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Ishizuka 400 m MR, Sani Brown Anchors Josai 4x100m Semis on Day One of Japanese National High School Track and Field Championships

by Brett Larner
videos by naoki620 and aoshin0507



#1-ranked Haruko Ishizuka (Keiai Higashi Osaka Prep H.S.) turned in the performance of the day on the opening day of the National High School Track and Field Championships, setting a meet record 53.30 to win the girls' 400 m.  After dominating the semifinals in 53.92, the only girl in the field to break 54, Ishizuka had no trouble at all running away from closest competitor Yuna Iwata (Niijima Gakuen H.S.) in the final, winning by more than a second over Iwata's 54.37 PB.  2015 World Youth Championships team member Rin Aoki (Soyo H.S.) also ran a PB of 54.74 for 3rd.  The boys' 400 m final saw Daisuke Funato (Higashi Fukuoka H.S.) unexpectedly win with a 47.06 PB, taking down favorites Manato Sasaki (Morioka Minami H.S.) and Sho Someya (Seibudai Chiba H.S.) who took only 4th and 5th.



Another highlight came in the first heat of the boys' 1500 m, where a strong surge from Kakeru Nakamura (Saigyo H.S.) at 700 m meant a fast race for #1-ranked Kazuyoshi Tamogami (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.).  Nakamura opened up a good-sized lead over the third lap, but in the home straight Tamogami easily caught him, jogging across the line under control in 3:49.69 with Nakamura just behind in 3:49.80.  Tamogami's recent 3:47.63 best looks like it may be in danger.  #2-ranked Kazuki Kawamura (Ogaki Nihon Prep H.S.) with a best of 3:47.69 coasted it in in the second heat in 3:54.44 while four other boys, two of them in the first heat with Tamogami and Nakamura, broke 3:51, promising some depth to tomorrow's final.



The boys' hammer throw final saw all three podium placers throw PBs over 60 m, Ryota Muraki (Hisai H.S.) getting the win with a throw of 63.62 m. In the boys' 4x100 m relay heats, World Youth Championships double sprint gold medalist Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Josai Prep H.S.) turned in a big anchor run to move Josai up from 5th to 2nd in 40.93, just missing 1st but moving his team on to Thursday's semifinals.  Ishizuka also returned in the girls' 4x100 m to anchor the Keiai girls, coming up from 4th and running down first place to put them into the semis in 46.93.

68th National High School Track and Field Championships 
Day One Highlights
Wakayama, July 29
click here for complete results

Boys' 400 m Final
1. Daisuke Funato (Higashi Fukuoka H.S.) - 47.06 - PB
2. Hiroki Daira (Sanda Shosei H.S.) - 47.28 (47.24 PB in semifinal)
3. Takuto Eto (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 47.46
4. Manato Sasaki (Morioka Minami H.S.) - 47.55
5. Sho Someya (Seibudai Chiba H.S.) - 48.29
6. Haruhiko Nakatsukue (Soyo H.S.) - 49.03
7. Ayumu Miura (Junshin H.S.) - 49.10
8. Shuichiro Matsubara (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 50.98

Girls' 400 m Final
1. Haruko Ishizuka (Keiai Higashi Osaka Prep H.S.) - 53.30 - MR, PB
2. Yuna Iwata (Niijima Gakuen H.S.) - 54.37 - PB
3. Rin Aoki (Soyo H.S.) - 54.74 - PB
4. Airi Ikezaki (Funairi H.S.) - 55.08 (55.02 PB in semifinal)
5. Fumi Matsumoto (Okazaki Joshi H.S.) - 55.68
6. Yuna Uesugi (Hirakata H.S.) - 55.74
7. Ryo Koda (Tochiku H.S.) - 55.82
8. Sayumi Yoshida (Aichi H.S.) - 55.97

Boys' 1500 m Qualifiers
3:49.69 - Kazuyoshi Tamogami (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) - 1st, H.1
3:49.80 - Kakeru Nakamura (Saigyo H.S.) - 2nd, H.1
3:50.46 - Kazuya Nishiyama (Daisan Tokyo Nogyo Prep H.S.) - 1st, H.3
3:50.51 - Taku Tomihara (Jinsei Gakuen H.S.) - 3rd, H.1
3:50.88 - Atsuya Ubukata (Sano Nihon Prep H.S.) - 2nd, H.3
3:50.95 - Tsubasa Komuro (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 4th, H.1
3:51.03 - Tomohiro Soeda (Tosu Kogyo H.S.) - 3rd, H.3
3:51.65 - Taisei Ogino (Kato Gakuen H.S.) - 5th, H.1
3:51.66 - Masahide Saito (Waseda Jitsugyo H.S.) - 1st, H.4
3:51.80 - Satoshi Tsuboi (Ogaki Nihon Prep H.S.) - 4th, H.3
3:51.82 - Haruki Nishimura (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 2nd, H.4
3:51.84 - Hiroaki Saito (Kugayama Koku Gakuin Prep H.S.) - 6th, H.1
3:51.99 - Yuya Nakamura (Osaka Toin H.S.) - 3rd, H.4
3:54.18 - Rikuto Iijima (Midorioka H.S.) - 1st, H.2
3:54.44 - Kazuki Kawamura (Ogaki Nihon Prep H.S.) - 2nd, H.2
3:54.58 - Shoma Funatsu (Ohori Fukuoka Prep H.S.) - 3rd, H.2

Girls' 1500 m Qualifiers
4:21.80 - Monica Margaret (Aomori Yamada H.S.) - 1st, H.4
4:22.74 - Miho Shimada (Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.) - 1st, H.2
4:22.97 - Kimi Tanaka (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 2nd, H.2
4:23.24 - Kanami Hiraga (Junten H.S.) - 3rd, H.2
4:23.61 - Chika Tarumoto (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 2nd, H.4
4:24.32 - Yuki Kometani (Tokiwa H.S.) - 3rd, H.4
4:24.84 - Yuna Wada (Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 4th, H.4
4:25.05 - Chika Mukai (Shigakukan H.S.) - 1st, H.1
4:25.14 - Ryo Koido (Suijo H.S.) - 5th, H.4
4:25.76 - Kana Tsuchida (Niigata Meikun H.S.) - 4th, H.2
4:26.97 - Keiko Okada (Yawatahama H.S.) - 2nd, H.1
4:27.02 - Yuka Matsumura (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) - 5th, H.2
4:27.06 - Shino Wakisaka (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) - 3rd, H.1
4:27.59 - Nana Kuraoka (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) - 1st, H.3
4:28.39 - Honoka Kudo (Oita Nishi H.S.) - 2nd, H.3
4:29.17 - Arisu Fuwa (Takasaki Kenko Fukushi Prep H.S.) - 3rd, H.3

Boys' Hammer Throw Final
1. Ryota Muraki (Hisai H.S.) - 63.62 m - PB
2. Masao Ikeda (Sayama H.S.) - 61.72 m - PB
3. Kenji Miyazaki (Wakayama Kogyo H.S.) - 60.45 m - PB

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
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