KUANTAN: Sabah’s Amandajane Primus, 15, shattered a 23-year-old MSSM girls’ Under-15 high jump record with a gutsy 1.71-metre (m) clearance as the State also stamped its authority on the track by winning four of six 4x100m finals.
The Keningau athlete struck gold at the 66th National Schools Sports Council (MSSM) Athletics Championships after breaking the 1.70m record set by Johor’s Wong Boon Syian in 2003.
What made Amandajane’s achievement even more remarkable was the manner in which she did it.
After twice failing to clear 1.69m, Amandajane and her coach Cyril Johnny opted to raise the bar to 1.71m for her final attempt — one centimetre above the long-standing championship record.
The gamble paid off when she successfully cleared the height to secure both the gold medal and a new MSSM record.
Amandajane, a student of SMK Tulid in Keningau, finished ahead of silver medallist Ong Zuan Neo and bronze medallist Qaireen Insyirah Shahrilizwan, who both recorded 1.65m.
Her 1.71m performance also places her among Malaysia’s leading women high jumpers this year, based on the latest available 2026 rankings.
Meanwhile, Sabah enjoyed an equally impressive outing in the 4x100m relays, winning four of the six finals contested.
The State captured gold in the Girls’ Under-12 in 51.14 seconds, Boys’ Under-12 (46.00s), Boys’ Under-15 (42.20s) and Girls’ Under-18 (48.51s).
Sabah narrowly missed another gold in the Boys’ Under-18, settling for silver with a time of 41.36s.
The performances further strengthened Sabah’s campaign at this year’s championships, where the State was leading the medal standings with 10 gold, five silver and seven bronze medals according to the official MSSM portal at press time.
The championships, involving 1,075 registered athletes across six age and gender categories, are being held from Sept 21-25 at Stadium Darul Makmur, Kuantan Youth and Sports Complex, and Stadium Universiti Putra Malaysia.