Two National Records, Five Meet Records and More - National High School Championships Highlights

by Brett Larner
video by Ekiden News

The 2016 Japanese National High School Track and Field Championships wrapped up yesterday, highlighted by new high school national records in the girls' 4x400 m relay and boys' pole vault and meet records in those events and the boys' 5000 m race walk, boys' 4x400 m relay and boys' octathlon. 18 events saw athletes break into the all-time Japanese junior and high school top ten lists, a sign of the all-around high level of competition this year.

The boys' 5000 mRW was unusually action-packed, with 12 boys breaking the meet record. Girls' middle and long distance were also strong, with 7 girls under 2:08 in the 800 m, 9 under 4:20 in the 1500 m and 9 under 9:10 in the 3000 m. In these and other events the top times were even good enough to get into and in some cases top the U.S.A. high school top ten lists for the year. Below is a list of records and all-time top ten Japanese junior and high school marks set at this year's High School Nationals. Click any event for more detailed results and video.

69th National High School Track and Field Championships Highlights
City Light Stadium, Okayama, July 29-Aug. 2, 2016
click here for complete results
* athlete was already in all-time top ten with better mark

Girls' 200 m

Ami Saito* (Kurashiki Chuo H.S.) - 23.60 - all-time #3 JPN Jr., #3 JPN H.S.

Girls' 800 m - top 7 under 2:08

Shoko Fukuda (Matsue Kita H.S.) - 2:04.29 - all-time #4 JPN Jr., #2 JPN H.S.
Airi Ikezaki (Funairi H.S.) - 2:04.85 - all-tiime #10 JPN Jr., #5 JPN H.S.
Ayaka Kawata (Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S.) - 2:05.03 - all-time #6 JPN H.S., fastest-ever by JPN H.S. 2nd-year
Ayano Shiomi (Kyoto Bunkyo Gakuen H.S.) - 2:05.36 - all-time #10 JPN H.S.

Girls' 1500 m - top 9 under 4:20

Hina Takahashi (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 4:15.82 - all-time #7 JPN Jr., #4 JPN H.S.
Nozomi Tanaka* (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 4:15.95 - all-time #8 JPN Jr., #5 JPN H.S.
Yume Goto (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 4:16.69 - all-time #9 JPN H.S.

Girls' 3000 m - top 9 under 9:10

Helen Ekarare (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 8:55.06 - all-time #4 int'l H.S. student
Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 8:58.86 - all-time #4 JPN Jr., #3 JPN H.S.
Nozomi Tanaka* (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 9:01.40 - all-time #10 JPN Jr., #9 JPN H.S.
Ririka Hironaka (Nagasaki Shogyo H.S.) - 9:03.51 - fastest-ever by JPN H.S. 1st-year
Shuri Ogasawara (Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.) - 9:05.15 - all-time #2 JPN H.S. 1st-year

Girls' 100 m Hurdles

Yumi Tanaka* (Kansai Prep Daiichi H.S.) - 13.50 +1.5 m/s - all-time #8 JPN Jr., #7 JPN H.S.

Boys' 110 m Hurdles

Takuma Kato (Shibata H.S.) - 13.98 +1.2 m/s - all-time #8 JPN Jr., #3 JPN H.S.

Boys' 3000 m Steeplechase

Joel Mwaura (Kurashiki H.S.) - 8:46.89 - all-time #4 int'l H.S. student

Boys' 5000 m Race Walk

Shinjiro Yamamoto (Toyama Shogyo H.S.) - 20:14.63 - meet record
11 other athletes also broke meet record

Girls' 4x100 m Relay

Kurashiki Chuo H.S. - 45.49 - all-time #3 JPN H.S.

Girls' 4x400 m Relay

Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S. - 3:37.67 - high school national record, meet record

Boys' 4x400 m Relay

Rakunan H.S. - 3:08.57 - all-time #2 JPN H.S., meet record
Soyo H.S. - 3:08.91 - all-time #3 JPN H.S., also under meet record

Girls' High Jump

Sakura Asai (Okazaki Josai Prep H.S.) - 1.81 m - all-time #6 JPN H.S.

Boys' Pole Vault

Masaki Ejima (Eda H.S.) - 5.43 m - high school national record, meet record

Boys' Long Jump

Yuki Hashioka (Hachioji H.S.) - 7.75 m -1.6 m/s - all-time #7 JPN H.S.

Boys' Hammer Throw

Masanobu Hattori* (Amagasaki Municipal H.S.) - 64.57 m - all-time #10 JPN H.S.

Girls' Javelin Throw

Mahiro Osa (Wakayama Kita H.S.) - 56.48 m - all-time #6 JPN Jr., #6 JPN H.S.

Girls' Heptathlon

Maya Shurester* (Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S.) - 5299 - all-time #4 JPN H.S.

Boys' Octathlon

Yuma Maruyama (Shinoda H.S.) - 6085 - all-time #2 JPN H.S., meet record
Wilson Takashi Koha (Shibata H.S.) - 6024 - all-time #4 JPN H.S., also under meet record

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...

JAAF Announces Marathon Teams for Nagoya Asian Games

On Mar. 25 the JAAF announced Japan's marathon team lineups for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games. Yuya Yoshida (GMO) and Ichitaka Yamashita (Mitsubishi Juko) make up the men's team, with Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku) and Mikuni Yada (Edion) representing Japan in the women's marathon. Each country can field up to 2 men and 2 women per marathon team at the Asian Games. The top-ranked male and female athletes in the 2025-26 MGC Series rankings were given first priority, with the second slots going to people with high-level performances in the 2025-26 MGC Series. Yoshida ran 2:05:16 to win the 2024 Fukuoka International Marathon, and at February's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon ran an excellent 2:06:59 to take the top Japanese spot in the race and in the MGC rankings. After having run the Tokyo World Championships marathon last fall this will be his second-straight marathon national team in a major international championships. Yamashita ran 2:06:18 at February's Osak...

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

japan running news

Search This Blog