National Corporate Track and Field Championships - Results (updated)

by Brett Larner

The 56th annual National Corporate Track and Field Championships took place Sept. 26-28 in Yamagata Prefecture, the last major meet before the fall ekiden season. The biggest result of the distance events was 35 year old women's steeplechase national record holder Minori Hayakari's solo run to a meet record 9:56.37. Hayakari's record-setting run capped a fantastic season which saw her win yet another national championship, set a new national record of 9:33.63, and run in her first Olympic Games.

Another big moment in the championships came with the surprise appearance by Megumi Kinukawa in the women's 5000 m. Kinukawa, who ran the 10000 m at the 2007 World Championships as a high school senior, was expected to be multiple national record holder Kayoko Fukushi's successor as the dominant runner of her generation but has been out of competition since last winter after contracting a virus which caused a continuous series of injuries and secondary illnesses. Her 10th place result was unremarkable in itself, but the simple fact of her participation, her first race so far this year, is a positive sign that she may be on the mend from what was thought to be a career-ending crisis.

Notable men's results included 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi's win in the 1500 m against a cast of Japan's best 1500 m specialists just two days after running 27:37.59 to finish 2nd in the 10000 m. The man who beat him in the 10000 m, Josephat Ndambiri, scored a double by winning the 5000 m the next day. The top Japanese runners in the men's 5000 m and 10000 m, Naoki Okamoto and Satoru Kitamura, were both rookie runners appearing in their first Corporate Championships. National record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu was absent from the steeplechase, but the race featured a duel between Jun Shinoto and Ryuta Komano, two rookie corporate runners who had some of the most impressive university runs in recent years at this year's Hakone Ekiden.

In the women's races, Philes Ongori, who will be competing for Kenya at next month's World Half Marathon Championships, showed her range by edging out Kazuka Wakatsuki to win the 1500 m. Ongori was also 3rd in the 10000 m behind her World Half teammate-to-be Julia Mombi and fellow Kenyan Evelyn Wamboi, who won in 31:14.08. A third member of the Kenyan World Half team, Danielle Filomena Cheyech, was 14th in a slow 5000 m race, running 15:52.56. 40 year old marathoner Harumi Hiroyama was a suprising 4th in both the 1500 m and 5000 m, while two of the youngest women in the field, Tomomi Yuda and 2008 Hokkaido Marathon winner Yukari Sahaku, were last in the 5000 m and 10000 m respectively. Several top women had tough days, with Olympic marathoner Yurika Nakamura 9th in the 5000 m, multiple national record holder Kayoko Fukushi 9th in the 10000 m after reportedly coming down with a cold, and two-time World Championships marathoner Yumiko Hara was 16th in the 10000 m.

A list of top finishers in the distance events follows.

Men’s 1500 m – Sept. 28
1. Martin Mathathi (Team Suzuki): 3:45.90
2. Yasuhiro Tago (Team Chugoku Denryoku): 3:46.32
3. Fumikazu Kobayashi (Team NTN): 3:47.18
4. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko): 3:47.61
5. Hiroshi Ino (Team Fujitsu): 3:49.19
6. Takahiko Onishi (Team NTN): 3:49.83
7. Yoshinori Murakami (Team Fujitsu): 3:50.75
8. Tomohiro Miyamoto (Team Chudenko): 3:50.99
9. Naoto Morimoto (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko): 3:52.88
10. Kenji Shimizu (Team Yakult): 3:53.27

Men’s Junior 1500 m – Sept. 28
1. Daichi Tsuge (Team Suzuki): 3:53.66
2. Teruo Taneno (Team Yasukawa Denki): 3:55.66
3. Tsuyoshi Hatori (Team Suzuki): 3:56.72
4. Kentaro Yamauchi (Team NTN): 3:58.66
5. Yuki Nozu (Team Broad): 4:00.63
6. Genyu Komori (Team Nissin Seiko): 4:04:02
7. Ryuji Ushiro (Team Kanebo): 4:05.86
8. Masaya Takakura (Team Sumitomo Denko): 4:13.85
9. Yuta Izumi (Team Sumitomo Denko): 4:17.19
10. Yusuke Nishikubo (Team Shinnitetsu Hirohata): 4:32.10

Men’s 3000 m Steeplechase – Sept. 28
1. Hiroyoshi Umegao (Team NTN): 8:43.73
2. Tomohiro Nakagawa (Team Suzuki): 8:44.49
3. Ryuta Komano (Team JR Higashi Nihon): 8:46.19
4. Hidenobu Koshikawa (Team Fujitsu): 8:46.30
5. Tatsunori Shinoura (Team S&B): 8:47.31
6. Satoshi Kato (Team Toyota Jidosha): 8:50.54
7. Takayuki Matsuura (Team Otsuka Seiyaku): 8:53.52
8. Masayoshi Kuroda (Team Chugoku Denryoku): 8:58.69
9. Atsushi Shimada (Team Honda Tochigi): 8:59.55
10. Michinori Takano (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko): 9:02.55
.....
17. Jun Shinoto (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko): 9:47.27

Men’s 5000 m – Sept. 27
1. Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori): 13:41.95
2. Asefa Gilma (Team Subaru): 13:45.38
3. Hailu Mekonen (Team Honda): 13:47.16
4. Naoki Okamoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku): 13:47.54
5. Daisuke Matsufuji (Team Kanebo): 13:50.43
6. Micah Njell (Team Toyota Boshoku): 13:51.21
7. Yoshinori Suzuki (Team Fujitsu): 13:51.34
8. Yuki Matsuoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku): 13:52.07
9. Yoshinori Murakami (Team Fujitsu): 13:54.49
10. Hillary Chenonge (Team Aisan): 13:55.11

Men’s Junior 5000 m – Sept. 27
1. Teruo Taneno (Team Yasukawa Denki): 14:16.33
2. Daichi Matsumura (Team Mitsubishi Nagasaki): 14:22.90
3. Kenji Miyazaki (Team Asahi Kasei): 14:23.38
4. Hayato Ideue (Team Toyota Kyushu): 14:23.13
5. Takuya Sakai (Team Toyota Kyushu): 14:25.65
6. Ryo Itamoto (Team Mitsubishi Nagasaki): 14:29.48
7. Tsuyoshi Hattori (Team Suzuki): 14:36.24
8. Kazuki Yamamoto (Team Chuo Hatsujo): 14:38.72
9. Daichi Tsuge (Team Suzuki): 14:41.17
10. Ryuji Ushiro (Team Kanebo): 14:45.05

Men’s 10000 m – Sept. 26
1. Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori): 27:35.35
2. Martin Mathathi (Team Suzuki): 27:37.59
3. Joseph Gitau (Team JFE Steel): 27:58.09
4. Nicholas Makau (Team JAL Ground Service): 27:59.03
5. Martin Muklule (Team Toyota Jidosha): 28:06.08
6. Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin): 28:12.46
7. Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei): 28:21.02
8. Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko): 28:25.23
9. Keita Akiba (Team Komori): 28:27.68
10. Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu): 28:35.37
.....
11. Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei): 28:39.27
19. Hideaki Date (Team Chugoku Denryoku): 28:45.09
23. Atsushi Fujita (Team Fujitsu): 28:46.03
26. Makoto Tobimatsu (Team Yasukawa Denki): 28:54.60
DNF: Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin)

Women’s 1500 m – Sept. 28
1. Philes Ongori (Team Hokuren): 4:17.11
2. Kazuka Wakatsuki (Team Toto): 4:18.37
3. Yukari So (Team Asahi Kasei): 4:20.69
4. Harumi Hiroyama (Team Shiseido): 4:21.66
5. Saori Yamashita (Team Hokuren): 4:21.84
6. Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic): 4:22.15
7. Misako Suguro (Team Shiseido): 4:22.70
8. Misaki Onishi (Team Sekisui Kagaku): 4:22.80
9. Chise Hayakawa (Team Acom): 4:22.82
10. Sanae Morita (Team Toto): 4:24.35

Women’s Junior 3000 m – Sept. 27
1. Dorika Obare (Team Hitachi): 9:06.48
2. Yuki Numata (Team Shimamura): 9:22.32
3. Kaoru Nagao (Team Aruze): 9:22.83
4. Yukie Nagata (Team Toyota Jidoshoki): 9:23.02
5. Yuka Takashima (Team Denso): 9:24.74
6. Fumiko Hashimoto (Team Shimamura): 9:25.83
7. Makiko Miyahara (Team Nihon ChemiCon): 9:26.12
8. Aya Nagata (Team Toyota Jidoshoki): 9:27.42
9. Manami Kamitanida (Team Hitachi): 9:27.86
10. Yukako Ito (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo): 9:28.10

Women’s 3000 m Steeplechase – Sept. 28
1. Minori Hayakari (Kyoto Koka AC): 9:56.37 – meet record
2. Mayu Hitomi (Team Sekisui Kagaku): 10:35.88
3. Ayana Tabira (Team Daihatsu): 10:38.66
4. Hitomi Takenaga (Team Deodeo): 11:13.23

Women’s 5000 m – Sept. 27
1. Winfrieda Kaban (Team Toyota Jidoshoki): 15:42.13
2. Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku): 15:43.98
3. Mizuho Nasukawa (Team Aruze): 15:45.20
4. Harumi Hiroyama (Team Shiseido): 15:45.79
5. Chiaki Takagi (Team Starts): 15:46.59
6. Pauline Wanguru (Team Kyudenko): 15:48.22
7. Megumi Seike (Team Sysmex): 15:48.60
8. Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daichi Seimei): 15:48.80
9. Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya): 15:49.25
10. Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno): 15:49.77
.....
14. Danielle Flomena Cheyech (Team Uniqlo): 15:52.56
27. Tomomi Yuda (Team Wacoal): 16:38.72

Women’s 10000 m – Sept. 26
1. Evelyn Wamboi (Team Yutaka Giken): 31:14.08
2. Julia Mombi (Team Aruze): 31:42.92
3. Philes Ongori (Team Hokuren): 31:58.21
4. Hiromi Ominami (Team Toyota Shattai): 32:14.10
5. Madoka Ogi (Team Juhachi Ginko): 32:28.37
6. Aya Manome (Team Shimamura): 32:46.90
7. Haruka Obara (Team Shimamura): 32:54.51
8. Remi Nakazato (Team Daihatsu): 32:55.61
9. Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal): 32:56.21
10. Yuko Machida (Team Nihon ChemiCon): 32:58.23
.....
16. Yumiko Hara (Team Kyocera): 33:02.27
33. Yukari Sahaku (Team Aruze): 35:45.99

For complete results including sprints, middle distances and field events, click here.

© 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved