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National Sports Festival Athletics Highlights Part Two

by Brett Larner
click here for part one

After a meet record in the men's 10000 m race walk earlier in weekend, the second half of the 71st National Sports Festival saw two more race walk meet records.  In the senior women's 5000 mRW, Kumiko Okada (Bic Camera) broke the record set 21 years ago with a new mark of 21:24.94 to win by almost a minute.  The junior men's 5000 mRW was closer, with Masatora Kawano (Gotemba Minami H.S.) pushing Ryutaro Yamamoto (Toyama Shogyo H.S.) to break his own record.  Yamamoto bettered his 2015 record by 12 seconds in 19:56.66, Kawano also coming in under Kawano's old mark in 20:02.38.

In the junior men's 3000 m, 9th-grader Hiroto Hayashida (Sakuragahara J.H.S.) bettered his high school competition to win in a new junior high school national record of 8:19.14.  No records were set in the junior women's 3000 m, but Kenyan Helen Ekarare (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) delivered one of the fastest performances in National Sports Festival history as she won in 8:58.36.  Nozomi Tanaka (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) came up short of winning a national title again, outrunning Rika Kaseda (Narita H.S.) for 2nd in 9:05.03 with Kaseda just 0.70 seconds behind.

With his Rio Olympics men's 4x100 m relay silver medalist teammates Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) and Asuka Cambridge (Dome) having appeared earlier in the weekend, Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) wrapped up his season and the National Sports Festival in the 4x100 m final.  Running anchor, Iizuka brought his hometown Shizuoka team home in 3rd in 40.07.  Aichi got the win in 40.00 with 100 m champ Takuya Nagata (Hosei Univ.) running opposite Iizuka, and Fukuoka a surprising 2nd in 40.03.

71st National Sports Festival Athletics Highlights - Part Two
Iwate, Oct. 10-11
click here for complete results

Junior Women's 400 m Final
1. Rin Aoki (Soyo H.S.) - 54.67
2. Yukina Shimada (Tsuruga H.S.) - 54.82
3. Minami Hatano (Tokai Prep Boyo H.S.) - 55.10

Junior Men's 400 m Final
1. Daichi Inoue (Tokyo H.S.) - 47.33
2. Naoki Kitadani (Kagaku Gijutsu H.S.) - 47.61
3. Yushi Uike (Saikyo H.S.) - 47.64

Senior Men's 800 m Final
1. Tatsuya Nishikubo (Waseda Univ.) - 1:51.17
2. Takumi Murashima (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:51.18
3. Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:51.18

Junior Men's 3000 m Final
1. Hiroto Hayashida (Sakuragahara J.H.S.) - 8:19.14 - JHS NR
2. Ren Tazawa (Aomori Yamada H.S.) - 8:19.80
3. Ryuto Igawa (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 8:20.36

Junior Women's 3000 m Final
1. Helen Ekarare (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 8:58.36
2. Nozomi Tanaka (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 9:05.03
3. Rika Kseda (Narita H.S.) - 9:05.73
4. Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 9:14.21
5. Yuna Wada (Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 9:16.42

Senior Women's 100 m Hurdles Final +2.8 m/s
1. Meg Hemphill (Chuo Univ.) - 13.35
2. Sayaka Kobayashi (Aichi Taiiku Univ.) - 13.46
3. Chisato Kiyoyama (Ichigo Track Team) - 13.53

Senior Men's 110 m Hurdles Final +0.3 m/s
1. Wataru Yazawa (Descente Track Club) - 13.62
2. Taio Kanai (Hosei Univ.) - 13.74
3. Masanori Nishizawa (Tottori T&F Assoc.) - 13.80

Junior Men's 5000 m Race Walk Final
1. Ryutaro Yamamoto (Toyama Shogyo H.S.) - 19:56.66 - MR
2. Masatora Kawano (Gotemba Minami H.S.) - 20:02.38 (MR)
3. Yu Takeuchi (Horikoshi H.S.) - 20:11.91

Senior Women's 5000 m Race Walk Final
1. Kumiko Okada (Bic Camera) - 21:24.94 - MR
2. Nanako Fujii (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) - 21:14.52
3. Mizuka Takayama (Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.) - 22:20.36

Junior Men's Triple Jump Final
1. Tsukasa Mizutani (Obihiro Nogyo H.S.) - 15.48 m +1.6 m/s
2. Kota Nishimura (Rakunan H.S.) - 15.35 m +0.4 m/s
3. Tomoro Yokomori (Nirasaki H.S.) - 15.29 m +1.7 m/s

Women's 4x100 m Relay Final
1. Tokyo - 45.45
2. Osaka - 45.52
3. Hokkaido - 45.64

Men's 4x100 m Relay Final
1. Aichi - 40.00
2. Fukuoka - 40.03
3. Shizuoka - 40.07

Senior Women's High Jump Final
1. Miyuki Fukumoto (Konan Gakuen AC) - 1.75 m
2. Yuki Watanabe (Mirait Technologies) - 1.75 m
3. Moeko Kyoya (Hokkaido Hi-Tech AC) - 1.72 m
3. Riko Kamisaka (Funabashi Municipal H.S.) - 1.72 m

Junior Men's Long Jump Final
1. Yuto Nakano (Meijo Prep H.S.) - 7.15 m +2.0 m/s
2. Yasunari Kobatake (Iida H.S.) - 7.14 m +2.2 m/s
3. Kaede Kato (Tokyo H.S.) - 7.11 m +0.7 m/s

Junior Men's Javelin Throw Final
1. Junichiro Aizawa (Seibudai H.S.) - 69.67 m
2. Hiroshi Ikegawa (Takikawa Daini H.S.) - 66.30 m
3. Shugo Maeda (Kikugawa Nanryo H.S.) - 64.53 m

Senior Men's Javelin Throw Final
1. Ryohei Arai (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 81.62 m
2. Takuto Kominami (Kokushikan Univ.) - 75.85 m
3. Yukifumi Murakami (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 74.02 m

© 2016 Brett Larner
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