Skip to main content

Saku Chosei High School's Hamaguchi Runs 13:31.62 at Nittai


2023 National High School Ekiden champion Saku Chosei H.S. was out in force Sunday in the 5000 m fast heats at the 317th Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama. 3rd-year Yamato Hamaguchi ran 13:31.62, the 4th-fastest time ever by a Japanese-born high schooler, and 3rd-year Tetsu Sasaki went under 14 minutes for the first time with an excellent 13:40.02.

The race took place as light rain fell. Hamaguchi and Sasaki ran alongside African university and corporate league runners. From the start they were conservative, staying in the pack as the race went along. With splits of 2:42 and 1000 m and 8:11 at 3000 m the high school record of 13:22.99 set 2 years ago by Saku Chosei alum Hiroto Yoshioka was out of reach, but right til the last sprint Hamaguchi stayed in contact with the lead.

Hamaguchi took almost 7 seconds off his 13:38.40 PB from last year, with Sasaki rewriting his 14:03.51 best by nearly 24 seconds. Both beat Yamanashi Gakuin H.S. 2nd-year Felix Muthiani, who ran 13:42.54. And with Sasaki stepping up to sub-14 territory, the all-Japanese Saku Chosei lineup this season now has five runners under 14 minutes for 5000 m with just over a month to go until the National High School Ekiden.

In Heat 30 before them, Ibuki Sugiyama (3rd yr., Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) ran a PB of 13:47.73 to take the top high schooler spot. Other high schoolers under 14 minutes included Ryo Kurimura (2nd yr., Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) in 13:48.32, Yota Mashiko (2nd yr., Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) in 13:49.95, and Kazuma Shino (3rd yr., Saku Chosei H.S.) in 13:58.00. Kiyoshi Miura (3rd yr., Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) ran 13:56.97 in Heat 28, with 1st-year Sei Yoshida (Tokai Sapporo H.S.) just missing out on sub-14 in Heat 29 but still clocking an excellent 14:02.45 PB.

Top 10 Japanese-Born H.S. Boys' 5000 m Times
13:22.99 - Hiroto Yoshioka (3rd yr., Saku Chosei H.S.) - 13 Nov. 2022
13:28.78 - Sota Orita (3rd yr., Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 24 Sept. 2023
13:31.19 - Keita Sato (3rd yr., Rakunan H.S.) - 3 Oct. 2021
13:31.62 - Yamato Hamaguchi (3rd yr., Saku Chosei H.S.) - 10 Nov. 2024
13:34.20 - Kaito Iida (3rd yr., Izumi Chuo H.S.) - 25 Nov. 2023
13:34.59 - Shunpei Yamaguchi (3rd yr., Saku Chosei H.S.) - 25 Nov. 2023
13:34.60 - Yota Mashiko (2nd yr., Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) - 13 Apr. 2024
13:34.74 - Kosuke Ishida (3rd yr., Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S.) - 27 Sept. 2020
13:35.16 - Tomonori Yamaguchi (3rd yr., Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) - 14 Nov. 2021
13:36.57 - Taishi Ito (3rd yr., Saku Chosei H.S.) - 15 Nov. 2020

source article:
translated and edited by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...
2 comments
Read more

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
81 comments
Read more