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Yamagata Drops 100 m PB, Tanui Takes Another Title, and Hayashida Breaks 3000 m JHS National Record - Weekend Track Highlights

by Brett Larner

With ekiden season just starting to break track action was heavy across the country as teams started to sharpen their lineups after summer mileage.  At the National Corporate Track and Field Championships in Osaka, Rio Olympics 4x100 m silver medalist Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) ran a 10.03 (+0.5 m/s) PB and meet record to beat his Rio relay teammate Asuka Cambridge (Dome), drawing ever closer to Japan's first sub-10 clocking.  Another member of the Rio team, Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) duly won the 200 m in 20.57 (+0.0 m/s), doubling in the 4x100 m and running a rare 4x400 m to help bring Mizuno national corporate titles in both, Mizuno breaking the 4x400 m meet record with a 3:04.51 win.

A meet record also fell in the men's 3000 mSC, where two-time national champion Hironori Tsuetaki (Team Fujitsu) ran an all-time Japanese #7 8:29.78 for the win.  Times were also fast by Japanese standards in the women's 1500 m, where Kenyan Ann Karindi (Toyota Jidoshokki) came up just short of the meet record in 4:11.87 but pulled Maya Iino (Team Daiichi Seimei) and Chiaki Morikawa (Team Uniqlo) to all-time Japanese #8 and #9 times of 4:12.41 and 4:12.75.  Karindi also took the 5000 m title in 15:17.43.  Misaki Kato (Team Kyudenko) was the top Japanese woman in the 5000 m at 4th in 15:23.98, doubling after a loss to Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) in the 10000 m, 31:59.12 to 31:59.72.  Eleven Japanese women have broken 32 minutes so far this year, a sign that things might be swinging back in the right direction after a long period of decline in Japanese women's distance.

Rio men's 10000 m silver medalist Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko) picked up the 10000 m national corporate title in 28:04.23, but faster times came at the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama were Alexander Mutiso (Team ND Software) won a close race over Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.), 28:01.27 to 28:02.16.  The top Japanese man at Corporate Nationals was 2016 national XC champion Takashi Ichida (Team Asahi Kasei) in 28:20.01, while at Nittai Takaya Sato (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) turned in a 28:26.70 PB for 4th and top Japanese.

The most surprising performance of the weekend, though, came at the Isahaya Nighter Time Trials meet in Nagasaki.  Hiroto Hayashida (Sakuragahara J.H.S.) was already the fastest-ever Japanese 8th-grader over 3000 m after having run 8:32.00 last year.  Now in 9th grade, at Isahaya he ran 8:20.90 to break the junior high school national record by 0.32.

3rd Isahaya Nighter Time Trials
Nagasaki Prefectural Sports Park Field, Isahaya, Nagasaki, 9/24/16

Junior High School Boys' 3000 m Heat 3
1. Hiroto Hayashida (Sakuragahara J.H.S.) - 8:20.90 - JHS NR
2. Kyosuke Nahao (Sakuragahara J.H.S.) - 8:43.95
3. Kosuke Ishida (Asakawa J.H.S.) - 9:01.57

64th National Corporate Track and Field Championships
Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Sept. 23-25, 2016
click here for complete results

Men's 100 m Final +0.5 m/s
1. Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) - 10.03 - MR
2. Asuka Cambridge (Dome) - 10.15
3. Tomoya Baba (Lall) - 10.38

Men's 200 m Final +0.0 m/s
1. Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 20.57
2. Kenji Fujimitsu (Zenrin) - 20.67
3. Masafumi Naoki (Osaka Gas) - 20.81

Men's 1500 m
1. Ronald Kwemoi (Komori Corp.) - 3:38.92
2. John Maina (Fujitsu) - 3:40.13
3. Kota Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 3:40.26
4. David Njuguna (Yakult) - 3:40.53
5. Yasunari Kusu (Komori Corp.) - 3:41.93

Men's 5000 m
1. Macharia Ndirangu (Aichi Seiko) - 13:23.43
2. David Njuguna (Yakult) - 13:24.74
3. James Mwangi (NTN) - 13:24.97
4. Paul Kamais (Chugoku Denryoku) - 13:31.31
5. Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) - 13:38.93

Men's 10000 m
1. Paul Tanui (Kyudenko) - 28:04.23
2. Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 28:05.46
3. Leonard Barsoton (Nissin Shokuhin) - 28:05.82
4. Abiyot Abinet (Yachiyo Kogyo) - 28:15.01
5. Teressa Nyakola (Mazda) - 28:15.14

Men's 3000 mSC
1. Hironori Tsuetaki (Fujitsu) - 8:29.78 - MR
2. Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) - 8:40.14
3. Aoi Matsumoto (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 8:43.68
4. Hiroyoshi Umegae (NTN) - 8:47.50
5. Tetsuya Kimura (Sumitomo Denko) - 8:50.07

Women's 1500 m
1. Ann Karindi (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 4:11.87
2. Maya Iino (Daiichi Seimei) - 4:12.41
3. Chiaki Morikawa (Uniqlo) - 4:12.75
4. Tomoka Kimura (Univ. Ent.) - 4:14.35
5. Ayako Jinnouchi (Kyudenko) - 4:14.86

Junior Women's 3000 m
1. Harumi Okamoto (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 9:11.28
2. Nana Kuraoka (Denso) - 9:12.94
3. Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) - 9:13.09
4. Sayaka Ikegame (Hokuren) - 9:16.03
5. Kaede Mikada (Daiichi Seimei0) - 9:19.18

Women's 5000 m
1. Ann Karindi (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:17.43
2. Rosemary Wanjiru Monica (Starts) - 15:18.80
3. Mariam Waithira Mururi (Kyudenko) - 15:20.94
4. Misaki Kato (Kyudenko) - 15:23.98
5. Susan Wairimu (Denso) - 15:25.95

Women's 10000 m
1. Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) - 31:59.12
2. Misaki Kato (Kyudenko) - 31:59.72
3. Felista Wanjugu (Univ. Ent.) - 32:21.90
4. Hisami Ishii (Yamada Denki) - 32:27.08
5. Wakaba Kawakami (Toto) - 32:28.78

Women's 3000 mSC
1. Minori Hayakari (Koka Joshi Gakuen Staff) - 10:18.51
2. Mayuko Nakamura (Cerespo) - 10:43.79
3. Azusa Saito (Niigata Albirex RC) - 11:40.07

252nd Nittai University Time Trials
Nittai University, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Sept. 24-25, 2016
click here for complete results

Women's 3000 m Heat 6
1. Shuri Ogasawara (Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.) - 9:14.10
2. Yumika Katayama (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 9:18.09
3. Mai Ota (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 9:18.38
4. Hikari Onishi (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 9:18.74
5. Ema Hayashi (Takasaki Kenko Fukushi Prep H.S.) - 9:19.44

Women's 5000 m Heat 2
1. Tomoyo Adachi (Denso) - 16:00.11
2. Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 16:00.46
3. Ayane Matsuzawa (Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 16:00.90
4. Hiromi Katakai (Shimamura) - 16:01.31
5. Yuka Kato (Toki Shogyo H.S.) - 16:05.08

Men's 5000 m Heat 36
1. Wesley Ledama (Subaru) - 13:35.89
2. Hiko Tonossa (Kurosaki Harima) - 13:36.82
3. Alfred Geno (Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:39.84
4. Joseph Onsarigo (ND Software) - 13:42.27
5. Duncan Muthee (Sunbelx) - 13:48.56

Men's 10000 m Heat 17
1. Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) - 28:01.27
2. Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 28:02.16
3. Joseph Onsarigo (ND Software) - 28:24.81
4. Takaya Sato (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 28:26.70
5. Titus Mogusu (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 28:28.40

© 2016 Brett Larner
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