Dylan stands with the winning Malaysian 4x100m relay quartet.
MIRI (Dec 12): Two student athletes from Miri have made Malaysia proud by medals at the 15th SEA Youth Athletics Championships held in Thailand on Dec 7-9 .
SMK Lutong fifth former Dylan Leo Saran Stephen helped the national 4x100m relay team storm to the gold medal while schoolmate and fourth former Hii Seng Yan finished third in the shot put.
School coach Ho Hwa Chong has described the duo’s performances as outstanding.
Both had represented Sarawak at the Malaysian School Sports Council (MSSM) Championships in October 2023. Dylan had won a bronze in the sprint relay and Hii a bronze in the shot put, earning them tickets to Thailand.
To prepare for the divisional, state and national-level meets, Dylan had been training under Ho Hwa Chong with the assistance of teachers and coaches Ms Dawih Talu and Ms Rita.
Hii celebrates on the medal podium in Thailand.
Hii has been training at Miri Stadium with MSN coach Ngu Kit Min.
Meanwhile, a very satisfied Ho recalled the very challenging journey undertaken by the two star athletes especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Starting from there ( 2020) , we have seen their talents (and know) they will go far … Finally 2-3 years later, we have obtained very good results,” Ho said.
The coach is confident both will continue to improve if they remain humble, work hard and listen to the coaches and teachers concerning the training programme.
“Dylan’s and Hii’s outstanding achievements have indeed fueled the spirit of school students or athletes to work harder and achieve the goals set for them,” he added.
