Cross Country

SMK Seri Bintang Utara held the annual cross country race at Taman Tasik Permaisuri on 14th of April 2007. This year it is a brand new concept as the race was held after our Sports Day. Despite that, there was still a scoring system for the students and prizes awaited for the top three houses with the most points. Not only that, there were medals and trophies to be awarded to the top twenty athletes from each category, which got our students' competitive, spirit up and running.

By 7.30am, the field was abuzz with students clad in their respective Red, Blue, Yellow, Green and Purple T-shirts. After a short briefing by En Rasyid on the rules and regulations of the race, the school Head Prefect, Ebenezer, led the students in warm-up session. The junior girls kicked off the race at 8.30 am. They were followed by the junior boys, senior girls and lastly the senior boys each set off at half-hour intervals.

What challenges awaited our students? Right at the beginning of the 4.7 kilometer track was a steep slope which proved quite a challenge for most of our students. With the remaining energy our students had to encounter the twist and turns of the track which lead them straight on to the finishing line. Mother Nature did not seem to offer much help by providing the bright scorching sunshine. (Who said that it was going to be easy?) Nevertheless, there was St John Ambulance members on duty situated every few hundred metres along the track to offer medical assistance and water to the students. With much determination, our students huffed and puffed their way, running, walking and pushing themselves throughout the three checkpoints of the race and finally crossing the finishing line as the supporters and teachers cheered on. Everyone was a winner that day.

After the race everyone was seen enjoying the free refreshments provided under the shade provided by the trees. By 11.00am, everyone gathered for the prize giving ceremony. Medals were awarded for the top seventeen runners from and category and trophies were presented to the top three runners of each category. For the junior girls, Daljeet Kaur from Prouse emerged as the winner followed by Ha Xin Wei from Cooke and Angeline from Prouse. For the junior boys, Syafiq did Prouse proud by finishing the race first followed by Arjun Krishnan and Chow Vin Shen from Shirtliff. Amanda Khoo Yee Fay of Shirtliff indeed proved her mettle by leading the race till the end and she was followed by Lee Ruo Qian and Ng Beverly from Maclay for the senior girls category. Lastly, Muhammad Faris of Cooke took the gold for the senior boys category followed by Lim Biiang Sheng from Shirtliff and Ashraf Abdul from Prouse.

Finally, it was the moment everyone was waiting for. Shouts and cheers were heard as Shirtliff was announced as the champion among the five houses, thus reclaiming back their glory. Prouse and Maclay came in second and third place respectively. That marked the end of this year's cross country. Indeed it was a memorable one for most of the students, as everyone gave all their best and completed the race. After all, isn't it much better than a day of extra homework?

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