Skip to main content

Omwamba Runs 3:35.69 National Collegiate Record for 4th-Straight Kanto Regionals 1500 m Title

by Brett Larner
video by naoki620



Senior Enock Omwamba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) brought the biggest news of the second day of the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships at Yokohama's Nissan Stadium, winning his fourth-straight D1 Kanto 1500 m title in a national collegiate record 3:35.69.  Omwamba simply outclassed the field, runner-up Patrick Wambui (Nihon Univ.) more than 5 seconds back in 3:41.13 and top Japanese finisher Mitsutaka Tomita (Tokai Univ.) 3rd in 3:47.20.  The fastest time by a Japanese runner actually came in the D2 1500 m final, where Hiroya Inoue (Jobu Univ.) took 0.1 off marathon great Daniel Njenga's meet record with his 3:45.47 win.

Alongside Omwamba, Sakurako Fukuuchi (Daito Bunka Univ.) likewise pulled off a successful title defense in the women's 10000 m, winning for the second year in a row in 33:32.94 by almost 4 seconds over teammate Fuyuka Kimura.  Another Daito Bunka runner, Rina Koeda, won the women's 1500 m in 4:17.54, less than 1 second off the 18-year-old meet record of 4:16.64.  With both Fukuuchi and Koeda entered in the 5000 m where they are seeded 1-2 and Fukuuchi is the two-time defending champion, and DBU third-year Soyoka Segawa seeded #1 in the 3000 mSC the chances are good for a Daito Bunka sweep of the women's distance events.

Omwamba and Inoue were not the only new records set on the meet's second day.  New records also came in the men's D1 110 mH, D2 4x100 m relay, men's D1 long jump and the men's D3 decathlon.  The day's other main event, the men's D1 100 m final, came up short of a new record with the withdrawal of wunderkind Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) with twinges in his left hamstrings after running well in the heats and semi-final.  In his absence Asuka Cambridge (Nihon Univ.) took the win in 10.33 +1.0, with Toyo's 4x100 m team a DNF in the D1 final.

94th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships Day Two
Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 5/15/15
click here for complete results

Women's 10000 m
1. Sakurako Fukuuchi (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 33:32.94
2. Fuyuka Kimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 33:36.73
3. Saki Fukui (Josai Univ.) - 33:37.40
4. Yuri Karasawa (Nittai Univ.) - 34:16.35
5. Sayaka Sato (Toyo Univ.) - 34:17.11

Men's D1 1500 m Final
1. Enock Omwamba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 3:35.69 - NUR
2. Patrick Wambui (Nihon Univ.) - 3:41.13
3. Mitsutaka Tomita (Tokai Univ.) - 3:47.20
4. Yuki Muta (Meiji Univ.) - 3:47.43
5. Shogo Hata (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 3:47.62

Men's D2 1500 m Final
1. Hiroya Inoue (Jobu Univ.) - 3:45.47 - MR
2. Shota Motegi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 3:48.31
3. Ryusei Yoshinaga (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 3:48.40
4. Ryuya Kajitani (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 3:48.90
5. Sho Sakuma (Asia Univ.) - 3:49.30

Women's 1500 m Final
1. Rina Koeda (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 4:17.54
2. Mina Ueda (Josai Univ.) - 4:18.16
3. Maki Izumida (Rikkyo Univ.) - 4:18.83
4. Chinatsu Uchiyama (Tamagawa Univ.) - 4:19.26
5. Maya Iino (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 4:20.30

Men's D1 100 m Final +1.0 m/s
1. Asuka Cambridge (Nihon Univ.) - 10.33
2. Takuya Nagata (Hosei Univ.) - 10.35
3. Akiyuki Hashimoto (Waseda Univ.) - 10.38
4. Tatsuro Suwa (Chuo Univ.) - 10.41
5. Kazuma Oseto (Hosei Univ.) - 10.44
6. Soshi Watanabe (Tokai Univ.) - 10.48
7. Yusaku Koike (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.59
DNS - Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.)

Men's D1 110mH Final +1.0 m/s
1. Genta Masuno (Kokusai Budo Univ.) - 13.64 - MR
2. Hiroki Fudaba (Kokusai Budo Univ.) - 13.81
3. Takumu Furuya (Waseda Univ.) - 13.87
4. Shunya Takayama (Meiji Univ.) - 13.97
5. Akihiro Ogata (Kokushikan Univ.) - 14.04
6. Takumi Takahata (Gakugei Univ.) - 14.26
7. Taio Kanai (Hosei Univ.) - 14.26
8. Kyohei Furuya (Juntendo Univ.) - 14.51

Men's D2 4x100 m Final
1. Daito Bunka Univ. - 39.81 - MR
2. Surugadai Univ. - 40.29
3. Tokyo Nogyo Univ. - 40.35

Men's D1 Long Jump
1. Tomoya Takamasa (Juntendo Univ.) - 8.03 m +1.9 - MR
2. Hiroyuki Fukasawa (Nihon Univ.) - 8.01 m +3.7
3. Kirii Matsuzoe (Hosei Univ.) - 7.74 m +0.9
4. Masamine Momiyama (Nittai Univ.) - 7.63 m +0.7
5. Sho Matsubara (Tokai Univ.) - 7.62 m +0.7

Men's D3 Decathlon
1. Kazuya Kawasaki (Juntendo Univ. Grad School) - 7644 - MR
2. Toshifumi Nakajima (Tokai Univ. Grad School) - 6886
3. Mizuki Mimura (Gakugei Univ. Grad School) - 6567

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

World Marathon Majors Japanese Entries

We're back from a short summer break. A week and a half out from the first race of the season's four World Marathon Majors races, here's a look at Japanese athletes scheduled to run. Everything right now is about qualifying for the MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to be held in the fall of 2027 in Nagoya. The JAAF makes no mistake about wanting to keep its top people racing domestically where it can get a share of revenue from the TV broadcast and race operations, so anyone who decides to race overseas has to do it in a WA platinum label race and hit either 2:06:30 or 2:23:30, regardless of place, course or weather if they want to make the trials. At the same time concessions are make for domestic races, like for example the late-August Hokkaido Marathon where up to 3 men and 3 women can qualify if they go 2:12:00 or 2:32:00. As a result, you get things like last year where amateur runner Yudai Fukuda made the trials by finishing 3rd Jap...

Nakajima Breaks 100 mH NR Twice, Kitaguchi Returns - August Track Roundup

Catching up on what's been happening in track and field this month during our summer break: Men's 3000 m NR holder Nagiya Mori was just off his 5000 m PB at the IFAM Oordegem meet in Belgium on Aug. 1, taking 16th in 13:15.01. Shota Nakano was 26th of 28 in 13:35.02. This year's national champion Ryoma Aoki ran the 3000 mSC but didn't finish. Naoto Hasegawa was the only Japanese athlete at Mutaz Essa Barshim 's What Gravity Tour stop at the Monaco Athletics Festival meet on Aug. 5. Having cleared 2.30 m for the first time earlier this year Hasegawa only managed 2.18 m in Monaco, taking 7th of 10. There were a lot of good performances at the Fuji Hokuriku World Trial meet in Fujiyoshida on Aug. 9, but the one that got the headlines was a 12.62 (-0.2) NR in the women's 100 mH by Hitomi Nakajima . Nakajima actually did it twice, running 12.62 (+2.0) in the heats before repeating in the final. Masumi Aoki also ran big in the heats, with a 12.68 (+2.0) for al...