BJSS ATHLETICS

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/3/7/north/10858184&sec=North

Sarawakian lass beats closest rival by mere two seconds
AMEYLIA Isa of SMK Saratok, Sarawak, successfully defended the MSSM-Milo Girls’ Under-15 cross-country title in the 2012 edition held at Gunung Keriang in Alor Setar. She pipped Selangor’s Manimalar Jegaran by a mere two seconds to win the race. Ameylia covered the 6km race over paddy bunds and laterite road in 24:05s, closely followed by Selangor runners Manimalar and Savinder Kaur, who respectively completed the race in 24:05s and 24:09s.
After completing the race, Ameylia said she was elated to have repeated last year’s success.

“The course this year was not as difficult as last year’s which was held in Santubong Resort in Sarawak,” she said. “It was quite challenging to run over hilly terrain and secondary forests then but this year, it was smooth sailing. “It was not the course that was challenging but the Selangor opponents. I am glad that I was able to remain focused, to overcome the Selangor runners,” she added.

Her success was followed by another Sarawakian lass Mastulrina Daut of SM Tabuan Jaya, Kuching, who won the Girls’ Under-18 category to mark a great double success for the state.

Mastulrina’s winning time of 24:10s over 6km was slower than Ameylia’s time, but it was enough to overcome the challenge of Federal Territory competitor Elena Goh Ling Yin who was placed second in 24:20s. In the Boys’ Under-18 event, Pahang’s Saranraj Sivamani overcame the challenge mounted by Malacca’s Kogilan and Penang’s Calvin Boon Chang Yik to win the 8km race in a time of 28:46s. After the race, Saranraj said Kogilan and Calvin took turns to lead the race until the sixth kilometre mark. “Thereafter, I made my move to go in front and stayed put until the finish. “It is a satisfying result for me as I had finished fourth last year,” said the MSSM 1,500m Boys Class One record holder.

The Boys’ Under-15 category was won by Ahmad Muhammad Hamzah from SMK Seri Ampangan, Seremban. He completed the 6km race in 20 minutes. Perak’s Ashok Sivakumar was second in 20:09s while Wan Marzuki Mohamad of Terengganu came in third with a time of 20:16s.

Meanwhile, the Selangor contingent emerged overall champions, scoring a combined aggregate total of 469 points to lift the Tan Sri Rafie Mahat Challenge Trophy.

Selangor dominated three of the four categories. The only event they failed to excel in was the Girls’ Under-18 event in which Sabah were outstanding.

Sabah collected the lowest aggregate of 62 points in this category, with six of their team of eight runners finishing among the first 20 in the race to boost their aggregate and seal the second place overall with a grand total of 627 points, while Perak were third on 865 points and hosts Kedah were fourth scoring 896 points.

A total of 15 contingents including Labuan competed in this 11th edition of the national schools cross-country race held on Saturday.

Education director-general Datuk Seri Abd Ghafar Mahmud presented the challenge trophy and other prizes at the National Science Centre in Gunung Keriang, Alor Setar.