National Track and Field Championships Preview - Jumps

Japan's National Track and Field Championships kick off this Thursday in Fukuoka. It's the start of an important cycle for Japan, with national representation at this fall's Doha World Championships on the line in the lead-up to next year's Tokyo Olympics. Anyone who has cleared the Doha standard in their event will make the team if they win at Nationals, with other qualifiers and hgh-ranked athletes having to wait until mid-September to learn their fates. Over the next four days JRN will break down the favorites in each event.

In the jumps, not a single athlete in any event on the women's side looks to have a realistic chance of making it to Doha without a big PB in the next couple of months. All four of last year's women's national champions, Haruka Nakano (Nippatsu) in the high jump, Juri Nanbu (Chukyo Univ.) in the pole vault, Ayaka Kora (Tsukuba Univ.) in the long jump and Eri Sakamoto (Nihon Shitsunai TC) in the triple jump, return. Of them only Kora, now at Tsukuba University after winning the long jump national title last year while still in high school, is ranked #1 in her event, setting up some good competitions with the potential for fresh names in the national champion record book despite the uphill battle they all face to make the worldwide top 32 rankings.

On the other hand, three of the four men's events have athletes who have already hit the Doha qualifying marks in their event, with additional athletes in all four events in range of making the team based on their current worldwide performance ranking. In the men's high jump, both national record holder Naoto Tobe (JAL) and 2018 national champion Takashi Eto (Ajinomoto) have hit the standard. Tobe set his 2.35 m record during indoor season, but so far in outdoor season Eto has gone higher, clearing 2.30 m in May. Three others, Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko), Keitaro Fujita (Ritsumeikan Univ.) and Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex), are inside the worldwide top 32 with jumps of 2.25 m or better and could pick up the third spot, with a win by any of them forcing Tobe and Eto to wait til September.

In the men's pole vault, defending national champ Seito Yamamoto (Toyota) is the only one to have cleared the 5.71 m Doha standard, 10 cm higher than his nearest rival Masaki Ejima (Nihon). But Ejima is also within the worldwide top 32 at this stage at 5.61 m, with Kosei Takekawa (Hosei Univ.), Juan Nariharu Matsuzawa (Niigata Albirex RC) and national record holder Daichi Sawano (Fujitsu) just behind at 5.60 m.

Likewise in the men's long jump, last year's champion Yuki Hashioka (Nihon Univ.) is the only one with the Doha standard at 8.22 m, with Natsuki Yamakawa (Tobe Top Tours) also ranked at 8.04 m. In this case the competition for the two Doha contenders is a little more distant, with only Hibiki Tsuha (Toyo Univ.) and Tenju Togawa (Kokusai Budo Univ.) having hit 8 m.

The men's triple jump is the only men's event without anyone past the Doha standard, but favorite Ryoma Yamamoto (JAL) has a chance of picking up a spot on ranking at 16.59 m. Kohei Yamashita (ANA) also jumped 16.59 m to win the 2018 national title before the start of the Doha qualifying window, setting up an interesting duel between representatives of Japan's two main airlines. Kohei Nakayama (Watanabe Pipe) is the only other man in the field to have cleared 16.50 m in the last two years with a mark of 16.53 m.

Look for JRN's throws preview tomorrow.

103rd National Track and Field Championships

Entry List Highlights - Jumps
Fukuoka, June 27-30, 2019
marks listed are best in last two years except where noted
athletes in bold have cleared 2019 Doha World Championships standard
athletes in italics are currently ranked inside Doha field size without standard
complete entry lists

Men

High Jump - 2.30 m
Naoto Tobe (JAL) - 2.35 m
Takashi Eto (Ajinomoto) - 2.30 m
Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) - 2.27 m
Keitaro Fujita (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 2.25 m
Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex) - 2.25 m
Ryo Sato (Tonichi Insatsu) - 2.24 m
Ryoichi Akamtsu (Gifu Univ.) - 2.24 m
Hiromi Takahari (Hitachi ICT) - 2.22 m
Kazuhiro Ota (Nittai AC) - 2.22 m
Yuto Seko (Chukyo Univ.) - 2.20 m

Pole Vault - 5.71 m
Seito Yamamoto (Toyota) - 5.71 m
Masaki Ejima (Nihon Univ.) - 5.61 m
Kosei Takekawa (Hosei Univ.) - 5.60 m
Juan Nariharu Matsuzawa (Niigata Albirex RC) - 5.60 m
Daichi Sawano (Fujitsu) - 5.60 m
Shingo Sawa (Kiraboshi Ginko) - 5.50 m
Shunta Henmi (Mishima Pearl) - 5.50 m
Hiroki Ogita (Mizuno) - 5.50 m
Yuki Horie (KYB) - 5.41 m
Kota Suzuki (Nittai Univ.) - 5.40 m

Long Jump - 8.17 m
Yuki Hashioka (Nihon Univ.) - 8.22 m
Natsuki Yamakawa (Tobe Top Tours) - 8.04 m
Hibiki Tsuha (Toyo Univ.) - 8.01 m
Tenju Togawa (Kokusai Budo Univ.) - 8.00 m
Shotaro Shiroyama (Zenrin) - 7.98 m
Kakeru Komori (Tomoriku Butsuryu) - 7.98 m
Daiki Oda (Yamada Denki) - 7.95 m
Shntaro Minami (Chukyo Univ. AC) - 7.93 m
Kota Minemura (Fujitsu) - 7.89 m
Shinichiro Shimono (Kyudenko) - 7.88 m

Triple Jump - 16.95 m
Ryoma Yamamoto (JAL) - 16.59 m
Kohei Yamashita (ANA) - 16.59 m
Kohei Nakayama (Watanabe Pipe) - 16.53 m
Yuta Takenouchi (Juntendo Univ.) - 16.32 m
Daigo Hasegawa (Ito Chotanpa) - 16.22 m
Kazuyoshi Ishikawa (Nagano Yoshida AC) - 16. 20 m
Tatsuya Tsujita (Yokohama T&F Assoc.) - 16.17 m
Shoya Hosaka (Ultimate) - 16.11 m
Hikari Ikehata (Surugadai Univ. AC) - 16.09 m
Shonosuke Saita (Yumeo Mirai) - 16.09 m

Women

High Jump - 1.94 m
Juriai Tsuda (Tsukiji Gindako AC) - 1.83 m
Haruka Nakano (Nippatsu) - 1.82 m
Misaki Nakanishi (Nihon Joshi Taiiku Univ.) - 1.82 m
Yuzuki Ishioka (Nihon Joshi Taiiku Univ.) - 1.80 m
Nagisa Takahashi (Nihon Univ.) - 1.80 m
Miyuki Fukumoto (Kominami Gakuen AC) - 1.79 m
Natsumi Aoyama (Nihon Joshi Taiiki Univ.) - 1.78 m
Moeko Kyoya (Hokkaido Hi-Tec AC) - 1.78 m
Moe Takeuchi (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1.77 m
Natsumi Kanda (Fukuoka Univ.) - 1.76 m

Pole Vault - 4.56 m
Mayu Nasu (Run Journey) - 4.25 m
Tomomi Abiko (Shiga Lake Stars) - 4.20 m
Rena Tanaka (Kagawa Univ.) - 4.15 m
Kanae Tatsuta (Nippatsu) - 4.10 m
Misaki Morita (Chuo Univ.) - 4.10 m
Ayako Aoshima (Niigata Albirex RC) - 4.10 m
Megumi Nakada (Mito Shinyo Kinko) - 4.10 m
Juri Nanbu (Chukyo Univ.) - 4.09 m
Yui Aoyagi (Kagoshima T&F Assoc.) - 4.00 m
Rina Mamiya (Akutos) - 4.00 m

Long Jump - 6.72 m
Ayaka Kora (Tsukuba Univ.) - 6.44 m
Hitomi Nakano (Washoku Yamaguchi) - 6.43 m
Sumire Hata (Shibata Kogyo) - 6.41 m
Konomi Kai (Joker) - 6.31 m
Yurina Hiraka (Nippatsu) - 6.29 m
Chiaki Kawazoe (Nihon Joshi Taiiku Univ.) - 6.26 m
Maya Takeuchi (Nihon Joshi Taiiku Univ.) - 6.26 m
Azuki Nakatsugawa (Hamamatsu Municipal H.S.) - 6.23 m
Sachiko Masumi (Kyudenko) - 6.21 m
Minaho Murakami (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 6.16 m

Triple Jump - 14.20 m
Saki Kenmochi (Hasegawa Sports Club) - 13.42 m
Mariko Morimoto (Uchida Kensetsu AC) - 13.26 m
Kaede Miyasaka (Nippatsu) - 13.15 m
Kuria Kenmochi (Tsukuba Univ.) - 13.09 m
Eri Sakamoto (Nihon Shitsunai TC) - 13.09 m
Hina Tagami (Kansai Univ.) - 13.03 m
Hitomi Nakano (Washoku Yamaguchi) - 13.00 m
Chiaki Kawazoe (Nihon Taiiku Univ.) - 12.96 m
Sayaka Nakamura (Juntendo Univ.) - 12.95 m
Mei Kida (Miraito Techno) - 12.86 m

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved