Team manager Dr Sulhi Lamat (behind centre) lifting the Championship Cup as the rest of the Kuching team celebrate.
The best individual performers of the respective age categories posing with officials at the end of the meet.
SIBU: Kuching staged a late comeback and exacted sweet revenge as it edged Miri to lift the overall title of the 43rd MSSS Inter-Division Athletics Championship which concluded at Stadium Tun Zaidi here yesterday.
At mid-day, Kuching had amassed 410 points and trailed Miri by 10 points.
However, as the meet drew to a close with the series of 4x400m relays, Miri did not survive Kuching’s challenge.
The margin was a mere seven points.
The final tally was Kuching 447 points and Miri 440. Last year, Miri beat Kuching to the title by an even narrower margin of 3.5 points (459.5 to 456).
Finishing third yesterday was Sibu with 309, followed by Sarikei (200) and Bintulu (140).
The final day also saw five more records shattered, bringing to a total of 19 records rewritten during the four-day championship.
State sprinter Norris Foo stamped her class with a blistering pace in the Girls U18 200m, finishing in 25.1sec to better her own record of 25.49sec set last year.
“It’s a big surprise that I had cracked three records out of my three individual events. I am really happy with it,” the 17 year-old representing Sibu said.
Of the three, Norris admitted that the 100m record was her toughest.
In the Boys U-18 200m, Kuching’s Asly Chua An Wen made it a sprint double when he added the 200m title (22.4sec) to his victory in the 100m (10.6sec) on Wednesday.
Sibu’s Quek Lee Yong, who registered the best time of 22.5sec in the qualifying heats, dug deep and led until the last 50m but eventually ended up last due to a hamstring injury sustained during his record-breaking run in the 400m hurdles yesterday.
“I am trying my best to put my best foot forward but the nagging pain was unbearable and I had no choice but to slow down towards the end,’ said a dejected Quek.
He revealed that he would be focusing on the hurdles event in the coming MSSM Inter-State Championship to be held in Malacca from May 11-15.
“The hurdles are my pet event and I do not want to injure my leg,” he added.
Samarahan’s Noorkhamisiawati Said cracked the Girls Open Pentathlon record after collecting 2,571 points from five events to beat the old mark of 2,487 points established by Ng Siw Tyng in 1999.
Three records were eclipsed in the relays – Girls U15 4x100m, Boys U15 4x100m and Girls U14 4x400m.
Meanwhile, Limbang’s Madalina Mimi Angga, who had jumped 4.77m to break the 36-year-old long jump record, was adjudged the best performer in Girls U12 category.
Miri’s Ruby Lee Jia Lu, Kuching’s Nur Aini Zahiran Saipul Hizam and Norris Foo collected the individual title for Girls U14, U15 and U18 respectively.
For the boys, the best performer title went to Nurzuki Eddy, Mohd Norhazim Ahmad, Samuel Ling and Wong Siew Hung for U12, U14, U15 and U18 respectively.