvan Victoria School 16:30.80
3. Heng Yu Jie Catholic High School 16:30.99
4. Yong Ren Wei Bryan Victoria School 16:39.23
5. Marcus Ng Yu Pei Victoria School 16:3940
6. Marc Amiruddin Singapore Sports School 16:40.27
7. Tan Hoe En Jonathan Raffles Institution 17:07.02
8. Muhammad Sadiq Boon Lay Secondary 17:12.95
9. Josiah Wee Singapore Sports School 17:19.61
10. Thitikorn Ngampakdeepan Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 17:22.62

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Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight 3/26/09 11:56 PM

The C Division boys raring to go. (Photo 2 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

The B division boys shoving and establishing their own space in the pack. (Photo 3 © Vanessa Lim/Red
Sports)

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Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight 3/26/09 11:56 PM

The A Division boys and Soh Rui Yong (#2053 in green) off to a flying start. Third-placer Lee Ming
Hui (#2009 in yellow) was the only non-RI runner in the top five. Runner-up Lim Zhi Ming is between
the two of them. (Photo 4 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)

Bryan Yong of Victoria School finished 2nd in his team and 4th overall to help the team to the C
Division title. (Photo 5 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)

Jonathan Tan of Raffles Institution finished 7th amongst the C Division boys. (Photo 6 © Marvin
Lowe/Red Sports)

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Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight 3/26/09 11:56 PM

Lim Xianda completed the scoring quartet for Victoria School in 17th position as the team wins the C
Division title with 28 points. (Photo 7 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)

From left to right - Hieng Pheak Kdey (#2318) of Victoria School placed 15th, Yeo Siheng (#2330) of
Hwa Chong Institution placed 17th and Tham Hao Rong (#2580) of Jurong Secondary School placed
25th. (Photo 8 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)

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Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight 3/26/09 11:56 PM

The B Division boys battle for positions along the trail around Bedok Reservoir in sunny and at times
windless conditions. Darren Ang (#2500) of Catholic High School eventually placed 23rd. (Photo 9 ©
Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)

The lead break-away pack of B Division boys consisting of (from left) eventual winner Sumanthran
Selvarajo (#2303) of SJI, 4th placer Prakash S/O Arasu (#2353) of Singapore Sports School, initial race
favourite Zachary Devaraj (#2407) of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), runner-up Ruben Galen
Demetrius (#2695) of Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary and his team-mate Jeevaneesh S/O Soundarar
(#2698) who finished 6th. (Photo 10 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)

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Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight 3/26/09 11:56 PM

A Division double champion Soh Rui Yong leaves team-mate Lim Zhi Ming (#2058) and a chase-pack
consisting of mostly Victoria Junior College and Raffles Institution runners trailing in his wake on the
way up the only hill on the course. (Photo 11 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)

The vociferous Victoria School support was enduring and passionate as they were the only group who
opted to stand away from the shelter of the grandstand to cheer on their runners on the field right by the
track and finishing line. (Photo 12 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)

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Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as six Raffles Institution boys finish in the top eight 3/26/09 11:56 PM

A Victoria School supporter raises his hands in jubilation as it is announced that their C Division team
has won the team title. (Photo 13 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)

The victorious Raffles Institution boys celebrate their A Division team title and individual medals.
(Photo 14 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)

REDpoll
What do you think of Bedok Reservoir as a cross-country route?

Aiyah, so hot. Can die!

I didn't like it. Too flat.
I prefer MacRitchie.
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178 views | Written by colt | Filed under: Front Page News II, Youth in Motion, boys, cross-country

Tags: Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary, Raffles Institution, St.
Joseph's Institution, Victoria Junior College, Victoria School.

Comments

One Response to “Soh Rui Yong achieves rare A Division double as six Raffles
Institution boys finish in the top eight”
1
seetow Says:
March 26th, 2009 at 9:33 pm

wow looks like raffles pretty much owned the whole a division this year…

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