Omwamba Runs 3:35.69 National Collegiate Record for 4th-Straight Kanto Regionals 1500 m Title

by Brett Larner
video by naoki620

Senior Enock Omwamba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) brought the biggest news of the second day of the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships at Yokohama's Nissan Stadium, winning his fourth-straight D1 Kanto 1500 m title in a national collegiate record 3:35.69. Omwamba simply outclassed the field, runner-up Patrick Wambui (Nihon Univ.) more than 5 seconds back in 3:41.13 and top Japanese finisher Mitsutaka Tomita (Tokai Univ.) 3rd in 3:47.20. The fastest time by a Japanese runner actually came in the D2 1500 m final, where Hiroya Inoue (Jobu Univ.) took 0.1 off marathon great Daniel Njenga's meet record with his 3:45.47 win.

Alongside Omwamba, Sakurako Fukuuchi (Daito Bunka Univ.) likewise pulled off a successful title defense in the women's 10000 m, winning for the second year in a row in 33:32.94 by almost 4 seconds over teammate Fuyuka Kimura. Another Daito Bunka runner, Rina Koeda, won the women's 1500 m in 4:17.54, less than 1 second off the 18-year-old meet record of 4:16.64. With both Fukuuchi and Koeda entered in the 5000 m where they are seeded 1-2 and Fukuuchi is the two-time defending champion, and DBU third-year Soyoka Segawa seeded #1 in the 3000 mSC the chances are good for a Daito Bunka sweep of the women's distance events.

Omwamba and Inoue were not the only new records set on the meet's second day. New records also came in the men's D1 110 mH, D2 4x100 m relay, men's D1 long jump and the men's D3 decathlon. The day's other main event, the men's D1 100 m final, came up short of a new record with the withdrawal of wunderkind Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) with twinges in his left hamstrings after running well in the heats and semi-final. In his absence Asuka Cambridge (Nihon Univ.) took the win in 10.33 +1.0, with Toyo's 4x100 m team a DNF in the D1 final.

94th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships Day Two
Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 5/15/15
click here for complete results

Women's 10000 m
1. Sakurako Fukuuchi (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 33:32.94
2. Fuyuka Kimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 33:36.73
3. Saki Fukui (Josai Univ.) - 33:37.40
4. Yuri Karasawa (Nittai Univ.) - 34:16.35
5. Sayaka Sato (Toyo Univ.) - 34:17.11

Men's D1 1500 m Final
1. Enock Omwamba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 3:35.69 - NUR
2. Patrick Wambui (Nihon Univ.) - 3:41.13
3. Mitsutaka Tomita (Tokai Univ.) - 3:47.20
4. Yuki Muta (Meiji Univ.) - 3:47.43
5. Shogo Hata (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 3:47.62

Men's D2 1500 m Final
1. Hiroya Inoue (Jobu Univ.) - 3:45.47 - MR
2. Shota Motegi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 3:48.31
3. Ryusei Yoshinaga (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 3:48.40
4. Ryuya Kajitani (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 3:48.90
5. Sho Sakuma (Asia Univ.) - 3:49.30

Women's 1500 m Final
1. Rina Koeda (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 4:17.54
2. Mina Ueda (Josai Univ.) - 4:18.16
3. Maki Izumida (Rikkyo Univ.) - 4:18.83
4. Chinatsu Uchiyama (Tamagawa Univ.) - 4:19.26
5. Maya Iino (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 4:20.30

Men's D1 100 m Final +1.0 m/s
1. Asuka Cambridge (Nihon Univ.) - 10.33
2. Takuya Nagata (Hosei Univ.) - 10.35
3. Akiyuki Hashimoto (Waseda Univ.) - 10.38
4. Tatsuro Suwa (Chuo Univ.) - 10.41
5. Kazuma Oseto (Hosei Univ.) - 10.44
6. Soshi Watanabe (Tokai Univ.) - 10.48
7. Yusaku Koike (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.59
DNS - Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.)

Men's D1 110mH Final +1.0 m/s
1. Genta Masuno (Kokusai Budo Univ.) - 13.64 - MR
2. Hiroki Fudaba (Kokusai Budo Univ.) - 13.81
3. Takumu Furuya (Waseda Univ.) - 13.87
4. Shunya Takayama (Meiji Univ.) - 13.97
5. Akihiro Ogata (Kokushikan Univ.) - 14.04
6. Takumi Takahata (Gakugei Univ.) - 14.26
7. Taio Kanai (Hosei Univ.) - 14.26
8. Kyohei Furuya (Juntendo Univ.) - 14.51

Men's D2 4x100 m Final
1. Daito Bunka Univ. - 39.81 - MR
2. Surugadai Univ. - 40.29
3. Tokyo Nogyo Univ. - 40.35

Men's D1 Long Jump
1. Tomoya Takamasa (Juntendo Univ.) - 8.03 m +1.9 - MR
2. Hiroyuki Fukasawa (Nihon Univ.) - 8.01 m +3.7
3. Kirii Matsuzoe (Hosei Univ.) - 7.74 m +0.9
4. Masamine Momiyama (Nittai Univ.) - 7.63 m +0.7
5. Sho Matsubara (Tokai Univ.) - 7.62 m +0.7

Men's D3 Decathlon
1. Kazuya Kawasaki (Juntendo Univ. Grad School) - 7644 - MR
2. Toshifumi Nakajima (Tokai Univ. Grad School) - 6886
3. Mizuki Mimura (Gakugei Univ. Grad School) - 6567

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
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