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Sarawak’s relay team Dendelyne Ubong Sigar, Jessy Yak Sam, Elizabeth Tipong Peter Ali and Arabella Nicole Rudy celebrate after winning the Girl’s U12 4x100m at the National Sports Complex, Shah Alam. — Photos courtesy of Christopher Tinkai
Boy’s U18 shot put gold medallist Kee Jeep Wen (right) with fellow Sarawakian Kong Chin Poh who won the silver.
KUCHING: Sarawak ended its gold medal drought on the track and added four more to its gold medal tally at the 60th MSSM inter-state track & field championships in National Sports Complex, Shah Alam yesterday.
But the race for the overall title remains hotly contested.
Day 3 saw Sarawak finally winning its first event on the track.
The girls U12 4x100m relay quartet of Arabella Nicole Rudy (SK Nanga Jambu, Julau), Dendelyne Ubong Sigar (SK Merbau, Miri), Jessy Yak Sam (SK St Alphonsus, Jalau) and Elizabeth Tipong (SK Gemuan, Meradong) pipped Johore and Selangor to win in a time of 53.04sec.
The boys U12 and girls U18 teams managed to take bronzes, clocking 48.67 and 49.56sec respectively.
A thrilling U12 high jump final ended with three girls tied on 1.43m. Based on a countback, Sarawak snatched the gold and silver through Sharon Lee Hua Ling, who is from Miri’s SK St Joseph, and Nur Ann Madahi, a Primary Six student of SK Pandan, Sebauh.
The next two victories came on the back of the throwers who remarkably obtained 1-2 finishes in both events.
Ng Jing Xuan, who is from Miri’s SMK Chung Hua, threw 36.83m while SMK Julau’s Seremy Janggu reached 33.04m to occupy the top two places on the podium in the girls U15 javelin.
The boys U18 shot put finished in the same fashion for Sarawak as SM Riam Road Miri’s Kee Jeep Wen and Kong Chin Poh from Meradong’s SMK Tong Hua threw 17.51 and 16.72m to collect the gold and silver respectively.
Sarawak is leading the medal tally with 11 gold, 10 silver and 13 bronze medals upon the completion of Day 3.
Close on its heels are defending champion Sabah (9-7-6), Johore (8-8-4), Perak (7-4-4) and host and 2016 champion Selangor (5-11-10).
At the end of the day Sarawak’s first victory on the track is a cause for celebration as well as concern.
Will the state contingent, which was runner-up in the last two years and champion from 2010 to 2015, be able to win the overall title by relying mainly on the throwers and jumpers? The five-day championships end on Friday.