by Jonathan G. L. Santos (Coach Jat)
At the windy and bustling Bedok Reservoir, all gathered for the Akira Swift Cross Country were in anticipation and with a enthusiastic buzz.
After much preparation, the 1st race flag-off was the U13 Boys, Filip Janousek outdid himself by clinching 3rd position but could have done better if not for his courteous nature of letting the whole field go and playing catch-up. It was followed immediately by the U11 & U12 which started at the same time and it was interesting to note that as our athletes were box-in and struggling to punch out of the pack. Nevertheless as the true sportsmanship cultivated in “JS Athletics” stop whining and keep going, Chua Shao Wen came in 7th followed by Joshua Tan in 10th place in the U11 Boys category. In the girls section, Ramaa Rangnekar, the lanky and budding hockey player came in 5th place and cementing her bright future in both sports while K.S. Lakshayaa came in 12th position after a hectic dance performance and rushing from the eastern part of Singapore.
As the action was coming thick and fast, came the U12 Boys whereby the ever impressive Niraj Singh came in 6th and followed soon by our suave and budding multi-talented sportsman James Chin who came in 8th position. Both were new to Cross Country but showed excellence resilience as they started at the back of the pack and were always doing catch-up.
In the Kids Dash 500m event, the towering Dylan Hughes romped home with gold and followed by his buddy Justin Seyffert in 2nd, as they say “they might be the best mates but in competition rivalry prevails.” To complete the event ever improving Tristan Ng came in 7th position. In the girls category muscle girl, Lucie Janouskova came in 1st followed by her best friend, Mia Heerdt in 2nd position. In both races the result were altered after protest as the organisers got mix-up the athletes positioning, eventually it came good.
Kudos to our young lions, John Tan and Meera Rangnekar who both emerged champion in the U9 Boys & Girls Dash, both ran their hearts out in dramatic fashions.
Ori Sade, improves as the race comes and came home with another PB by slashing almost a minute and finishing 2nd position and followed by Arav Cabral who had a bad day at the office as he was vomiting but still managed to complete the race.
In the U17 Girls, as usual Indira Patel did not surprised anyone by clinching 1st place. She dominated the race from the start to the end, follow by Mia Hopkins who at 13 is showing loads of promises came in 4th position and Caylee Chua in 5th position. The “icing of the cake” was the U17 Girls team, were crown Champion and the team members are as follows Indira Patel (age 15), Mia Hopkins (age 13), Caylee Chua (age 16), Katia M. Littau (age 13) and Ullekha Murali (age 17). Aspiring coach wannabe, Jayson Chua came in 4th in the U17 Boys category.
It was happy and memorable outing for JS Athletics, who are still in the midst of season training. It augurs well for all those involved from parents, coaches, athletes and stakeholders.
Keep yourself rooted to the ground and work hard and impossible missions become possible.