National Track and Field Championships Preview - Middle and Long Distance

The 2019 National Track and Field Championships start Thursday. With the 10000 m having been held last month in hopes of maximizing people's chances of hitting the standards for the Doha World Championships instead of doubling in the 5000 m, from 800 m to 5000 m, including the 3000 m steeplechase, the only event that has people already with the Doha standard set to toe the starting line is the women's 5000 m. It's also the only event that has African pacers lined up. Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki TC), Tomoka Kimura (Shiseido) and Harumi Okamoto (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) have all cleared the 15:22 Doha standard inside the window, and if any of them wins she'll be named to the team. Others will have to wait until September for the JAAF's final decision. 10000 m national champion Rina Nabeshima (Japan Post) is the one who could ruin it for them, not holding the standard but having run 15:10.91 last year. Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) and Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) should also be front end contenders.

The men's 5000 m has two possible September additions to the team, 2019 National Cross Country champ Yuta Bando (Fujitsu) and indoor 5000 m national record holder Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko). Both are currently well inside the max field size for the Doha 5000 m and only need about 5 seconds to hit the standard. That's not likely at Nationals and is more likely to come over the summer, but it's not out of the reach of possibility.

Earlier this season Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) just missed the Japanese men's 1500 m national record, running 3:38.12. He might made the cut for the Doha field based on that time, and likewise for his teammate and defending national champion Kazuya Shiojiri in the 3000 m steeplechase where he's only a fraction of a second off the Doha standard at 8:29.14.

That's about it for people with the potential to move on to the World Championships without seriously upping their game. In the men's 800 m, last year's winner and national record holder Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) is ranked #2 behind Takumi Murashima (Fukui Sports Assoc.). 2018 champions and teammates Yume Kitamura and Yukari Ishizawa (both Edion) do hold on to the #1 ranking in the women's 800 m and 3000 mSC, but in the 1500 m defending champ Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Meijo Univ.) is ranked only 6th. 5000 m runner Tanaka has the #1 spot at 4:13.68, but whether she runs both the 1500 m and 5000 m seriously remains to be seen.

Look for JRN's sprints and hurdles preview tomorrow. The jumps preview can be had here and the throws preview here.

103rd National Track and Field Championships

Entry List Highlights - Middle and Long Distance
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

800 m - 1:45.80
Takumi Murashima (Fukui Sports Assoc.) - 1:47.01
Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:47.16
Aaron Tatsunami Clay (Soyo H.S.) - 1:47.51
Takuto Hanamura (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - 1:47.61
Naoto Arayasu (Fujitsu) - 1:47.64
Kenta Umetani (Sunbelx) - 1:47.80
Tatsuya Nishikubo (Waseda Univ.) - 1:48.13
Takahiro Hayashi (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:48.19
Taichi Ichino (Roble) - 1:48.28
Junya Matsumoto (Hosei Univ.) - 1:48.30

1500 m - 3:36.00
Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) - 3:38.12
Shoma Funatsu (Chuo Univ.) - 3:38.65
Ryoji Tatezawa (Tokai Univ.) - 3:40.49
Takumi Murashima (Fukui Sports Assoc.) - 3:40.57
Kazuyoshi Tamogami (Chuo Univ.) - 3:40.66
Keisuke Morita (Komori Corp.) - 3:41.61
Shogo Hata (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 3:42.01
Kazuto Izawa (Tokai Univ.) - 3:42.07
Yasunari Kusu (Ami AC) - 3:42.27
Daiki Hirose (Osaka Gas) - 3:42.61

5000 m - 13:22.50
Yuta Bando (Fujitsu) - 13:26.70
Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) - 13:27.81
Akira Aizawa (Toyo Univ.) - 13:34.94
Yuta Shitara (Honda) - 13:35.70
Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) - 13:36.77
Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) - 13:37.24
Taisei Hashizume (SGH Group) - 13:37.75
Hiroto Inoue (MHPS) - 13:38.44
Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 13:39.31
Yusuke Sato (Fujitsu) - 13:39.59

3000 m Steeplechase - 8:29.00
Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) - 8:29.14
Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) - 8:30.98
Ryohei Sakaguchi (Tokai Univ.) - 8:37.48
Seiya Shigeno (Press Kogyo) - 8:37.63
Taisei Ogino (Kanagawa Univ.) - 8:38.12
Yuma Higashi (Kyudenko) - 8:38.24
Yasutaka Ishibashi (SGH Group) - 8:38.27
Yusuke Uchikoshi (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 8:38.32
Ryoma Aoki (Hosei Univ.) - 8:40.20
Hironori Tsuetaki (Fujitsu) - 8:41.63

Women

800 m - 2:00.60
Yume Kitamura (Edion) - 2:02.54
Ayaka Kawata (Higashi Osaka Univ.) - 2:02.71
Ayano Shiomi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 2:02.73
Yuki Hirota (Akita Univ.) - 2:04.33
Airi Ikezaki (Juntendo Univ.) - 2:05.12
Erina Hosoi (Keio Univ.) - 2:05.68
Ran Urabe (Nike Tokyo TC) - 2:06.93
Yuzuha Sawai (Seiryo H.S.) - 2:07.09
Riku Kikuchi (Juntendo Univ.) - 2:07.12
Hana Yamada (Warabeya Nichiyo) - 2:07.23

1500 m - 4:06.50
Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki TC) - 4:13.68
Ran Urabe (Nike Tokyo TC) - 4:15.59
Yui Fukuda (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 4:16.64
Yuna Wada (Meijo Univ.) - 4:16.76
Ayako Jinnouchi (Kyudenko) - 4:16.80
Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Meijo Univ.) - 4:16.83
Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) - 4:17.21
Maya Iino (Saitama Iko Univ. Group) - 4:17.32
Yume Goto (Toyota Jidoshokki TC) - 4:17.97
Natsu Hashimoto (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 4:18.05

5000 m - 15:22.00
Rina Nabeshima (Japan Post) - 15:10.91
Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki TC) - 15:15.80
Tomoka Kimura (Shiseido) - 15:19.99
Yui Fukuda (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:20.08
Harumi Okamoto (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 15:20.56
Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) - 15:21.31
Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) - 15:23.58
Keiko Nogami (Juhachi Ginko) - 15:24.70
Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:27.47
Naruha Sato (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 15:30.74

3000 m Steeplechase - 9:40.00
Yukari Ishizawa (Edion) - 9:53.22
Nana Sato (Starts) - 9:56.95
Reimi Yoshimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 9:57.46
Yui Yabuta (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 9:58.89
Soyoka Segawa (Sysmex) - 9:59.73
Manami Nishiyama (Matsuyama Univ.) - 10:00.49
Kako Okada (Matsuyama Univ.) - 10:02.04
Chikako Mori (Sekisui Kagaku) - 10:05.37
Yuki Akiyama (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10:10.33
Yuno Yamanaka (Ehime Ginko) - 10:11.50

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved