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Matsunaga Breaks 10000 m Race Walk Record on Last Day of National University Track and Field Championships

by Brett Larner

Following its pair of wins from Hazuma Hattori and Yoshihide Kiryu yesterday, Toyo University again delivered the performance of the day on the third day of the National University Track and Field Championships at Osaka’s Nagai Stadium. Toyo’s men’s 10000 mRW junior national record holder Daisuke Matsunaga, the Kanto Region champion, dueled with Kansai region champ Toshikazu Yamanishi (Kyoto Univ.) in the first race of the day, pushing each other throughout the race and both breaking the meet record in PB time. Matsunaga was first across the line in 39:18.04, the only new record at this year’s Nationals, with Yamanishi falling back but still clearing the old meet record in 39:28.63, more than a minute better than his previous best.

Along with the Matsunaga – Yamanishi duel, the women’s 4x400 m relay was another of the day’s highlights. Osaka Seikei University and Shigakkan University overtook each other multiple times on almost every leg and on the anchor leg Ritsumeikan University’s Aki Odagaki looked like she would run them both down, but Osaka Seikei anchor Seika Aoyama, a member of the national record-setting Japanese 4x400 m team at last month's National Championships, held on for the win in 3:38.90 with a strong run in the home straight.

The Toyo men’s 4x400 m team looked like it had a shot at adding another win to Toyo’s list after a brilliant anchor run from Julian Walsh in the semis, but although Walsh managed to briefly take the lead a tough race with Waseda University and Juntendo University knocked Toyo back to 3rd. Juntendo anchor Kaisei Yui outran both Walsh and Waseda’s Naoya Nakano to cross the finish line first in 3:06.79, Juntendo’s first 4x400 title in 24 years.

Close men’s 110 mH and 800 m races both had exciting finishes, but the day’s last highlight came in its final event, the men’s high jump, where Ryoichi Akamatsu (Gifu Univ.), Yuji Hiramatsu (Tsukuba Univ.) and Ryo Sato (Tokai Univ.) pushed each other within range of the 2.28 m meet record. Akamatsu came closest, clearing 2.25 m for the first time for the win, with Beijing World Championships team member Hiramatsu only clearing 2.22 m and Sato likewise clearing 2.22 m for the first time.

In overall team scoring, Tokyo-area schools dominated the men’s scoring, with Nihon University easily taking the title over Juntendo and Waseda with 87 points. Women’s competition was both closer and more diverse as Kyoto’s Ritsumeikan outdid Tsukuba University, located northeast of Tokyo, by 1 point with 67 points. Local Osaka Seikei was 3rd with 54 points. Next year’s National University Track and Field Championships return to the Tokyo-centric Kanto Region in Kumagaya, Saitama.

84th National University Track and Field Championships Day Three
Nagai Stadium, Osaka, 9/13/15
click here for complete results

Overall Team Scores
Men
1. Nihon Univ. – 87
2. Juntendo Univ. – 69
3. Waseda Univ. – 51.5

Women
1. Ritsumeikan Univ. – 67
2. Tsukuba Univ. – 66
3. Osaka Seikei Univ. - 54

Men’s 200 m Final -0.6 m/s
1. Takuya Nagata (Hosei Univ.) – 20.57
2. Akiyuki Hashimoto (Waseda Univ.) – 20.71
3. Kotaro Taniguchi (Chuo Univ.) – 20.71

Women’s 200 m Final -0.2 m/s
1. Seika Aoyama (Osaka Seikei Univ.) – 23.81
2. Mizuki Nakamura (Osaka Seikei Univ.) – 24.00
3. Kotomi Eguchi (Saitama Univ.) – 24.06

Men’s 800 m Final
1. Naoto Arayasu (Juntendo Univ.) – 1:50.43
2. Tomonori Tanaka (Kinki Univ.) – 1:50.73
3. Takuya Fukunaga (Nihon Univ.) – 1:50.73

Women’s 800 m Final
1. Hana Yamada (Tokyo Gakugei Univ.) – 2:07.77
2. Ran Urabe (Tokyo Gakugei Univ.) – 2:08.43
3. Kaede Oya (Nittai Univ.) – 2:09.18

Men’s 110 mH Final +0.4 m/s
1. Hiroki Fudaba (Kokusai Budo Univ.) – 13.88
2. Fumihito Kobayashi (Kyoto Kyoiku Univ.) – 13.90
3. Takumu Furuya (Waseda Univ.) – 13.91

Women’s 100 mH Final +0.0 m/s
1. Miku Fujiwara (Mukogawa Joshi Univ.) – 13.48
2. Anri Tanaka (Konan Univ.) – 13.49
3. Mako Fukube (Nittai Univ.) – 13.58

Men’s 400 mH Final
1. Takaoki Hashimoto (Nihon Univ.) – 49.89 - PB
2. Shotaro Tanabe (Chuo Univ.) – 50.25
3. Naoto Noguchi (Juntendo Univ.) – 50.35

Women’s 400 mH Final
1. Miku Fujiwara (Mukogawa Joshi Univ.) – 57.71
2. Akiko Ito (Tsukuba Univ.) – 57.81
3. Ayaka Nishida (Kobe Univ.) – 58.01

Women’s 3000 mSC Final
1. Misaki Mishima (Matsuyama Univ.) – 10:05.94 - PB
2. Moeno Shimizu (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) – 10:06.37 - PB
3. Ayaka Koike (Tohoku Fukushi Univ.) – 10:18.78
4. Emi Tsuji (Fukuoka Univ.) – 10:22.41
5. Mao Watanabe (Ritsumeikan Univ.) – 10:24.19

Men’s 4x400 m Relay Final
1. Juntendo Univ. - 3:06.79
2. Waseda Univ. - 3:07.03
3. Toyo Univ. - 3:07.35

Women’s 4x400 m Relay Final
1. Osaka Seikei Univ. – 3:38.90
2. Shigakkan Univ. – 3:40.33
3. Ritsumeikan Univ. – 3:40.43

Men’s 10000 mW Final
1. Daisuke Matsunaga (Toyo Univ.) – 39:18.04 – MR, PB
2. Toshikazu Yamanshi (Kyoto Univ.) – 39:28.63 (MR) - PB
3. Tomohiro Noda (Meiji Univ.) – 40:00.09 - PB

Men’s High Jump
1. Ryoichi Akamatsu (Gifu Univ.) – 2.25 m - PB
2. Yuji Hiramatsu (Tsukuba Univ.) – 2.22 m
3. Ryo Sato (Tokai Univ.) – 2.22 m - PB

Men’s Pole Vault
1. Tomoki Yamamoto (Nittai Univ.) – 5.40 m
2. Shunta Henmi (Chukyo Univ.) – 5.30 m
3. Shota Enoki (Chukyo Univ.) – 5.30 m

Women’s Long Jump
1. Honoka Fukunishi (Kyoto Kyoiku Univ.) – 6.13 m -0.3 m/s
2. Erika Tsujimoto (Osaka Seikei Univ) – 6.08 m +1.4 m/s
3. Hitomi Sakai (Aichi Kyoiku Univ.) – 5.98 m +1.1 m/s

Men’s Javelin Throw
1. Takuma Nakanishi (Osaka Taiiku Univ.) – 74.67 m - PB
2. Kenji Ogura (Nihon Univ.) – 74.42 m
3. Atsushi Kawano (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) – 73.85 m

Women’s Javelin Throw
1. Marina Saito (Kokushikan Univ.) – 55.59 m
2. Mizuki Kato (Kyoto Kyoiku Univ.) – 55.41 m
3. Kiho Kuze (Tsukuba Univ.) – 54.29 m

Women’s Heptathlon
1. Meg Hemphill (Chuo Univ.) - 5448
2. Riko Nishimura (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 5345
3. Eri Utsunomiya (Sonoda Gakuen Joshi Univ.) - 5311

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
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