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Showing posts with the label Kazuto Kawabata

Kawabata Over Kawauchi at Takashimadaira 20 km

Like a distant echo of the thunder of yesterday's Yosenkai 20 km reverberating across the city, Tokyo's other major 20 km road race took place this morning in the northwestern suburb of Takashimadaira. Narrowly surviving the loss of its main sponsor last year, the Takashimadaira Road Race offers a unique 5 km loop course that delivers fast times. Now in its 42nd year, Takashimadaira is a favorite for upper-tier universities that don't have to run the Yosenkai to requalify for the Hakone Ekiden, for other schools' second-stringers, and for top-level independents and amateurs.

This year's race was fronted by a group of runners from Izumo Ekiden winner Tokai University who didn't make Tokai's final Izumo roster, by London World Championships marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) and others from yesterday's Yosenkai winner Teikyo University and the Hakone-qualified Juntendo University and Komazawa University. In the same cool and lightly rainy…
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Izumo Ekiden Starting Order and Preview

by Brett Larner

The organizers of the 28th Izumo Ekiden have released the starting order for Monday's six stage, 45.1 km race.  Below are the top runners on each stage from the field of twenty university teams and their best times for distances close to what they will be racing.  Click here for JRN's detailed preview.  Complete starting lists are available here in Japanese.  Follow @JRNLive for live coverage throughout the race beginning at 1:00 p.m. Japan time.

Last year's course record-setting winnerAoyama Gakuin University is back as the favorite, but it's due for a serious challenge from last year's runner-up Yamanashi Gakuin University and the ascendant Tokai University.  Going by PB YGU runners lead AGU's on all but the Fifth Stage.  Both schools' anchors return, but last year YGU's Dominic Nyairo was a minute faster than AGU's Tadashi Isshiki over the 10.2 km Sixth Stage.  YGU may build up a lead over the first four stages and lose some groun…
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Matsunaga and Nakatani Score Bronze - World University Games Day Two Japanese Results

by Brett Larner

Daisuke Matsunaga (Toyo Univ.) became the first Japanese athletics medalist of the 2015 Gwangju World University Games on day two of competition, winning bronze in the men's 20 km in 1:22:06 after falling just over 30 seconds off a close race between eventual gold medalist Dane Bird-Smith (Australia) and Benjamin Thorne (Canada).

12 hours later, Keisuke Nakatani (Komazawa Univ.) repeated the feat in the final track final of the day, winning bronze in the men's 10000 m in 29:19.30 four seconds back from gold medalist Igor Maximov (Russia) and just losing out to Nicolae-Alexandru Soare (Romania) for silver.  After winning the 5000 m and 10000 m at May's Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships and running a 28:31.84 best for 10000 m and winning the 3000 mSC national title in June, Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) had a rare off day, finishing 9th in just 29:52.91.

Sprinter Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.) made it to the women's 200 m semifi…
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World University Games Japanese Roster

by Brett Larner

The IUAU has announced the Japanese men's and women's rosters for July's Universiade, the World University Games, in Gwangju, South Korea.  2012 London Olympian Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.), 2014 World Junior Championships men's 400 m silver medalist Nobuya Kato (Waseda Univ.) and 200 m 4th-placer Yuki Koike (Keio Univ.) feature prominently in the sprints, with 2014 Youth Olympics men's high jump silver medalist Yuji Hiramatsu (Tsukuba Univ.) leading the field contingent.  The strong men's distance squad is led by 2015 National University Half Marathon champion Tadashi Isshiki (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) and 2015 Kanto Regionals D2 double 5000 m and 10000 m champion Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), while 2015 National University Half Marathon champion Ayumi Uehara (Matsuyama Univ.) and 2015 Kanto Regional double 5000 m and 10000 m champion Sakurako Fukuuchi (Daito Bunka Univ.) front the women's distance group.

28th Universiade
Gwangju, South K…
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World Junior Championships Day Four - Japanese Results

by Brett Larner

The fourth day of competition at the 2014 World Junior Championships brought Japan its first gold medal of the week as Daisuke Matsunaga set a championships record 39.27.19 in the men's 10000 m race walk.  Silver and bronze medalists Diego Garcia (Spain) and Paulo Yurivilca (Peru) both set new national junior records to get on the podium, but Matsunaga was in another class as he beat Garcia by almost 30 seconds.  Yuga Yamashita (Japan) came up just short of the medals at 4th in 40:15.27.

Likewise just out of the medals, sprinter Yuki Koike ran 20.34 (+2.3) for 4th in the men's 200 m final, just 0.4 s from claiming bronze.  Teammate Masaharu Mori took 6th in 20.84, the first time a world-level championships has seen two Japanese athletes make a 200 m final.  Both ran the final less than 90 minutes after helping the Japanese men's 4x100 m team make the final by winning Heat 2 in a junior world-leading time of 39.23 just ahead of hosts U.S.A.  The women's …
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Omuta H.S. Second-Year Shota Onizuka Heads to World Juniors: "I Want to Test My Strength"

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/f_chikugo/article/101635

translated by Brett Larner
photo by rikujolove

Omuta H.S. second-year Shota Onizuka, 16, is bound for Eugene, Oregon in the U.S.A. where he will compete in the July 22-27 World Junior Championships.  The meet features outstanding under-20 competitors from around the world including 43 from Japan selected from among the country's best high school and university athletes.

Onizuka is the first-ever Omuta H.S. student to be picked for the national team.  Last year he was Omuta's anchor in its runner-up finish at the National High School Ekiden Championships.  On the track he was also 2nd in a tight race at the National High School Championships, but the disappointment of losing by a margin of only one second served as motivation for his training and at a time trial meet this May he ran 13:58.43, the fastest time so far this year by a Japanese high schooler [above photo].

Onizuka leaves Japan on July 17 and will run the 5000 …
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