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Three Boys Sub-14 in 5000 m Heats at National High School Championships

In distance action on Day 3 of the Sapporo National High School Track and Field Championships, the 5000 m saw 3 boys go sub-14 in the qualifying heats. Duncan Maina (Senshudai Kumamoto H.S.) led the 5 qualifiers from the relatively low-key Heat 1 in 14:25.23. Things escalated in Heat 2, where Kaito Matsui (Saitama Sakae H.S.) led 6 of the 7 qualifiers under 14:08 in 14:02.90. Things went even further in Heat 3, with Samuel Kibathi (Kurashiki H.S.) running 13:56.21, Eliud Kabiga (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) 2nd in 13:56.79, and Sota Orita (Suma Gakuen H.S.) 3rd in 13:58.38. The other 3 qualifiers from Heat 3 were all under 14:08, setting up a deep and potentially fast final tomorrow.

In the girls' 800 m, Daisy Jerop (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) led the first round in 2:08.47 to win Heat 2, with Heat 1 winner Rin Kubo (Higashi Osakadai Keiai H.S.) running 2:09.20, the top 4 in Heat 3 under 2:10, and the top 2 in Heat 6 both under 2:10. Fresh off running the fastest-ever 1500 m by a 10th grader yesterday, Sherry Drury (Tsuyama H.S.) made it to the semifinals with a 2:11.14 for 2nd in Heat 7, but then finished 4th in SF2 in 2:10.80 and did not make the final. All 8 finalists were under 2:09, with Kubo leading them in 2:06.23. Fastest non-qualifier Myu Murakami (Narita H.S.) ran 2:09.13 for 4th in SF 1.

Ko Ochiai (Shiga Gakuen H.S.) led the boys' 800 m heats with a 1:51.63 in Heat 2, the only boy to go under 1:52. A few hours he was back to lead the semifinals with a 1:50.41 in SF1, again the only boy to go under 1:51. 2nd and 3rd placers Ryusei Sakamoto (Kagoshima Minami H.S.) and Tomoyuki Yatsuyanagi (Soyo H.S.) and SF 2 winner Koki Terada (Koku Gakuin Kugayama H.S.) all went under 1:52 in the semis, Terada doubling after a close 2nd-place finish in the 1500 m final yesterday. The finals for both the girls' and boys' 800 m happen tomorrow.

In other notable results, Hayato Shimoda (Toyokawa H.S.) broke the boys' 400 mH meet record with a 50.14 for the win in the final. Boys' 5000 mRW winner Sotaro Osaka (Kawanishi Minoridai H.S.) also broke the meet record, winning by over 50 seconds in 20:06.58. Complete results are available here. The National High School Championships continue through Sunday.

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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