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Three More Meet Records, and Maybe Japan's Next Big Thing in the Women's Javelin - National University Track and Field Championships Day 2 & 3


The 91st National University Track and Field Championships wrapped up Sunday in Kyoto. Along with the pair of meet records set on the opening day on Friday, three more records fell over the remaining two days. Shuri Aono (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) was the biggest news, breaking the 2010-era meet record in the women's 200 m in 23.44 -0.2 after winning the 100 m in 11.64 +0.4 the previous day. Maki Saito (Tokyo Joshi Taiiku Univ.) broke the women's discus throw MR with a 54.72 on her fifth attempt, 0.50 m better than the old record from 2012. Hitoshi Okumura (Kokushikan Univ.) was the only man to set a new MR this year, throwing 18.06 m in the men's shot put to better the 2004-era record by 3 cm.

In distance action, collegiate record holder Reimi Yoshimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) was a DNS in the women's 3000 mSC, leaving the field wide open. Miu Saito (Nittai Univ.) took the chance to pick up the national title, winning in 10:14.26 by 6 seconds. Yuma Yamamoto (Meijo Univ.) won an equally conservative women's 5000 m, beating Tomo Muramatsu (Ritsumeikan Univ.) by almost 5 seconds for the win in 16:10.17. Muramatsu just held off 10000 m runner-up Yuiri Ogata (Nittai Univ.) for 2nd, Muramatsu running 16:14.81 to Ogata's 16:15.54. Defending men's 5000 m champ Kotaro Kondo (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) made it two in a row, outkicking Taiga Nakanishi (Koku Gakuin Univ.) for 1st in 13:50.37. James Muto (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) was 3rd in 13:58.39, with 4th through 6th all under 14 minutes.

On the field, third-year Reina Kimura (Saitama Iryo Fukushi Univ.) showed promise in the women's javelin throw, pulling out a 59.49 m third-round throw for the win. That was almost 8 m better than her next-best effort and put her exactly 1.00 m off the meet record set by national record holder Haruka Kitaguchi. It might have been a fluke, but given Kitaguchi's recent post-grad success Kimura is now on the official watch list.


In other women's events:
  • Hikaru Yamaguchi (Juntendo Univ.) won the 800 m by a full second in 2:06.71.
  • The 100 mH final saw a photo finish, Kiyono Tanaka (Surugadai Univ.) given the title in 13.432 and Rei Honda (Juntendo Univ.) 2nd in 13.439.
  • Ami Yamamoto (Ritsumeikan Univ.) took 1st in the 400 mH in 57.23.
  • Fukuoka University won the 4x100 m relay in 44.93, with Ritsumeikan University taking the 4x400 m in 3:38.43.
  • Yukiko Umeno (Juntendo Univ.) won a very close 10000 mRW, clocking 47:10.31 with Miyu Naito (Kanagawa Univ.) just 1.20 sec behind.
  • Ayane Morokuma (Nihon Joshi Taiiku Univ.) was the high jump champ, clearing 1.79 m on her first attempt.
  • Akari Funada (Mukogawa Joshi Univ.) scored the triple jump title with a 13.56 m +1.0 jump.
  • Fumika Ono (Saitama Univ.) threw 15.62 m to win the shot put.
  • Yuri Tanaka (Shigakkan Univ.) won the heptathlon with a score of 5506.
In men's events:
  • Shoto Uno (Juntendo Univ.) took a surprise win in the 100 m final, running 10.36 +0.8.
  • Towa Uzawa (Tsukuba Univ.) was just as much of a surprise in the 200 m, winning in 20.54 +1.6.
  • Junya Matsumoto (Hosei Univ.) won the 800 m in 1:48.28.
  • World Championships team member Rachid Muratake (Juntendo Univ.) had a good one in the men's 110 mH, winning in 13.36 +0.7 just 0.07 off the meet record set last year by former teammate and NR holder Shunsuke Izumiya.
  • Kenjiro Tanaka (Waseda Univ.) took the 400 mH in 49.20.
  • Tsukuba University impressed in the 4x100 m, winning in 38.86 by 0.25 over Waseda University. Toyo University, featuring World Championships team member Hiroki Yanagita, was 3rd in 39.13.
  • Tsukuba was also solid in the 4x400 m, just off the meet record in 3:04.43 for the win by 0.36 over Waseda. Toyo was 3rd again in 3:04.86.
  • Hiroto Jusho (Juntendo Univ.) led a Juntendo University sweep of the 10000 mRW podium, winning in 39:53.61 with teammates Haruki Manju and Kazuhiro Tateiwa 2nd and 3rd in 40:43.46 and 40:43.63.
  • Shun Yamanaka (Kyoto Univ.) won a jump-off against Hirokazu Sakai (Tokai Univ.) for the high jump title after both men cleared everything up to 2.15 m on their first attempts. Working their way back down, Sakai missed on 2.14 m, giving Yamanaka the win when he made it over.
  • Yuto Adachi (Fukuoka Univ.) took the triple jump at 16.31 m +0.6 by 1 cm over Riku Ito (Kinki Univ.).
  • Kosei Yamashita (Kyushu Kyoritsu. Univ.) won the men's discus throw at 52.94 m.
  • Ririki Kawamoto (Ritsumeikan Univ.) was the decathlon champ, scoring 7286.
In overall team scoring, 2021 women's winner Nittai University and 2021 men's winner Juntendo University both repeated their national titles. The Nittai women scored 77 points, easily beating Tsukuba University, 2nd with 59.83 points, and Fukuoka University, 3rd with 51.33 points. Nittai was dominant on the track, where it scored 52 of its points, with Tsukuba leading field event scoring with 38.83 points. The Juntendo men's win was closer at 68 points over traditional powerhouse Nihon University's 61 points for 2nd. Tsukuba was on the board for men too, 3rd with 50.5 points. Juntendo led track results with 48 points, with Kyushu Kyoritsu University dominating on the field with 49.5 points.

© 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Rigajags said…
Thank you for your report/sum up.
Was happy to see Fuwa back, though at limited pace. I also hope they wont have her overdoing it too soon.

There were some other very interesting results especially on shorter distances.

Longer distances were ok with a lot of top names out and most runners likely in the building form phase for ekiden season. I wonder if doing this event in September Is a good choice timing wise but It is what it Is.
September 13, 2022 at 6:20 PM
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