69th National High School Track and Field Championships Start Friday

by Brett Larner

After building up through the prefectural and regional qualifying rounds, the high school track and field season hits its peak this weekend with the 69th National High School Track and Field Championships at Okayama's City Light Stadium. Fresh back from Poland, the entry lists feature much of the Bydgoszcz World U20 Championships team including top-8 placers Naoki Kitadani (Kobe Shiritsu Kagaku Gijutsu H.S.) in the men's 400 m, Nozomi Tanaka (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) and Rika Kaseda (Narita H.S.) in the women's 3000 m and Masaki Ejima (Eda H.S.) in the men's pole vault. A notable absence is sprint sensation Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Josai Prep H.S.), sidelined with injury earlier this season.

Watch live streaming of the National High School Track and Field Championships above. Click here for alternate cameras. Complete entry lists, the championships schedule and results are available in Japanese here. Soka University Associate Professor Bruce Carrick has done an outstanding job of making the entry lists and qualifying marks available in English on Athletic.net. JRN will be posting results from key events throughout the five days of competition.

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