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16-Year-Old Sato Runs 8:00.09 U18 NR in Kyoto

Already Japan's third-fastest high schooler ever over 3000 m, 16-year-old Keita Sato (Rakunan H.S.) took another 5 seconds off his best with a 8:00.09 win at Saturday's Kyoto Time Trials meet. A second-year at Rakunan and set to turn 17 later this week, Sato bettered the U18 national record held by Hyuga Endo by almost two seconds, moved up to #2 behind Endo on the all-time high school rankings, and to #3 on the U20 list behind Endo and Athens Olympian Ryuji Ono. Post-race he tweeted, "One step away from 7 minutes! So disappointing. I don't know when the next time I can race is but 7 minutes is definitely coming!"

© 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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