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National Track and Field Championships Preview - Sprints and Hurdles

The sprints and hurdles are where Japan is at its strongest outside the marathon. With everything pointing toward next year's Tokyo Olympics it's an interesting repetition of history that the two most exciting events right now are the same ones that saw Japan's first-ever Olympians back in 1912, the men's marathon and the men's 100 m.

And all hail the new king in the 100 m. Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Univ. of Florida) is the national record holder and heavy-duty favorite to take the win at this weekend's National Track and Field Championships. If he wins he's guaranteed a spot at the Doha World Championships. Likewise for his predecessor as NR holder, Yoshihide Kiryu (Nissay) and the newest addition to the top level of Japanese sprinting, Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko). The currently #2-ranked Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) is sadly a DNS, leaving it pretty much up to these three guys. But there's so much depth these days that even if one of them craps out Japan should have three men in the Doha 100 m. Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) and the newest man on the scene, Ryuichiro Sakai (Kansai Univ.) are both inside the range of picking up a third spot on the team based on world standing, and that means that even without Yamagata, Asuka Cambridge (Nike), Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) or Kenji Fujimitsu (Zenrin) the 4x100 m relay team in Doha should be tight.

Sani Brown is also the favorite in the 200 m, where he's well under the Doha standard and just 0.04 off the national record. Koike, Iizuka and Kiryu are all distant contenders for 2nd. Kiryu's former Toyo University teammate Julian Walsh (Fujitsu) hasn't hit the 400 m standard, but as the heavy favorite for the national title and well inside the Doha field size he should pick up a national team spot come September's second round announcement.

Things are looking good in the men's 110 m hurdles. Both Shunya Takayama (Zenrin) and Taio Kanai (Mizuno) are under the Doha standard, and with two other men ranked high enough to pick up the third Doha spot the final should be exciting. Likewise for the 400 mH, where either Takatoshi Abe (Yamada Denki) or Masaki Toyoda (Hosei Univ.) could seal up a Doha spot, with future support possible from at least three other men.

It's a bit less rosy on the women's side, where the late withdrawal of aging 100 m and 200 m national record holder Chisato Fukushima leaves a gap of no real Doha team contenders in anything except the 100 m hurdles. There the perpetually #1-ranked Ayako Kimura (Edion) is again in the top position, but just 0.03 behind is Mako Fukube (Nikkenko). Both are ranked inside the potential Doha field and have a chance of being named to the Japanese national team in September if that ranking holds up.

The Japanese National Track and Field Championships start Thursday and run through Sunday. Limited live streaming will be available here each day. JRN will be on-site covering the meet throughout its four days.

103rd National Track and Field Championships

Entry List Highlights - Sprints and Hurdles
Fukuoka, June 27-30, 2019
marks listed are best in last two years except where noted
athletes in bold have cleared 2019 Doha World Championships standard
athletes in italics are currently ranked inside Doha field size without standard
complete entry lists

Men

100 m
Abdul Hakin Sani Brown (Univ. of Florida) - 9.97
Yoshihide Kiryu (Nissay) - 10.01
Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.04
Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.12
Ryuichiro Sakai (Kansai Univ.) - 10.12
Aska Cambridge (Nike) - 10.12
Takuya Nagata (Fujitsu) - 10.14
Kirara Shiraishi (Cerespo) - 10.19
Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 10.19
Takuya Kawakami (Osaka Gas) - 10.24

200 m
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Univ. of Florida) - 20.08
Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) - 20.23
Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 20.34
Yoshihide Kiryu (Nissay) - 20.39
Jun Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.46
Masafumi Naoki (Osaka Gas) - 20.60
Kenji Fujimitsu (Zenrin) - 20.61
Yoshihiro Someya (Chuo Univ.) - 20.64
Shota Hara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 20.65
Wataru Inuzuka (Juntendo Univ.) - 20.65

400 m
Julian Walsh (Fujitsu) - 45.55
Rikuya Ito (Waseda Univ.) - 45.79
Kota Wakabayashi (Surugadai Univ.) - 45.81
Yoshinobu Imoto (Tokai Univ.) - 45.82
Mitsuki Kawachi (Kinki Univ) - 45.96
Naoki Kitadani (Tokai Univ.) - 45.98
Taichi Suzuki (Nihon Univ.) - 46.02
Jun Kimura (Osaka Gas) - 46.08
Kazuki Matsukiyo (Fukuoka Univ.) - 46.16
Kohei Itahana (Team Accel) - 46.24

110 m Hurdles
Shunya Takayama (Zenrin) - 13.36
Taio Kanai (Mizuno) - 13.36
Shuhei Ishikawa (Fujitsu) - 13.49
Shunsuke Izumiya (Juntendo Univ.) - 13.55
Wataru Yazawa (Descente TC) - 13.60
Takumu Furuya (Kagoshima Sports Assoc.) - 13.61
Anthony Kuriki (Niigata Albirex RC) - 13.62
Shinya Tanaka (K-plus) - 13.64
Akihiro Ogata (Asahi) - 13.64
Masahiro Kagimoto (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 13.66

400 m Hurdles
Takatoshi Abe (Yamada Denki) - 48.68
Masaki Toyoda (Hosei Univ.) - 49.25
Takayuki Kishimoto (Fujitsu) - 49.30
Ryo Kajiki (Sumitomo Denko) - 49.46
Yutaro Mano (Nagoya Univ.) - 49.50
Keisuke Nozawa (Mizuno) - 49.52
Kakeru Inoue (Juntendo Univ.) - 49.54
Yuki Matsushita (Mizuno) - 49.57
Tatsuhiro Yamamoto (Nihon Univ.) - 49.69
Kohei Miyako (Doshisha Univ.) - 49.71

Women

100m
Kana Ichikawa (Mizuno) - 11.43
Nodoka Seko (Crane) - 11.50
Mae Hirosawa (Nittai Univ.) - 11.53
Maki Wada (Mizuno) - 11.53
Midori Mikase (Eniwa Kita H.S.) - 11.54
Miyu Maeyama (Niigata Albirex RC) - 11.56
Anna Doi (JAL) - 11.64
Mai Fukuda (Nittai Univ.) - 11.65
Sakiho Kageyama (Funabashi Municipal H.S.) - 11.65
Ayane Usui (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 11.67

200 m
Shuri Aono (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 23.61
Maki Wada (Mizuno) - 23.70
Kana Ichikawa (Mizuno) - 23.71
Aiko Iki (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 23.78
Miyu Maeyama (Niigata Albirex RC) - 23.80
Mae Hirosawa (Nittai Univ.) - 23.86
Miku Yamada (Nittai Univ.) - 23.91
Sakiho Kageyama (Funabashi Municipal H.S.) - 23.93
Ami Saito (Osaka Seikei Univ.) - 24.00
Hinami Yamanaka (Denso) - 24.02

400 m
Mae Hirosawa (Nittai Univ.) - 53.27
Saki Takashima (Soyo H.S.) - 53.31
Yuna Iwata (Chuo Univ.) - 53.37
Seika Aoyama (Osaka Seikei AC) - 53.42
Ayaka Kawata (Higashi Osaka Univ.) - 53.50
Nanako Matsumoto (Toho Ginko) - 53.52
Konomi Takeishi (Toho Ginko) - 53.89
Mayu Inaoka (Run Journey) - 54.07
Mayu Kobayashi (Ibaraki T&F Assoc.) - 54.18
Manae Onishi (Higashi Osaka Univ.) - 54.20

100 m Hurdles
Ayako Kimura (Edion) - 13.11
Mako Fukube (Nikkenko) - 13.14
Hitomi Shimura (Toho Ginko) - 13.17
Masumi Aoki (Nanajunana Ginko) - 13.17
Asuka Terada (Pasona Group) - 13.19
Chisato Kiyoyama (Ichigo) - 13.30
Yumi Tanaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 13.33
Ayumi Kobayashi (Tsukuba Univ.) - 13.34
Hikari Tanaka (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 13.35
Yuri Okubo (Yutic) - 13.37

400 m Hurdles
Eri Utsunomiya (Hasegawa Sports Club) - 56.84
Manami Kira (Art Home) - 57.31
Kana Koyama (Waseda Univ.) - 57.45
Sayaka Aoki (Toho Ginko) - 57.55
Akiko Ito (Tsukuba Univ.) - 57.61
Satsuki Umehara (Sumitomo Denko) - 57.81
Aisha Ibrahim (Sapporo Kokusai Univ.) - 58.09
Haruka Shibata (Team Mizuno) - 58.24
Konomi Takeishi (Toho Ginko) - 58.29
Mayu Saito (Nanajunana Ginko) - 58.38

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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