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Kiryu 10.05 Meet Record for Kanto Regionals Win

by Brett Larner

After coming out on top of the 100 m qualifying heats and anchoring their 4x100 m teams to qualify for the finals yesterday, Japan's teen sprint sensations Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) and Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.) returned for record-setting finals on the second day of the 2014 Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships, May 17 in Kumagaya, Saitama.



Kiryu, ranked #1 in the D1 100 m after a 10.36 (-0.6) opening round on Friday, started Saturday with a 10.25 (+3.6) to lead the semifinals.  Three hours later he was back in more moderate wind for the final, where he dropped a 10.05 (+1.6) meet record to tie Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Shingo Tsuetsugu's national university record.  His time, sixth in the world so far this season, was the closest Kiryu has come to his name-making 10.01 just over a year ago, bringing him one step closer to his career goal of Japan's first sub-10 clocking.

Just over three hours later he was back again to anchor Toyo's 4x100 m in the final. Despite setting a new school record of 39.54 largely on the strength of Kiryu's run, Toyo could do no better than 3rd against national university record holder Chuo University, 1st in 39.12, and #1-ranked Hosei University, 2nd in 39.31.



Doi, a London Olympian while still at Saitama Sakae H.S. and like Kiryu now a Saitama-based university first-year, sailed through the semi-finals in a wind-aided 11.51 (+3.1), well ahead of the 11.67 meet record set by Momoko Takahashi (Heisei Kokusai Univ.) in 2010, before returning to do it for real in the final with an 11.59 (+0.7) meet record for the win.  Mirroring Kiryu again in the relay, despite a solid anchor run Doi was short of powering Daito Bunka Univ. to the win as Aoyama Gakuin University, with three athletes in the 100 m final, took the win in 46.11 to DBU's 46.58.



Overshadowed by the success of Kiryu and Doi, Doi's London Olympics teammate Ryota Yamagata (Keio Univ.) also had a big day in the men's D2 races.  In the 100 m Yamagata ran 10.23 (+1.5) to lead the top three under the D2 meet record.  In the 4x100 m he anchored Keio to another meet record, crushing Heisei Kokusai Univ.'s year-old record of 40.16 with a new mark of 39.96.  Yamagata, along with D1 runner-up Cambridge and others, added to Kiryu's success to give the development of Japanese sprinting added depth, and with Doi eclipsing marks set by Takahashi, the university-era rival of national record holder Chisato Fukushima, the same looks true for women's sprinting as well.  The buildup to the Rio and Tokyo Olympics continues to get more interesting.

93rd Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships - Day Two Highlights
Kumagaya, Saitama, 5/17/14

Men's D1 100 m Final +1.6
1. Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) - 10.05 - Univ. NRMR
2. Asuka Cambridge (Nihon Univ.) - 10.21
3. Kazuma Oseto (Hosei Univ.) - 10.27
4. Takumi Kuki (Waseda Univ.) - 10.30
5. Tatsuya Yamaguchi (Josai Univ.) - 10.34
6. Hayato Suda (Waseda Univ.) - 10.37
7. Yu Onabuta (Chuo Univ.) - 10.37
8. Masafumi Naoki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.40

Men's D2 100 m Final +1.5
1. Ryota Yamagata (Keio Univ.) - 10.23 - MR
2. Shota Hara (Jobu Univ.) - 10.39
3. Yuki Koike (Keio Univ.) - 10.41
4. Chihiro Yoshida (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 10.68
5. Shota Matsuda (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 10.75
6. Takahiro Iwami (Keio Univ.) - 10.76
7. Ryo Tsunashima (Seigakuin Univ.) - 10.77
8. Yuta Takeuchi (Saitama Ika Univ.) - 10.83

Women's 100 m Final +0.7
1. Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 11.59 - MR
2. Anna Fujimori (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 11.93
3. Sayaka Matsumoto (Tsuru Bunka Univ.) - 12.00
4. Maho Takamori (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 12.04
5. Hiromi Shioya (Surugadai Univ.) - 12.10
6. Sae Shimada (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 12.12
7. Erika Ikeuchi (Tsuru Bunka Univ.) - 12.23
8. Kazumi Akashi (Josai Univ.) - 12.26

Men's DI 4x100 m Final
1. Chuo Univ. - 39.12
2. Hosei Univ. - 39.31
3. Toyo Univ. - 39.54
4. Josai Univ. - 39.91
5. Nittai Univ. - 40.01
6. Daito Bunka Univ. - 40.01
7. Juntendo Univ. - 40.47
8. Nihon Univ. - 41.18

Men's D2 4x100 m Final
1. Keio Univ - 39.96 - MR
2. Jobu Univ. - 40.52
3. Tokyo Nogyo Univ. - 41.11
4. Aoyama Gakuin Univ. - 41.20
5. Tokyo Gakugei Univ. - 41.24
6. Tokyo Keizai Univ. - 41.31
7. Sakushin Univ. - 41.48
8. Kanagawa Univ. - 42.05


Women's 4x100 m Final
1. Aoyama Gakuin Univ. - 46.11
2. Daito Bunka Univ. - 46.58
3. Tsuru Bunka Univ. - 46.85
4. Saitama Univ. - 47.49
5. Tokyo Gakugei Univ. - 47.67
6. Tokyo Joshi Taiiku Univ. - 47.93
7. Tsukuba Univ. - 59.79 

(c) 2014 Brett Larner
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