Skip to main content

13 New Records and Other Highlights From the 2015 National High School Track and Field Championships

by Brett Larner
videos by naoki620

detailed day-by-day National High School Championships coverage:
Day One ・ Day Two ・ Day Three ・ Day Four ・ Day Five

Despite sometimes extreme conditions with temperatures in the mid-30s throughout the five days of the 2015 Japanese National High School Track and Field Championships at Wakayama's Kimiidera Field performances were at a high level in most events, with thirteen new records set including two junior national records and two high school national records.



By far the star of the show was Haruko Ishizuka (Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S.), who showed outstanding range in everything from 100 m to 800 m.  Including heats and semifinals she ran a total of fourteen races in five different events in five days, sometimes with less than an hour between them, but still produced a 57.06 400 mH junior national record and high school national record, #4 among juniors in the world this year, a 53.30 National High School Championships record in the 400 m, a spectacular anchor leg to win the 4x400 m, and a 2:07.20 PB for 2nd in what may have been the best girls' race of the meet, an 800 m duel against 1500 m champion Chika Mukai (Shigakukan H.S.).  It's no surprise that Keiai took the overall girls' champion title on the strength of Ishizuka's wins, or that she earned a place on the Japanese women's 4x400 m team for the Beijing World Championships later this month.

Haruko Ishizuka (Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S.)

Less noticeably, Shinichi Yukinaga (Seiko Gakuen H.S.) also turned in multiple records in the throws, opening with an 18.21 m boys' shot put junior national record and high school national record and following up with a 55.59 m National High School Championships meet record.

Shinichi Yukinaga (Seiko Gakuen H.S.)

Five other athletes set new National High School Championships records in just about everything except for sprints and long distance, indicating general improvement in many of Japan's traditionally weaker events.

13.85 +1.4 m/s - Nao Kanai (Kawasaki Tachibana H.S.) - Boys' 110 m Hurdles National High School Championships meet record

50.27 - Kazunari Takada (Hosei Prep Daini H.S.) - Boys' 400 m Hurdles National High School Championships meet record

15.80 m -0.2 m/s - Chihiro Nozaki (Rakunan H.S.) - Boys' Triple Jump National High School Championships meet record

49.15 - Nanaka Kori (Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S.) - Girls' Discus Throw National High School Championships meet record

6002 - Hayao Tagami (Rakunan H.S.) - Boys' Octathlon National High School Championships meet record




Of JRN's picks for the top five competitions of this year's Championships, three came in middle distances where despite no new records up there were great races and depth that again suggested that things are moving in the right direction among the people who may make up a good part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics team.  Defending 100 m champion Kenta Oshima's win over World Youth Olympics double gold medalist Abdul Hakim Sani Brown was the boys' highlight of the meet.

Boys' 100 m Final: Kenta Oshima (Tokyo H.S.) 10.29 -0.8 m/s PB to win over Abdul Hakin Sani Brown (Josai Prep H.S.), 10.30

 Girls' 800 m Final: Chika Mukai (Shigakukan H.S.) - 2:06.29 PB to win over Haruko Ishizuka (Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S.), 2:07.20 PB

Girls' 1500 m Final: Chika Mukai (Shigakukan H.S.) - 4:16.76 PB to win, leading 9 girls under 4:25

Boys' 1500 m Final: Kazuyoshi Tamogami (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) - 3:48.48 to win, leading 9 boys under 3:50

Boys' Javelin Throw Final: Gen Naganuma (Takada H.S.) - 66.75 m to win, top 3 all within 29 cm

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

World Marathon Majors Japanese Entries

We're back from a short summer break. A week and a half out from the first race of the season's four World Marathon Majors races, here's a look at Japanese athletes scheduled to run. Everything right now is about qualifying for the MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to be held in the fall of 2027 in Nagoya. The JAAF makes no mistake about wanting to keep its top people racing domestically where it can get a share of revenue from the TV broadcast and race operations, so anyone who decides to race overseas has to do it in a WA platinum label race and hit either 2:06:30 or 2:23:30, regardless of place, course or weather if they want to make the trials. At the same time concessions are make for domestic races, like for example the late-August Hokkaido Marathon where up to 3 men and 3 women can qualify if they go 2:12:00 or 2:32:00. As a result, you get things like last year where amateur runner Yudai Fukuda made the trials by finishing 3rd Jap...
1 comment
Read more

Nakajima Breaks 100 mH NR Twice, Kitaguchi Returns - August Track Roundup

Catching up on what's been happening in track and field this month during our summer break: Men's 3000 m NR holder Nagiya Mori was just off his 5000 m PB at the IFAM Oordegem meet in Belgium on Aug. 1, taking 16th in 13:15.01. Shota Nakano was 26th of 28 in 13:35.02. This year's national champion Ryoma Aoki ran the 3000 mSC but didn't finish. Naoto Hasegawa was the only Japanese athlete at Mutaz Essa Barshim 's What Gravity Tour stop at the Monaco Athletics Festival meet on Aug. 5. Having cleared 2.30 m for the first time earlier this year Hasegawa only managed 2.18 m in Monaco, taking 7th of 10. There were a lot of good performances at the Fuji Hokuriku World Trial meet in Fujiyoshida on Aug. 9, but the one that got the headlines was a 12.62 (-0.2) NR in the women's 100 mH by Hitomi Nakajima . Nakajima actually did it twice, running 12.62 (+2.0) in the heats before repeating in the final. Masumi Aoki also ran big in the heats, with a 12.68 (+2.0) for al...
1 comment
Read more

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more