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Weekend Track Update - Osako Just Off NR at Payton Jordan

by Brett Larner
videos by naoki620 and toyosina2008

Stanford University's Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, home of both the Japanese men's and women's 10000 m national records, once again delivered big times.  In the men's 10000 m, Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.) and Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin), both graduates of Nagano's Saku Chosei H.S. and perpetual rivals over the last two years, each got under the Moscow World Championships A-standard but came up just short of the 27:35.09 NR, Osako taking 2nd in 27:38.31 and Sato 3rd in 27:39.50.  Osako's time was the fastest ever by a Japanese collegiate and good for all-time Japanese #4 a fraction of a second behind Sato's all-time #3 mark of 27:38.25.  Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Nissin Shokuhin) also got under 28 but was a distant afterthought in 27:55.27, while last year's top two 10000 m runner Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) and Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) both struggled.  After Sato kept him out of the Olympics with a sit-and-kick race at last year's National Championships, both Osako and Sato now stand in good stead for making the Moscow team.

In the women's 10000 m the up-and-coming Ayumi Hagiwara (Team Uniqlo) came up agonizingly short of hitting the Moscow standard, running a PB of 31:45.29 for 3rd.  Japan-based Kenyan Doricah Obare (Team Hitachi) was one of only two women in the race to get the A-standard, just, as she took 2nd in 31:44.92.  Ekiden star Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku) was the only other Japanese woman to make the top ten, 8th in 32:07.70.  Her teammates Riko Matsuzaki and Misaki Onishi ran well in the 5000 m A-heat, taking 4th and 6th in 15:27.51 and 15:27.84.



The big domestic meet of the weekend was the 47th Oda Memorial Meet in Hiroshima, where distance events made up a large part of Sunday's action.  In the Grand Prix events, Kenyan Felista Wanjugu (Team Univ. Ent.) beat top-ranked high schooler Miyuki Uehara (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) 15:39.89 to 15:41.24 in the women's 5000 m, with pro Keiko Nogami (Team Juhachi Ginko) a step behind in 15:41.97.

Monday's track events were highlighted by a 100 m Jr. World Record-tying 10.01 by youth WR holder Yoshihide Kiryu (Rakunan H.S.).  Click here for video.  On the field, Yuki Ebihara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) broke her own Japanese national record with a throw of 62.83 m in the women's javelin.  Her teammate, 2009 Berlin World Championships men's javelin bronze medalist Yukifumi Murakami (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), set a PB of 85.96 m, more than 2 m better than his previous best and the second-farthest in the world so far this year.



The men's 5000 m featured most of the best Kenyans in Japan, including Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko), Bedan Karoki (DeNA RC), Patrick Mutunga (Team Toyota Boshoku), Charles Ndirangu (Team JFE Steel), Clement Langat (Team Subaru) and Martin Mathathi (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC).  Tanui took the win over Karoki, just missing a world-leading time in 13:16.57.  His teammate Kazuharu Takai (Team Kyudenko) was the top Japan finisher, 7th in 13:43.97.  Fan favorite Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) was well off his best, 18th of 20 finishers in 14:09.88.



Oda also featured 5000 m selection races for the Japanese team for this summer's World University Games.  In the women's race, Mai Shoji (Chukyo Univ.) brought the fastest time of the year so far by a Japanese woman, 15:37.55, to outrun Ayuko Suzuki (Nagoya Univ.) for the win.  Suzuki clocked 15:38.08, well ahead of 3rd-place Mai Hirota (Ritsumeikan Univ.).  Chukyo and Nagoya runners going 1-2 pointed to a continued development of women's collegiate running beyond the traditional Ritsumeikan-Bukkyo-Meijo big three.



In the men's 5000 m, Ethiopian pros Miliyon Zewdie (Team Yachiyo Kogyo) and Melaku Abera (Team Kurosaki Harima) took the top two spots, with 2013 Hakone Ekiden champion Nittai University's captain Shota Hattori running a sizeable PB of 13:37.38.  Josai University's Kota Murayama, identical twin of World University Games 10000 m selection race winner Kenta Murayama (Komazawa Univ.), was the second collegiate in 13:49.18, meaning both brothers should be on the team in Kazan.



Northwest of Tokyo, the Heisei Kokusai University Time Trials meet produced a fast 10000 m, with the top nine men, all collegiates, running PBs.  Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), the fastest going into the race, won in a new best of 28:38.43 to hold off Kento Otsu (Toyo Univ.), who took nearly 40 seconds off his best to go under 29 for the first time in 28:39.54.  In 10th place, former Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. ace Keisuke Nakatani (Komazawa Univ.) made a good 10000 m debut in 29:18.77.  Otsu's teammates Keita and Yuta Shitara (Toyo Univ.) tuned up for a shot at sub-28 at next month's Golden Games in Nobeoka with double 5000 m 1-2 finishes in 14:10.53/14:10.72 and 13:53.44/13:56.52. Moscow World Championships marathoner Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) returned to competition for the first time since running 2:08:51 at March's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, running 14:15.84 for 11th behind the Shitaras in Heat 12.

At the 67th Oita Prefecture Championships and the Japan Invitational Wakayama Meet, two women's teams used the distance events as intramural time trials.  In Oita, Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) broke her best to set a meet record of 32:47.83, with rookie teammate Megumi Amako likewise under the old meet record in 33:03.84.  In Wakayama, top-level athlete Misato Horie (Team Noritz) easily won the 5000 m in 16:12.77 over teammates Kaori Oyama and Ai Inoue.  On the last day of the long weekend, Jeremiah Karemi (Kenya/Team Toyota Kyushu) won the men's 5000 m Heat 4 at the Nobeoka Spring Time Trials meet in Kyushu, a result most significant for Karemi coming on to the Koichi Morishita-coached Toyota Kyushu team this season as the successor to the late Beijing Olympics marathon gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru.

Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational
Stanford University, 4/28/13
click here for complete results

Men's 10000 m Heat 1
1. Ben St. Lawrence (Australia) - 27:37.55
2. Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.) - 27:38.31 - PB
3. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 27:39.50
4. Chris Thompson (GBR) - 27:40.81
5. Bashir Abdi (Belgium) - 27:43.99
6. Ryan Vail (U.S.A.) - 27:44.05
7. Aaron Braun (U.S.A.) - 27:44.58
8. Jake Robertson (New Zealand) - 27:45.46
9. Sean Quigley (U.S.A.) - 27:50.78
10. Girma Mecheso (Ethiopia) - 27:52.38
-----
12. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) - 27:55.27
17. Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) - 28:33.23
28. Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) - 29:31.59

Women's 10000 m Heat 1
1. Betsy Saina (Kenya) - 31:37.22
2. Doriah Obare (Kenya/Team Hitachi) - 31:44.92
3. Ayumi Hagiwara (Team Uniqlo) - 31:45.29
4. Kim Smith (New Zealand) - 31:46.37
5. Marisol Guadalupe Romero (Mexico) - 31:46.43
6. Jordan Hasay (U.S.A.) - 32:06.64
7. Aliphine Tuliamuk-Bolton (Kenya) - 32:07.20
8. Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 32:07.70
9. Laura Thweatt (U.S.A.) - 32:15.51
10. Lara Tamsett (Australia) - 32:16.13
-----
11. Miho Ihara (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 32:16.46
12. Hanae Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 32:25.05

Women's 5000 m Heat 1
1. Kim Conley (U.S.A.) - 15:22.07
2. Katie Mackey (U.S.A.) - 15:23.65
3. Julia Lucas (U.S.A.) - 15:23.77
4. Riko Matsuzaki (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:27.51
5. Nicole Sifuentes (Canada) - 15:27.58
6. Misaki Onishi (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:27.84
7. Brie Felnagle (U.S.A.) - 15:29.14
8. Deliliah Discresenzo (U.S.A.) - 15:36.45
9. Sara Hall (U.S.A.) - 15:39.32
10. Kate Van Buskirk (Canada) - 15:40.26
-----
14. Eina Yokosawa (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 15:44.99
15. Mai Ishibashi (Team Denso) - 15:44.99
18. Risa Kikuchi (Team Hitachi) - 16:21.51
19. Ai Igarashi (Team Sysmex) - 16:59.34

47th Oda Memorial Meet
Edion Stadium, Hiroshima, 4/28/13
click here for complete results

Women's 5000 m Grand Prix
1. Felista Wanjugu (Kenya/Team Univ. Ent.) - 15:39.89
2. Miyuki Uehara (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) - 15:41.24
3. Keiko Nogami (Team Juhachi Ginko) - 15:41.97
4. Tomomi Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 15:43.66
5. Kaila McKnight (Australia) - 15:43.81
6. Kasumi Nishihara (Team Yamada Denki) - 15:43.82
7. Shiho Takechi (Team Yamada Denki) - 15:43.91
8. Risa Takenaka (Team Shiseido) - 15:44.44
9. Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) - 15:46.94
10. Misaki Sango (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 15:49.92

Women's 5000 m Universiade
1. Mai Shoji (Chukyo Univ.) - 15:37.55
2. Ayuko Suzuki (Nagoya Univ.) - 15:38.08
3. Mai Hirota (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 15:46.96
4. Nanami Aoki (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 15:50.94
5. Sakurako Fukuuchi (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 15:53.09

West Japan Junior Women's 3000 m A
1. Saki Yoshimizu (Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.) - 9:24.14
2. Momoka Katada (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 9:32.95
3. Asuka Iwai (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 9:33.32

Men's 5000 m Grand Prix
1. Paul Tanui (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 13:16.57
2. Bitan Karoki (Kenya/DeNA RC) - 13:17.94
3. Patrick Mutunga (Kenya/Team Toyota Boshoku) - 13:19.96
4. Charles Ndirangu (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) - 13:33.28
5. Clement Langat (Kenya/Team Subaru) - 13:37.42
6. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 13:41.80
7. Kazuharu Takai (Team Kyudenko) - 13:43.97
8. Naoki Okamoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 13:44.56
9. Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 13:46.14
10. Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:48.24
-----
18. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) - 14:09.88

Men's 5000 m Universiade
1. Million Zewdie (Ethiopia/Team Yachiyo Kogyo) - 13:31.97
2. Melaku Abera (Ethiopia/Team Kurosaki Harima) - 13:37.38
3. Shota Hattori (Nittai Univ.) - 13:37.64 - PB
4. Yohei Nishiyama (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 13:48.98
5. Kota Murayama (Josai Univ.) - 13:49.18

Men's 5000 m Open
1. Ikki Takeuchi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 13:56.98
2. Ryohei Yamasaki (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 14:02.50
3. Takumi Kiyotani (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 14:05.18

40th Heisei Kokusai University Time Trials
Saitama, 4/28/13
click here for complete results

Men's 10000 m Heat 4
1. Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 28:38.43 - PB
2. Kento Otsu (Toyo Univ.) - 28:39.54 - PB
3. Hiroki Yamagishi (Jobu Univ.) - 28:40.50 - PB
4. Yudai Okamoto (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 28:42.29 - PB
5. Genki Matsumura (Josai Univ.) - 28:49.29 - PB
6. Shun Sato (Jobu Univ.) - 28:57.32 - PB
7. Ryu Takaku (Toyo Univ.) - 28:58.09 - PB
8. Genta Yodokawa (Toyo Univ.) - 29:05.94 - PB
9. Kazuki Uemura (Toyo Univ.) - 29:06.54 - PB
10. Keisuke Nakatani (Komazawa Univ.) - 29:18.77 - debut

Men's 5000 m Heat 12
1. Keita Shitara (Toyo Univ.) - 13:53.44
2. Yuta Shitara (Toyo Univ.) - 13:56.52
3. Loul Gebrselassie (Ethiopia/Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 13:58.78
4. Azmeraw Mengistu (Ethiopia/Team Honda) - 14:05.87
5. Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda) - 14:06.02
-----
11. Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) - 14:15.84

Men's 5000 m Heat 10
1. Keita Shitara (Toyo Univ.) - 14:10.53
2. Yuta Shitara (Toyo Univ.) - 14:10.72
3. Daiki Suzaki (Sapporo Nittai Prep H.S.) - 14:28.94

67th Oita Prefecture T&F Championships
Oita Bank Dome, Oita, 4/27/13
click here for complete results

Women's 10000 m
1. Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) - 32:47.83 - PB/MR
2. Megumi Amako (Canon AC Kyushu) - 33:03.84 (MR)
3. Hitomi Shimofuji (Canon AC Kyushu) - 33:31.74
4. Rika Kawashima (Canon AC Kyushu) - 33:39.00

Women's 5000 m
1. Pauline Wangui (Kenya/Ritsumeikan AP Univ.) - 16:17.17
2. Madoka Uesugi (Nippon Bunri Prep Otsuki H.S.) - 16:23.96
3. Ami Utsunomiya (Nippon Bunri Prep Otsuki H.S.) - 16:57.13

Japan Invitational Wakayama Meet
Kimiidera Field, Wakayama, 4/27/13
click here for complete results

Women's 5000 m
1. Misato Horie (Team Noritz) - 16:12.77
2. Kaori Oyama (Team Noritz) - 16:22.03
3. Ai Inoue (Team Noritz) - 16:23.01

Nobeoka Spring Time Trials
Nobeoka, 4/29/13
click here for complete results

Men's 5000 m Heat 4
1. Jeremiah Karemi (Kenya/Team Toyota Kyushu) - 13:48.79
2. Kohei Matsumura (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) - 13:59.50
3. Kazuki Noda (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 14:03.13

(c) 2013 Brett Larner
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