Skip to main content

Suzuki Impresses at Payton Jordan

by Brett Larner


Virtually the only bright spot on the Japanese team at last year's Beijing World Championships, Ayuko Suzuki (Team Japan Post) delivered again with the best Japanese performance of this year's Payton Jordan Invitational.  With her 15:08.29 in the Beijing 5000 m final having put her at #5 on the all-time Japanese lists, Suzuki ran a 30-second PB of 31:18.16 for 3rd at Payton Jordan, landing at #8 all-time among Japanese women.  Four other Japanese women went under the 32:15.00 Olympic standard, three of them breaking 32.  Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) was the only Japanese man to clear the 28:00.00 men's Olympic standard, easily outdistancing Japanese year leader Yuta Shitara (Team Honda) for 2nd in 27:50.27.

Last year's 5000 m national champion Misaki Onishi (Team Sekisui Kagaku) came up just short of the 15:24.00 Olympic standard, running 15:24.10 for 9th in the fastest women's 5000 m heat, but with a valid time from last year the impact on her chances of making the Rio team wasn't major.  More so for past 3000 m steeplechase national champion Jun Shinoto (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko), who came up short of the 8:30.00 standard when he ran 8:34.81 for 3rd in the second heat of the men's steeple.  The next big chance for Japanese athletes to score fast times ahead of June's National Championships, where much of the Rio lineup will be decided, comes at Saturday's Golden Games in Nobeoka, the best meet on the Japanese calendar.

Payton Jordan Invitational
Stanford University, California, U.S.A., 5/1/16
click here for complete results

Women's 10000 m Heat 1
1. Irene Cheptai (Kenya) - 31:15.38
2. Caroline Chepkoech (Kenya) - 31:16.38
3. Ayuko Suzuki (Japan/Japan Post) - 31:18.16 - all-time JPN #8
4. Marielle Hall (U.S.A.) - 31:37.45
5. Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal (Norway) - 31:37.91
-----
7. Miyuki Uehara (Japan/Daiichi Seimei) - 31:38.80
12. Hanami Sekine (Japan/Japan Post) - 31:48.90
14. Riko Matsuzaki (Japan/Sekisui Kagaku) - 31:55.26
20. Kasumi Nishihara (Japan/Yamada Denki) - 32:07.77
24. Yuka Miyazaki (Japan/Kyudenko) - 32:24.07
29. Rei Ohara (Japan/Tenmaya) - 33:31.47

Men's 10000 m Heat 1
1. Bernard Lagat (U.S.A.) - 27:49.35 - 40+ WR
2. Suguru Osako (Japan/Nike Oregon Project) - 27:50.27
3. Futsum Zienasellassie (U.S.A.) - 27:52.70
4. Abraham Habte Ghebrezghiabher (Eritrea) - 27:53.38
5. Sam Chelanga (U.S.A.) - 27:54.57
-----
7. William Malel (Kenya/Honda) - 27:56.23
22. Yuta Shitara (Kenya/Honda) - 28:51.21

Women's 10000 m Heat 2
1. Sarah Lahti (Sweden) - 31:54.87 - NR
2. Margarita Hernandez Flores (Mexico) - 32:11.04
3. Sara Slattery (U.S.A.) - 32:13.03
----
17. Kotomi Takayama (Japan/Sysmex) - 33:34.86

Women's 5000 m Heat 1
1. Sally Kipyego (Kenya) - 14:58.60
2. Nicole Tully (U.S.A.) - 15:04.08
3. Maureen Koster (Netherlands) - 15:07.20
-----
9. Misaki Onishi (Japan/Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:24.10

Men's 3000 mSC Heat 2
1. Ole Hesselbjerg (Denmark) - 8:30.51
2. Caleb Hoover (U.S.A.) - 8:34.23
3. Jun Shinoto (Japan/Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 8:34.81
-----
13. Aoi Matsumoto (Japan/Otsuka Seiyaku) - 9:07.57

© 2016 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

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...

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...

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...