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Japanese Team Roster for World U20 Championships

by Brett Larner

Japan sends a team of 44 athletes, 14 women and 30 men, to the rebranded World Junior Championships, hereout known as the World U20 Championships, this week in Bydgoszcz, Poland. 2015 World Youth Championships women's javelin throw gold medalist Haruka Kitaguchi (Nihon Univ.) is Japan's best chance for a medal, the only woman in the field to have thrown over 60 m.  Her teammate Mikako Yamashita (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) looks like another medal contender, her 58.59 m ranking her 3rd in the javelin field.  The team features the current national high school champions in fourteen events, a few including Kitaguchi having made the top three at last month's Japanese National Championships and many ranking in the top ten in their events at World U20.  5th in the men's' 3000 m at last year's World Youth Championships, Hyuga Endo (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) doesn't fit any of those categories, but with new 3000 m and 5000 m bests of 8:01.95 and 13:48.13 since then and a 4th-place finish in the men's 1500 m final at this year's Japanese National Championships he'll be looking to improve on that placing in the men's 5000 m.

World U20 Championships Japanese Team Roster
Bydgoszcz, Poland, July 19-24, 2016
click here for timetable

Women - 14 athletes

Sprints
Haruka Ishizuka (Higashi Osaka Univ.) - 400 m - 53.22
     ・2015 National High School Champion

Long Distance
Wakana Kabasawa (Tokiwa H.S.) - 3000 m - 9:06.47
Nozomi Tanaka (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 3000 m - 9:08.15
     ・2nd, 2016 Japanese National Championships women's 1500 m
Rika Kaseda (Narita H.S.) - 5000 m - 15:44.58
Mikuni Yada (Luther Gakuin H.S.) - 5000 m - 15:45.04

Hurdles
Yuri Okubo (Chuo Univ.) - 100 mH - 13.51
Yumi Tanaka (Kansai Gakuin Prep Daiichi H.S.) - 100 mH - 13.74 m
     ・2015 National High School Champion
Haruko Ishizuka (Higashi Osaka Univ.) - 400 mH
     ・3rd, 2016 Japanese National Championships
     ・2015 National High School Champion
Mizuki Murakami (Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S.) - 400 mH - 58.87
Chika Mukai (Meijo Univ.) - 3000 mSC - 10:00.40
     ・2015 National High School Champion, women's 800 m and 1500 m
Yuki Shibata (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) - 3000 mSC - 10:08.92

Race Walks
Yukiho Mizoguchi (Waseda Univ.) - 10000 mRW - 47:03.23
     ・2015 National High School Champion, women's 5000 mRW

Throws
Nanaka Kori (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - shot put - 16.19 m / discus throw - 52.14 m
     ・2nd, 2016 Japanese National Championships women's shot put
     ・2015 National High School Champion, women's shot put and discus throw
Haruka Kitaguchi (Nihon Univ.) - javelin throw - 61.38 m
     ・3rd, 2016 Japanese National Championships
     ・gold medalist, 2015 World Youth Championships
     ・2015 National High School Champion
Mikako Yamashita (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - javelin throw - 58.59 m

Men - 30 athletes

Sprints
Ippei Takeda (Chuo Univ.) - 100 m - 10.27 / 4x100 mR
Kenta Oshima (Nihon Univ.) - 100 m - 10.29 / 4x100 mR
     ・2014 and 2015 National High School Champion
Jun Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) - 200 m - 20.91 / 4x100 mR
Wataru Inuzuka (Juntendo Univ.) - 200 m - 20.87 / 4x100 mR
Yuki Hashioka (Hachioji H.S.) - 4x100 mR
Kazuki Matsukiyo (Fukuoka Univ.) - 400 m - 46.74 m / 4x400 mR
Naoki Kitadani (Kobe Shiritsu Kagaku Gijutsu H.S.) - 400 m - 46.89 / 4x400 mR
Mizuki Obuchi (Tokai Univ.) - 4x400 mR
Yoshiro Watanabe (Josai Univ.) - 4x400 mR
Tatsuhiro Yamamoto (Nihon Univ.) - 4x400 mR

Middle Distance
Ryohei Sakaguchi (Tokai Univ.) - 1500 m - 3:43.88

Long Distance
Hyuga Endo (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) - 5000 m - 13:48.13
Hiroki Abe (Meiji Univ.) - 5000 m - 13:57.15
Hayato Seki (Tokai Univ.) - 10000 m - 28:48.63
Shota Onizuka (Tokai Univ) - 10000 m - 28:55.26

Hurdles
Takumu Furuya (Waseda Univ.) - 110 mH - 13.67
Pap Denba Hiramatsu (Nihon Univ.) - 110 mH
Yoshiro Watanabe (Josai Univ.) - 400 mH - 49.96
Tatsuhiro Yamamoto (Nihon Univ.) - 400 mH - 50.96
Taisei Ogino (Kanagawa Univ.) - 3000 mSC - 8:44.39

Race Walks
Masatora Kawano (Gotemba Minami H.S.) - 10000 mRW
Ryutaro Yamamoto (Toyama Shogyo H.S.) - 10000 mRW

Jumps
Yuji Hiramatsu (Tsukuba Univ.) - high jump - 2.28 m
Keitaro Fujita (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - high jump - 2.16 m
     ・2015 National High School Champion
Masaki Ejima (Eda H.S.) - pole vault - 5.42 m
Keisuke Okubo (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - pole vault - 5.20 m
Kazuma Adachi (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - long jump - 7.76 m
     ・2015 National High School Champion
Yuki Hashioka (Hachioji H.S.) - long jump - 7.70 m
Mutsuki Harada (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - triple jump - 16.16 m

Throws
Shinichi Yukinaga (Shikoku Univ.) - shot put  - 18.41 m / discus throw - 56.65 m
     ・2015 National High School Champion, men's shot put and discus throw
Yume Ando (Tokai Univ.) - discus throw - 58.80 m
Junya Sato (Tokai Univ.) - javelin throw - 77.97 m
Hiroshi Ikegawa (Takigawa Daini H.S.) - javelin throw - 70.03 m

© 2016 Brett Larner
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