Skip to main content

Ngatia Runs 5000 m WL at Kanaguri Memorial Meet

by Brett Larner
videos by Ekiden News



Kenyan Hiram Ngatia (Team Toyota) came up with a major PB at Saturday's Kanaguri Memorial Meet, beating Moscow World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Paul Tanui (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) to win the 5000 m A-heat in a world-leading 13:13.66.  Running on his birthday, Yamanashi Gakuin University star Enock Omwamba (Kenya) likewise PBd in 13:28.41, with Keita Shitara (Team Konica Minolta) edging his twin brother Yuta Shitara (Team Honda) for top Japanese honors at 6th in 13:41.04.

The Shitara twins' former Toyo University teammate Takanori Ichikawa (Team Hitachi Butsuryu) came up with a PB almost identical to theirs to win the B-heat in 13:41.84 just ahead of top collegiate Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.).  After running last month's United Airline NYC Half with support from JRN, Takashi Ichida (Team Asahi Kasei) and his former Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S. teammate Koki Takada (Waseda Univ.) both PBd in the B-heat, Ichida 4th in 13:43.38 and Takada 6th in 13:50.32.



In the men's 1500 m, Ronald Kwemoi (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.) led James Mwangi (Kenya/Team NTN) and Kota Murayama (Team Asahi Kasei) under the old meet record, winning in a solid 3:38.04.  Murayama's twin Kenta Murayama (Team Asahi Kasei) was 13th in 3:48.22.  Results were not as deep in the women's races, but Sayaka Kuwahara (Team Sekisui Kagaku) unexpectedly outran one of last year's top Japanese women, Yuka Takashima (Team Denso) for the 5000 m win in a good early-season PB of 15:35.56.  Kyoka Nakagawa (Kumamoto Shinai H.S.) won the high school girls' 3000 m A-heat in a relatively conservative 9:33.03.



Further north in the suburbs of Tokyo the Setagaya Time Trials meet was unusually high level up against Kanaguri in its first edition of the year.  2015 Hakone Ekiden course record setter Aoyama Gakuin University showed up to race, three of its four core members turning up in the A-heat and all PBing along with second-year Yuki Nakamura and third-year Yuya Ando, who both broke 14 for the first time.  AGU junior Tadashi Isshiki, the 2015 National University Half Marathon champion, outkicked Ethiopian Kassa Mekashaw (Team Yachiyo Kogyo) for the win in a PB 13:44.96.  Seniors Kazuma Kubota and Yusuke Ogura took 3rd and 5th in PBs of 13:49.27 and 13:55.97, with Nakamura 9th in 13:57.40 and Ando 11th in 13:57.75.



2013's 5000 m national champion Sota Hoshi (Team Fujitsu) led a quality 3000 m A-heat that saw the top 8 all run sub-8:10 PBs, Hoshi getting the win in 8:06.58.  High schooler Kazuyoshi Tamogami (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) turned heads in the 1500 m A-heat, winning in 3:50.13 over pro Yoshihiro Wakamatsu (Team Nissin Shokuhin).  Another high schooler, Ryoji Tatezawa (Saitama Sakae H.S.), was 3rd in 3:51.38.

24th Kanaguri Memorial Meet
Kumamoto, 4/4/15
click here for complete results

Men's 5000 m Heat 5
1. Hiram Ngatia (Kenya/Toyota) - 13:13.66 - WL, PB
2. Paul Tanui (Kenya/Kyudenko) - 13:19.62
3. William Malel (Kenya/Honda) - 13:26.86
4. Enock Omwamba (Kenya/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 13:28.41 - PB
5. Patrick Mwaka (Kenya/Aisan Kogyo) - 13:31.00
6. Keita Shitara (Konica Minolta) - 13:41.04
7. Joseph Onsarigo (Kenya/ND Software) - 13:41.09
8. Yuta Shitara (Honda) - 13:41.66 - PB
9. Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) - 13:42.82 - PB
10. Yuki Sato (Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:47.02

Men's 5000 m Heat 4
1. Takanori Ichikawa (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:41.84 - PB
2. Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 13:42.16 - PB
3. Akihiko Tsumurai (Mazda) - 13:43.36 - PB
4. Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 13:43.38 - PB
5. Hiroki Matsueda (Juntendo Univ.) - 13:49.74
6. Koki Takada (Waseda Univ.) - 13:50.32 - PB
7. Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) - 13:52.12
8. Ryo Matsumoto (Toyota) - 13:52.89
9. Yuta Takahashi (DeNA) - 13:56.88
10. Lazarus Motanya (Kenya/Obirin Univ.) - 13:57.53

Women's 5000 m Heat 2
1. Sayaka Kuwahara (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:35.56 - PB
2. Yuka Takashima (Denso) - 15:37.68
3. Eri Makikawa (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 15:54.58
4. Miki Sakakibara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 15:57.03
5. Yuki Mitsunobu (Denso) - 16:00.86

High School Girls' 3000 m Heat 4
1. Kyoka Nakagawa (Kumamoto Shinai H.S.) - 9:33.03
2. Yuki Shibata (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) - 9:34.88
3. Maho Jono (Oita Tomei H.S.) - 9:37.68
4. Yuki Udagawa (Kashiwa Nittai Prep H.S.) - 9:38.29
5. Rina Yamashita (Oita Tomei H.S.) - 9:43.38

Men's 1500 m Heat 2
1. Ronald Kwemoi (Kenya/Komori Corp.) - 3:38.04 - MR
2. James Mwangi (Kenya/NTN) - 3:40.04 (MR)
3. Kota Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 3:41.16 (MR)
4. Masaki Toda (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 3:42.76 - PB
5. Daiki Hirose (Osaka Gas) - 3:43.78
-----
10. Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) - 3:45.94
13. Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 3:48.22
15. Yuki Sato (Nissin Shokuhin) - 3:51.12

Women's 1500 m
1. Ayaka Nakagawa (Sekisui Kagaku) - 4:25.83
2. Maya Iino (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 4:26.90
3. Haruka Mochizuki (Kojima Press) - 4:28.46
4. Yurino Yokoyama (Meijo Univ.) - 4:29.08
5. Ayaka Yokose (Yamada Denki) - 4:29.58

Setagaya Time Trials
Setagaya, Tokyo, 4/4/15
click here for complete results

Men's 5000 m Heat 10
1. Tadashi Isshiki (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 13:44.96 - PB
2. Kassa Mekashaw (Ethiopia/Yachiyo Kogyo) - 13:45.17
3. Kazuma Kubota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 13:49.27 - PB
4. Kenta Matsubara (Toyota) - 13:55.52
5. Yusuke Ogura (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 13:55.97 - PB
6. Shota Kai (Yachiyo Kogyo) - 13:56.28 - PB
7. Keisuke Fujii (Toyota) - 13:56.35 - PB
8. Hayato Yamada (Toyota Boshoku) - 13:56.92 - PB
9. Yuki Nakamura (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 13:57.40 - PB
10. Tatsuya Hayashi (Toyota) - 13:57.57 - PB

Men's 3000 m Heat 8
1. Sota Hoshi (Fujitsu) - 8:06.58 - PB
2. Shota Shinjo (Honda) - 8:07.21 - PB
3. Yuki Munakata (Kanebo) - 8:07.77 - PB
4. Tsubasa Hayakawa (Toyota) - 8:07.88 - PB
5. Kazuto Kawabata (Tokai Univ.) - 8:08.48 - PB
6. Shuhei Shirota (Kanebo) - 8:08.96 - PB
7. Hiroyuki Fujii (Chuo Univ.) - 8:09.02 - PB
8. Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) - 8:09.06 - PB
9. Tomoyuki Morita (Kanebo) - 8:10.53
10. Keisuke Nakatani (Komazawa Univ.) - 8:11.01 - PB

Men's 1500 m Heat 6
1. Kazuyoshi Tamogami (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) - 3:50.13 - PB
2. Yoshihiro Wakamatsu (Nissin Shokuhin) - 3:50.48 - PB
3. Ryoji Tatezawa (Saitama Sakae H.S.) - 3:51.38 - PB
4. Keisuke Nakatani (Komazawa Univ.) - 3:51.64
5. Akihito Kobari (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 3:52.00
-----
8. Akinobu Murasawa (Nissin Shokuhin) - 3:55.53
10. Jordan Donnelly (U.S.A.) - 3:59.12

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more

Batt-Doyle and Strintzos Break Records at Launceston Half

Australians Isobel Batt-Doyle and Haftu Strintzos turned in record-breaking performances to win the McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania. Running with a private male pacer, NR holder Batt-Doyle dusted the field with the fastest half marathon ever by an Australian woman on Australian soil, a 1:08:46 CR that put her 2 and a half minutes ahead of runner-up Genevieve Gregson . Last year's runner-up Yumi Yoshikawa was almost a minute back from Gregson in 3rd in 1:12:03, but was almost run down by club runner Ayaka Shimoyamada . Starting slow in her international debut, Shimoyamada moved up from 7th over the 2nd half of the race to finish 4th in 1:12:06, kicking hard in the home straight to try to catch Yoshikawa and momentarily blacking out after finishing. Kaho Onishi was 7th in 1:12:45 in her own international debut. The men's half had pacing set at 2:53/km to try to deliver the first-ever sub-61 half marathon on Australian soil. CR holde...
Post a Comment
Read more

CHN and JPN National Records Go Down - Weekend Track Update

There weren't any Japanese athletes in action at the Rabat Diamond League meet Sunday, but 2 lower-tier domestic meets produced new national records. At the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama, Samuel Kibathi (Toyota) led the top 5 in the men's 10000 m under 28 minutes in 27:39.97. In 3rd, China's Wenjie Wang took just over a second off his own NR from the same meet last year, setting a new record of 27:47.53. His teammate Haoran Tang was 6th in a 28:27.44 PB, with the top Japanese time in the race being a 28:33.39 for 8th from Jin Yuasa (Toyota). Amazingly, Wang and Tang were back the next day on day 2 of the Nittai meet, Wang running a PB of 13:35.58 for 4th in the A-heat and Tang winning the B-heat in a PB of 13:38.80. Isaac Ndiema took the A-heat in 13:26.49, with the fastest Japanese time going to Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu) with a 13:35.94 for 5th behind Wang. Other Nittai highlights: Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) won a photo finish against Yua Nagamori ...
1 comment
Read more