Skip to main content

Kimura and Abe Take Hurdle Titles, Yoshimura Breaks Steeplechase Junior NR - National Track and Field Championships Day Three Highlights



Day three of the National Track and Field Championships saw a few of the expected favorites prevail and a few unexpectedly fall short. In the women's 100 m hurdles 2019 Asian champion Ayako Kimura (Edion) won a very close race over Masumi Aoki (Nanajunana Ginko) and Asuka Terada (Pasona Group) in 13.14 (+0.6 m/s) to secure her spot back in Doha this fall. In the men's 400 m hurdles Takatoshi Abe (Yamada Denki) came back from a weak semi-final to win in 48.80, likewise guaranteeing himself a place on Japan's World Championships team. 2nd-place Masaki Toyoda (Hosei Univ.) was also under the Doha standard in 49.05, making himself a likely addition to the final team roster to be announced in September.

The women's 3000 m steeplechase saw an under-20 national record as Reimi Yoshimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) broke away from defending champion Yukari Ishizawa (Edion) and the rest of the lead pack after 2000 m to win in 9:50.44. In the race of the day, Ryohei Sakaguchi (Tokai Univ.) ran a PB of 8:29.85 to win the men's 3000 m steeplechase, downing heavy favorite Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) but coming up an agonizing 0.85 shy of the Doha standard. After clearing the standard in the qualifying rounds all Shiojiri needed to do was win to be named to the national team. But Sakaguchi was relentless in keeping things fast, repeatedly surging past Shiojiri whenever he went to the front.

On the back straight in the final lap Sakaguchi got a gap on Shiojiri as he kicked for the standard. Whether from fatigue or loss of focus, Shiojiri fell hard on the jump just before the curve, struggling to get back up as others went by. Sakaguchi took the national title, with Yusuke Uchikoshi (Otsuka Seiyaku) next in a PB of 8:35.39. Shiojiri struggled in to finish 8th in 8:51.44, missing out on confirming his place in Doha and how having to wait for September's announcement.

Likewise in the men's pole vault, defending champion Seito Yamamoto (Toyota) finished only 3rd at 5.51 m to miss a guaranteed spot in Doha. Masaki Ejima (Nihon) was the only man to clear 5.61 m, with veteran national record holder Daichi Sawano (Fujitsu) having a minor comeback with a season best 5.51 m for 2nd. Relative unknown Ryusei Kakino (Gold's Gym) jumped a PB 16.03 m (+1.0 m/s) to win the men's triple jump, with Hiroki Ako (Manabiyaen) winning the men's hammer throw with 66.64 m. Last year's women's hammer throw champion Akane Watanabe (Maruwa) nearly equalled Ako's winning mark, throwing 64.59 m to score another national title.

The National Track and Field Championships wrap up Sunday.

103rd National Track and Field Championships Day Three

Hakatanomori Field, Fukuoka, 6/29/2019
complete results

Finals

Women's 100 m Hurdles +0.6 m/s
1. Ayako Kimura (Edion) - 13.14
2. Masumi Aoki (Nanajunana Ginko) - 13.15 - PB
3. Asuka Terada (Pasona Group) - 13.16
4. Hitomi Shimura (Toho Ginko) - 13.20
5. Chisato Kiyoyama (Ichigo) - 13.24 - PB
6. Mako Fukube (Nikkenko) - 13.30
7. Miho Suzuki (Hasegawa Sports Club) - 13.31 - PB
8. Nana Fujimori (Meiji Univ.) - 13.41

Men's 400 m Hurdles
1. Takatoshi Abe (Yamada Denki) - 48.80
2. Masaki Toyoda (Hosei Univ.) - 49.05 - PB
3. Yuki Matsushita (Mizuno) - 49.47
4. Keisuke Nozawa (Mizuno) - 49.51
5. Masaya Oda (Nagoya Univ.) - 49.60 - PB
6. Yutaro Mano (Nagoya Univ.) - 50.07
7. Mitsuru Suga (Niigata Albirex RC) - 50.27
8. Kohei Miyako (Doshisha Univ.) - 51.37

Women's 3000 m Steeplechase
1. Reimi Yoshimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 9:50.44 - U20 NR
2. Yukari Ishizawa (Edion) - 9:59.54
3. Yui Yabuta (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 9:59.70
4. Nana Sato (Starts) - 10:05.34
5. Yuno Yamanaka (Ehime Ginko) - 10:08.38 - PB

Men's 3000 m Steeplechase
1. Ryohei Sakaguchi (Tokai Univ.) - 8:29.85 - PB
2. Yusuke Uchikoshi (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 8:35.39 - PB
3. Ryoma Aoki (Hosei Univ.) - 8:36.65
4. Seiya Shigeno (Press Kogyo) - 8:38.84
5. Ryuji Miura (Rakunan H.S.) - 8:40.30 - PB

Men's Pole Vault
1. Masaki Ejima (Nihon Univ.) - 5.61 m
2. Daichi Sawano (Fujitsu) - 5.51 m
3. Seito Yamamoto (Toyota) - 5.51 m
4. Kosei Takekawa (Hosei Univ.) - 5.41 m
5. Kazuya Ishibashi (Seiwa Univ.) - 5.31 m

Men's Triple Jump
1. Ryusei Kakino (Gold's Gym) - 16.03 m +1.0 m/s - PB
2. Hikari Ikehata (Surugadai Univ. AC) - 16.02 m +0.7 m/s
3. Ryoma Yamamoto (JAL) - 16.01 m +1.4 m/s
4. Yuki Yamashita (Ibaraki T&F Assoc.) - 15.95 m +0.4 m/s
5. Kyo Arimatsu (Niigata Albirex RC) - 15.74 m +0.2 m/s

Women's Hammer Throw
1. Akane Watanabe (Maruwa) - 64.59 m
2. Miharu Kodate (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) - 61.37 m
3. Tamami Saeki (Champion) - 60.87 m
4. Hitomi Katsuyama (Orico) - 60.14 m
5. Momoko Watanabe (Tsukuba Univ.) - 59.30 m - PB

Men's Hammer Throw
1. Hiroki Ako (Manabiyaen) - 66.64 m
2. Tatsuto Watanabe (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 65.45 m - PB
3. Naoki Uematsu (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 65.42 m
4. Kentaro Yoshino (Osaka Taiiku Univ.) - 65.02 m
5. Masayoshi Okumura (Okumura Zoen) - 62.04 m

Final Qualifiers

Women's 200 m
Sakiho Kageyama (Funabashi Municipal H.S.) - 24.08
Mei Kodama (Fukuoka Univ.) - 24.18
Aimi Saito (Osaka Seikei Univ.) - 24.22
Abigail Fuka Ido (Shigakukan H.S.) - 24.26
Maki Wada (Mizuno) - 24.35
Aiko Iki (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 24.58
Kanami Mimura (Tokai Prep Sagami H.S.) - 24.58
Naoka Miyake (Sumitomo Denko) - 24.59

Men's 200 m
Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) - 20.62
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Univ. of Florida) - 20.84
Jun Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.87
Kirara Shiraishi (Cerespo) - 20.91
Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 20.92
Tomoya Tamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 21.00
Akiyuki Hashimoto (Fujitsu) - 21.01
Yoshihiro Someya (Chuo Univ.) - 21.02

Women's 800 m
Ayano Shiomi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 2:04.52
Sayana Hiria (Meisei H.S.) - 2:04.73
Yuki Hirota (Akita Univ.) - 2:04.89
Ran Urabe (Nike Tokyo TC) - 2:05.20
Yume Kitamura (Edion) - 2:05.22
Ayaka Kawata (Higashi Osaka Univ.) - 2:05.53
Maki Ueda (Funairi H.S.) - 2:05.80
Erina Hosoi (Keio Univ.) - 2:05.97

Men's 1500 m
Nanami Arai (Honda) - 3:42.35
Shohei Shimizu (ND Software) - 3:42.57
Kazuto Izawa (Tokai Univ.) - 3:42.97
Ryota Matono (MHPS) - 3:43.18
Masaki Toda (Sunbelx) - 3:43.36
Shoma Funatsu (Chuo Univ.) - 3:43.56
Ryoji Tatezawa (Tokai Univ.) - 3:43.68
Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) - 3:43.84
Kazuki Kawamura (Meiji Univ.) - 3:44.11
Shogo Hata (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 3:44.35
Keisuke Morita (Komori Corp.) - 3:44.39
Yasunari Kusu (Ami AC) - 3:45.13

Men's 110 m Hurdles
Shunya Takayama (Zenrin) - 13.44
Shuhei Ishikawa (Fujitsu) - 13.51
Kensuke Izumiya (Juntendo Univ.) - 13.54
Takashi Sato (Hitachi Kasei) - 13.76
Wataru Yazawa (Descente TC) - 13.79
Hiroki Fudaba (Yamada Denki) - 13.83
Ryota Fujii (Mie Sports Assoc.) - 13.83
Anthony Kuriki (Niigata Albirex RC) - 13.86

Women's 400 m Hurdles
Akiko Ito (Tsukuba Univ.) - 57.37
Eri Utsunomiya (Hasegawa Sports Club) - 57.73
Moeka Sekimoto (Waseda Univ.) - 58.02
Kana Koyama (Waseda Univ.) - 58.22
Aisa Ibrahim (Sapporo Kokusai Univ.) - 58.48
Haruka Shibata (Team Mizuno) - 58.53
Moe Oshiden (ND Software) - 58.84
Konomi Takeishi (Toho Ginko) - 59.16

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Rui Aoki and Shunsuke Kuwata Making U.S. Debut at United Airlines NYC Half

When the National University Half Marathon was canceled in 2011 after the massive earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan 2 days before the race, JRN talked to the New York Road Runners about bringing 2 collegiate runners to the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon the next weekend as a show of support. It wasn't possible to pull it together in the immediate aftermath of the disasters, but a year later we brought 2 young 2nd-years from Hakone Ekiden CR breaker Toyo University , Kento Otsu and Yuta Shitara , who had been the top 2 Japanese collegiate finishers at the Ageo City Half Marathon in November before Hakone. Shitara ran 1:01:48, at the time the fastest-ever by a Japanese man on U.S. soil, with Otsu running a solid 1:03:15. Thanks to that great start the Ageo-NYC partnership became a regular thing, and except for the pandemic it's continued every year since, expanding this year to June's New York Mini 10 km when 2 runners from Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden runne...

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...