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Kiryu Returns, Wambui Arrives - National University Track and Field Championships Day One Results

by Brett Larner


Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ) topped the first day of the 2015 National University Track and Field Championships Sept. 11 at Osaka's Nagai Stadium, returning from a summer lost to injury with a 10.40 win in his 100 m opening heat and a 10.30 win in his semifinal to head into tomorrow's final in the top position despite self-reporting at only 80% fitness.  Rivals Kazuma Oseto (Hosei Univ.) and Takuya Nagata (Hosei Univ.) were both less than 0.5 behind in their semifinals, in Oseto's case despite a strong headwind, promising a competitive final.  Kiryu also helped Toyo 4x100 m make the final, a good first step in his pre-Olympics comeback.


In the women's 400 m, Seika Aoyama (Osaka Seikei Univ.), a member of the national record-setting 4x400 m relay team at last month's Beijing World Championships, had an easy win in 53.33.  Defending women's 10000 m champion Rina Nabeshima (Kanoya Taiiku Univ.) endured a slow 16:57 first half before rival Maki Izumida (Rikkyo Univ.) took charge, sitting on Izumida through an escalating pace until the final lap when she kicked away for the win in 33:18.69.  Both Izumida and 3rd-placer Kotona Ota (Ritsumeikan Univ.) finished within a second of Nabeshima, who quickly came over to apologize to Izumida for beating her after all Izumida's work.  Close races also went down in both the men's and women's 1500 m, with just 0.28 separating the top three in the women's race.


The men's 10000 m featured a changing of the guard as Kenyan first-years Patrick Mathenge Wambui (Nihon Univ.) and Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) unseated two-time defending champion Daniel Muiva Kitonyi (Nihon Univ.), running as a trio for much of the race but dropping senior Kitonyi as they dueled over the last lap.  Wambui, who broke 28 minutes over the summer at the Hokuren Distance Challenge, was too strong for #2-ranked Nyairo, taking the national title by just over a second in 28:21.80.  Kitonyi held on for 3rd by a wide margin over top Japanese man Sho Tokunaga (Chuo Univ.), 4th in 28:52.29.

84th National University Track and Field Championships Day One
Nagai Stadium, Osaka, 9/11/15
click here for complete results

Men’s 100 m Semifinal 1 +0.4 m/s
1. Takuya Nagata (Hosei Univ.) – 10.34 - Q
2. Takuya Kawakami (Chuo Univ.) – 10.40 - Q
3. Asuka Cambridge (Nihon Univ.) – 10.45 - q

Men’s 100 m Semifinal 2 -1.6 m/s
1. Kazuma Oseto (Hosei Univ.) – 10.33 - Q
2. Yuki Koike (Keio Univ.) – 10.40 - Q
3. Yusaku Koike (Juntendo Univ.) – 10.52 - q

Men’s 100 m Semifinal 3 +0.5 m/s
1. Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) – 10.30 - Q
2. Hayato Suda (Waseda Univ.) – 10.45 - Q
3. Tatsuro Suwa (Chuo Univ.) – 10.54

Women’s 100 m Semifinal 1 +0.6 m/s
1. Mizuki Nakamura (Osaka Seikei Univ.) – 11.77 - Q
2. Akira Koyama (Ritsumeikan Univ.) – 11.89 - Q
3. Haruka Abe (Fukushima Univ.) – 11.93 - q

Women’s 100 m Semifinal 2 +0.8 m/s
1. Yuki Miyazawa (Toyama Univ.) – 11.86 - Q
2. Anna Fujimori (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) – 11.91 - Q
3. Chiaki Nagura (Sonoda Gakuen Joshi Univ.) – 11.94 - q

Women’s 100 m Semifinal 3 -0.4 m/s
1. Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.) – 11.83 - Q
2. Kaori Oki (Aichi Seikei Univ.) – 12.02 - Q
3. Mariko Nagano (Konan Univ.) – 12.04

Men’s 400 m Final
1. Takamasa Kitagawa (Juntendo Univ.) – 46.34
2. Naoki Kobayashi (Tokai Univ.) – 46.53
3. Kaisei Yui (Juntendo Univ.) – 46.97

Women’s 400 m Final
1. Seika Aoyama (Osaka Seikei Univ.) – 53.33
2. Kaede Kashiyama (Shigakkan Univ.) – 53.91
3. Hinako Sato (Daito Bunka Univ.) – 54.03

Men’s 1500 m Final
1. Hiroya Inoue (Jobu Univ.) – 3:51.26
2. Tenchi Kamitani (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) – 3:51.55
3. Yudai Yamamoto (Josai Univ.) – 3:51.88
4. Takafumi Ote (Nittai Univ.) – 3:52.01
5. Yuji Asaishi (Komazawa Univ.) – 3:52.54

Women’s 1500 m Final
1. Kyoko Koyama (Juntendo Univ.) – 4:21.33
2. Maya Iino (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) – 4:21.58
3. Mina Ueda (Josai Univ.) – 4:21.61
4. Nodoka Aoki (Meijo Univ.) – 4:27.70
5. Sayuri Shiratori (Juntendo Univ.) – 4:28.70

Men’s 10000 m
1. Patrick Mathenge Wambui (Nihon Univ.) – 28:21.80
2. Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) – 28:22.94
3. Daniel Muiva Kitonyi (Nihon Univ.) – 28:31.88
4. Sho Tokunaga (Chuo Univ.) – 28:52.29
5. Shinichiro Nakamura (Waseda Univ.) – 28:52.80
6. Shin Kimura (Meiji Univ.) – 28:56.76
7. Kokoro Watanabe (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) – 28:57.21
8. Takaya Sato (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) – 28:58.05
9. Koki Ido (Waseda Univ.) – 29:01.50
10. Kazuki Muramoto (Hyogo Prefectural University) – 29:03.40

Women’s 10000 m
1. Rina Nabeshima (Kanoya Taiiku Univ.) – 33:18.69
2. Maki Izumida (Rikkyo Univ.) – 33:19.12
3. Kotona Ota (Ritsumeikan Univ.) – 33:19.43
4. Ayumi Uehara (Matsuyama Univ.) – 33:23.10
5. Kanade Furuya (Matsuyama Univ.) – 33:26.31
6. Yuri Karasawa (Nittai Univ.) – 33:33.18
7. Wakana Itsuki (Fukuoka Univ.) – 33:35.28
8. Fuyuka Kimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) – 33:36.21
9. Chinatsu Naruoka (Bukkyo Univ.) – 33:37.27
10. Honoka Yuzawa (Meijo Univ.) – 33:38.94

Men’s 3000 mSC
1. Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.) – 8:42.80
2. Shunya Tsuda (Tsukuba Univ.) – 8:45.05
3. Yuki Fujioka (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) – 8:50.68

Women’s 10000 mW
1. Reina Goto (Chubu Gakuin Univ.) – 45:52.67
2. Nozomi Yagi (Tokyo Gakugei Univ.) – 47:37.37
3. Sae Matsumoto (Kokushikan Univ.) – 47:50.33

Women’s High Jump
1. Yuka Aiba (Aichi Kyoiku Univ.) – 1.76 m
2. Haruka Nakano (Waseda Univ.) – 1.76 m
3. Satomi Teratani (Tsukuba Univ.) – 1.76 m
3. Mio Iwashita (Osaka Kyoiku Univ.) – 1.76 m

Women’s Pole Vault
1. Yuko Enomoto (Tsukuba Univ.) – 3.80 m
2. Remi Odajima (Seiwa Univ.) – 3.80 m
3. Yui Aoyagi (Kanoya Taiiku Univ.) – 3.70 m

Men’s Triple Jump
1. Yuta Tozuka (Toyo Univ.) – 15.80 m +1.6 m/s
2. Kohei Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) – 15.77 m -0.3 m/s
3. Yugo Takahashi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) – 15.70 m +0.2 m/s

Men’s Discus Throw
1. Yuki Yonezawa (Tokai Univ.) – 54.14 m
2. Yume Ando (Tokai Univ.) – 53.24 m
3. Kengo Anbo (Tokai Univ.) – 51.86 m

Women’s Discus Throw
1. Natsumi Fujimori (Juntendo Univ.) – 50.38 m
2. Minori Tsujikawa (Tsukuba Univ.) – 48.11 m
3. Kazuko Nakayama (Higashi Osaka Univ.) – 45.70 m

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
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