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Three Meet Records Cap Final Day of National High School Track and Field Championships

by Brett Larner
videos by naoki620



After a National High School Track and Field Championships packed with new records including two junior and high school national records, three more meet records capped the final day of competition, hot temperatures in the mid-30's notwithstanding. Nao Kanai (Kawasaki Tachibana H.S.) got things started in the boys' 110 m hurdles with a record 13.85, the only boy to go under 14 seconds despite a strong +1.4 m/s tailwind.  Chihiro Nozaki (Rakunan H.S.) followed up in the boys' triple jump with a 15.80 m meet record jump to win by almost 75 cm.  Shinichi Yukinaga (Seiko Gakuen H.S.) rounded out the action in the boys' discus throw with a mark of 55.59 m for the win, like Kanai short of his PB but enough for a new National High School Championships record.



The girls' 3000 m had an unexpected turn of events when favorite Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.), the 2014 Youth Olympics 3000 m gold medalist, losing a shoe in a two-part fall at the start of the race, stopping to take off the other one and run in socks but never managing to regain contact with the pack, dropped out at 1200 m.  In her absence, with six girls still together at the bel the race turned into a duel between Nana Kuraoka (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) and Miho Shimada (Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.), qualifying round leader Yuka Mukai (Sera H.S.) unable to stay with them over the last 250 m.  Kuraoka had the strongest finish, breaking away from Shimada for the win in 9:09.89 with Shimada just under a second behind.  Mukai took 3rd far back in 9:14.73.  Kenyan Joel Mwaura (Kurashiki Chuo H.S.) had an easy win in the boys' 3000 m steeplechase, the only boy to break 9 minutes with a new PB of 8:52.57.



In the girls' 4x400 m relay, Haruko Ishizuka (Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S.) returned from a busy schedule that saw her set junior and high school national records in the 400 mH, a meet record in the 400 m, take 2nd in the 800 m and anchor the Keiai girls' 4x100 m relay team to do it again, anchoring the Keiai 4x400 m to the win in 3:40.76.  The boys' 4x400 m was a tight race, with the top four teams finishing within less than a second of each other.  Kyushu Gakuin H.S. won the title in 3:10.18.



In overall team scoring, Ishizuka's Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S. repeated as national champion, its 63 points nearly doubling the score of runner-up Shigakukan H.S. of Aichi.  Kyoto's Rakunan H.S., alma mater of sprinter Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.), took the boys' national title with a score of 49 points, Tokyo H.S. moving up from 3rd last year to take 2nd this year with 24 points.

68th National High School Track and Field Championships 
Day Five Highlights
Wakayama, Aug. 2
click here for complete results

Girls' 3000 m Final
1. Nana Kuraoka (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) - 9:09.89
2. Miho Shimada (Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.) - 9:10.63
3. Yuka Mukai (Sera H.S.) - 9:14.73
4. Shinobu Koyoshigawa (Sera H.S.) - 9:15.14
5. Rika Kaseda (Narita H.S.) - 9:15.64
6. Fukiko Ando (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 9:16.42
7. Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 9:17.38
8. Kana Tsuchida (Niigata Meikun H.S.) - 9:27.21
9. Kanami Sagayama (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 9:27.52
10. Yuki Munehisa (Saikyo H.S.) - 9:29.35
-----
DNF - Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.)
DQ - Mary Sipuko Manela (Kaishi Kokusai H.S.)

Boys' 110 m Hurdles Final +1.4 m/s
1. Nao Kanai (Kawasaki Tachibana H.S.) - 13.85 - MR
2. Hayao Tagami (Rakunan H.S.) - 14.10 - PB
3. Papudenpa Hiramatsu (Roka H.S.) - 14.19 - PB
4. Rei Igarashi (Aizu Gakuho H.S.) - 14.36 - PB
5. Masaki Toyoda (Rakunan H.S.) - 14.38
6. Takuma Kato (Niigata Shibata H.S.) - 14.50
7. Rui Takahashi (Miyagi Shibata H.S.) - 14.57
8. Hiroki Toyama (Kannabe Asahi H.S.) - 14.69 (14.49 PB in semifinals)

Girls' 100 m Hurdles +0.9 m/s
1. Yumi Tanaka (Kansai Prep Daiichi H.S.) - 13.87
2. Ten Sasaki (Morioka Daiichi H.S.) - 13.93
3. Sakiko Kamata (Koryo H.S.) - 13.98
4. Reina Nakamura (Osaka H.S.) - 14.00 - PB
5. Marumi Kanai (Yokohama Minami H.S.) - 14:03 - PB
6. Rika Okamoto (Otokuni H.S.) - 14.07 - PB
7. Natsuki Nakatsuka (Otsuka H.S.) - 14.12 (14.00 PB in semifinals)
8. Mariko Negi (Kunori Gakuen H.S.) - 14.13
9. Saaya Kato (Ogaki Shogyo H.S.) - 14.25 (14.12 PB in semifinals)

Boys' 3000 m Steeplechase Final
1. Joel Mwaura (Kurashiki Chuo H.S.) - 8:52.57 - PB
2. Taisei Ogino (Kato Gakuen H.S.) - 9:00.05
3. Kota Oki (Narita H.S.) - 9:01.78 - PB
4. Hikaru Makino (Kobayashi H.S.) - 9:04.85 - PB
5. Hiromu Endo (Koku Gakuin Prep Kugayama H.S.) - 9:06.63

Boys' 4x400 m Relay Final
1. Kyushu Gakuin H.S. - 3:10.18
2. Morioka Minami H.S. - 3:10.66
3. Soyo H.S. - 3:10.87
4. Narita H.S. - 3:10.93
5. Tokyo H.S. - 3:11.69
6. Uji Yamada Shogyo H.S. - 3:13.97
7. Kansai Prep Hokuyo H.S. - 3:14.17
8. Osaka H.S. - 3:14.95
9. Miyazaki Kogyo H.S. - 3:17.85

Girls' 4x400 m Relay Final
1. Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S. - 3:40.76
2. Soyo H.S. - 3:42.74
3. Narita H.S. - 3:43.09
4. Shigakukan H.S. - 3:44.61
5. Hachioji H.S. - 3:44.62
6. Tokyo H.S. - 3:46.61
7. Chukyo Prep H.S. - 3:48.37
8. Municipal Funabashi H.S. - 3:49.24

Boys' Triple Jump Final
1. Chihiro Nozaki (Rakunan H.S.) - 15.80 m -0.2 m/s - MR, PB
2. Shota Inagawa (Niigata H.S.) - 15.06 m -0.4 m/s
3. Shinya Kobayashi (Suge H.S.) - 14.98 m -0.2 m/s

Girls' Shot Put Final
1. Nanaka Kori (Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S.) - 14.96 m
2. Yuri Saito (Kochi Otemae H.S.) - 14.20 m - PB
3. Sae Sakamoto (Mita Kokusai Gakuen H.S.) - 13.84 m - PB

Boys' Discus Throw
1. Shinichi Yukinaga (Seiko Gakuen H.S.) - 55.59 m - MR
2. Hiroshi Nakamoto (Wakayama Kogyo H.S.) - 47.19 m
3. Satoshi Tobimatsu (Kyushu Sangyo Prep H.S.) - 47.17 m

Girls' Final School Standings
1. Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S. (Osaka) - 63
2. Shigakukan H.S. (Aichi) - 35
3. Tokyo H.S. (Tokyo) - 25
4. Soyo H.S. (Kanagawa) - 25
5. Okazaki Josai H.S. (Aichi) - 22
6. Kurashiki Chuo H.S. (Okayama) - 20
7. Morioka Daiichi H.S. (Iwate) - 17
8. Osaka H.S. (Osaka) - 16

Boys' Final School Standings
1. Rakunan H.S. (Kyoto) - 49
2. Tokyo H.S. (Tokyo) - 24
3. Osaka Toin H.S. (Osaka) - 21
4. Kyushu Gakuin H.S. (Kumamoto) - 21
5. Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. (Fukushima) - 20
6. Narita H.S. (Chiba) - 19
7. Josai Prep H.S. (Tokyo) - 18
8. Seiko Gakuen H.S. (Tokushima) - 16

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
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