Skip to main content

Niiya Tears Up National Sports Festival 5000 m, Kiryu Under 100 m Youth World Record

by Brett Larner

After impressive runs in the Olympic 5000 m and 10000 m where she frontran her way to all-time Japanese top-ten marks at both distances, independent-spirited Hitomi Niiya (Team Univ. Ent.) made a decisive return to competitive racing on Oct. 5, smashing the meet record in the senior women's 5000 m on the first day of the 67th National Sports Festival in Gifu.  The 2012 national champion for 5000 m, Niiya characteristically set out a pace that simply nobody else could follow, winning by a margin of 17 seconds as she set a new meet record on 15:17.79.

2011 national champion Megumi Kinukawa (Mizuno) was a casuality, dropping out partway, but in the chase pack ascendant collegiate star Ayuko Suzuki (Nagoya Univ.) outran all competition for 2nd in 15:34.15, edging into the year's ten best Japanese women's times.  Just five days after setting a stage record on the anchor leg of the Kanto Region University Women's Ekiden, first year Haruka Kyuma (Tsukuba Univ.) was 6th in 15:46.88.  Collegiate 10000 m record holder Hikari Yoshimoto (Team Yamada Denki) continued to struggle with the transition to pro running, finishing last in 16:47.20.

The day's other big news came in the youth boys' 100 m.  Running with a legal 0.1 wind, Yoshihide Kiryu (Rakunan H.S.) won the final in 10.21, 0.02 ahead of American Rynell Parson's youth world record of 10.23.  More than for being an apparent Japanese world record, Kiryu's performance caused excitement for his upcoming run in the 200 m, where the youth world record is held by none other than Usain Bolt.

67th National Sports Festival
Gifu, Oct. 5-9, 2012
click here for complete results

Senior Women's 5000 m
1. Hitomi Niiya (Team Univ. Ent.) - 15:17.79 - MR
2. Ayuko Suzuki (Nagoya Univ.) - 15:34.15
3. Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:37.78
4. Misaki Onishi (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:41.50
5. Yuki Mitsunobu (Team Kyocera) - 15:44.32
6. Haruka Kyuma (Tsukuba Univ.) - 15:46.88
7. Aya Nagata (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:50.64
8. Mutsumi Ikeda (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 15:54.88
9. Chihiro Takato (Team Wacoal) - 16:01.16
10. Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) - 16:02.52
DNF - Megumi Kinukawa (Mizuno)

Youth Boys' 100 m Final (wind +0.1)
1. Yoshihide Kiryu (Rakunan H.S.) - 10.21 - Youth WR (pending)
2. Akiyuki Hashimoto (Sensatsu Seijukan H.S.) - 10.42
3. Yusuke Uozato (Takigawa H.S.) - 10.58

(c) 2012 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...
1 comment
Read more

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...
Post a Comment
Read more