Skip to main content

Nittai Time Trials, National Corporate Track and Field Championships and Other Long Weekend Highlights

The first Nittai University Time Trials meet of the season and the National Corporate Track and Field Championships delivered most of the weekend's pre-Doha World Championships action on the track.

At Nittai, Australian Melissa Duncan (Shiseido) and Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) tuned up for Doha with a head-to-head race over 3000 m, Duncan taking it by 0.40 in a sprint finish with a 9:05.45. The men's 10000 m was reasonably quick, with newcomer Razini Lemeteki (Takushoku Univ.) running a PB of almost two minutes to lead the top three under 28 minutes in 27:51.91.

But the most interesting result came in the women's 5000 m A-heat, where amateur club runners Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) and Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab Kanto) went 1-2 in another sprint finish, outkicking 2016 Gold Coast Marathon winner Misato Horie (Noritz), 2:23 marathoner Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and every other corporate leaguer in the field to do it. Yamaguchi, who ran a PB of 2:33:09 last weekend for 4th at the Sydney Marathon, held off a hard finish from Kaneshige after leading much of the race to take 22 seconds off her PB with a 15:49.82 for the win. Kaneshige was also under 16 minutes for the first time, bettering her PB by 19 seconds in 15:50.02. Yamaguchi's focus for the season is November's Kobe Marathon, with Kaneshige heading overseas for the first time to run the Chicago Marathon in October.

With many of the best corporate league athletes already en route to Doha for the World Championships, this year's Corporate Nationals were a little thin at the front end, but that didn't stop a few meet records from going down. The women's 1500 m wasn't one of them, but in it 5000 m national champion Tomoka Kimura (Shiseido) got back on track after a disastrous run in Andujar, Spain two weeks ago, outkicking national champion Ran Urabe (Nike Tokyo TC) for the win in 4:13..38. Urabe was under her PB in 2nd at 4:14.52.

Of the three meet records that did fall, Takuto Kominami (Tsukuba Ginko) delivered the biggest with a 81.73 m to win the men's javelin. The previous meet record of 80.98 m dated back to 1986 and was set by Kazuhiro Mizuguchi who later went on to set the still-standing national record of 87.60 m. The 1999-era men's 400 m hurdles meet record also went down, with Ryo Kajiki (Sumitomo Denko) bettering the old mark by 0.07 in 48.92. Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) tied the men's high jump meet record of 2.28 m which also was set in 1999. He didn't break any records, but Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) earned special mention with a 5000 m / 3000 mSC double, winning in 13:23.82 and 8:27.27 respectively.

272nd Nittai University Time Trials

Yokohama, Kanagawa, Sept. 21-22, 2019
complete results

Men's 10000 m Heat 10
1. Razini Lemeteki (Takushoku Univ.) - 27:51.91
2. Vincent Kipkemoi (YKK) - 27:52.00
3. Simon Kariuki (Togami Denki) - 27:56.41
4. Vincent Laimoi (Kokushikan Univ.) - 28:03.74
5. Titus Wanbua (Musashino Gakuin Univ.) - 28:08.01

Women's 5000 m Heat 2
1. Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) - 15:49.82
2. Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab Kanto) - 15:50.02
3. Hiromi Katakai (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 15:53.40
4. Misato Horie (Noritz) - 15:53.80
5. Michi Numata (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:55.55

Men's 5000 m Heat 23
1. Simon Saidim (Chuo Hatsujo) - 13:37.58
2. Robert Muei (Asahi Kasei) - 13:41.06
3. Bernard Muia (Toyota Boshoku) - 13:41.56
4. Ren Tazawa (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:41.82
5. Gideon Kipngetich (Mazda) - 13:43.59

Women's 3000 m Heat 8
1. Melissa Duncan (Shiseido) - 9:05.45
2. Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) - 9:05.85
3. Miku Sakai (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) - 9:07.34
4. Yuka Mazubuchi (Kinjo Gakuen H.S.) - 9:13.26
5. Ruruko Hosaka (Kinjo Gakuen H.S.) - 9:13.34

67th National Corporate Track and Field Championships

Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Sept. 20-22, 2019
complete results

Men

 Men's 100 m Final -0.7 m/s
1. Kotaro Iwasaki (Yutic) - 10.41
2. Yu Onabuta (Tsukuba Ginko) - 10.54
3. Takuya Kawakami (Osaka Gas) - 10.56

Men's 200 m A-Final +1.9 m/s
1. Kazushi Kimura (Shidenko) - 20.86
2. Akiyuki Hashimoto (Fujitsu) - 20.91
3. Kotaro Taniguchi (Toppan) - 20.99

Men's 400 m Final
1. Kazushi Kimura (Shidenko) - 45.96
2. Takamasa Kitagawa (Fujitsu) - 46.65
3. Mizuki Obuchi (Torihei) - 46.91

Men's 800 m Final
1. Jun Mitake (TSP Taiyo) - 1:50.74
2. Kenta Umetani (Sunbelx) - 1:50.98
3. Daisuke Sakura (Seiko) - 1:51.20

Men's 1500 m Final
1. Keisuke Morita (Komori Corp.) - 3:45.72
2. Shogo Hata (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 3:46.28
3. Hazuma Hattori (Toenec) - 3:46.58

Men's 5000 m A-Final
1. Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 13:23.82
2. Evans Keitany (Toyota Boshoku) - 13:24.90
3. Wesley Ledama (Subaru) - 13:25.23
4. Evans Yego (Sunbelx) - 13:29.83
5. Benuel Mogeni (Asahi Kasei) - 13:32.76

Men's 10000 m A-Final
1. Enock Omwamba (MHPS) - 27:47.36
2. Macharia Ndirangu (Aichi Seiko) - 27:56.46
3. Peter Langat (SGH Group) - 28:00.28
4. Daniel Kipkemoi (Nishitetsu) - 28:24.76
5. Patrick Muendo Mwaka (Aisan Kogyo) - 28:28.37

Men's 110 m Hurdles Final -0.5 m/s
1. Anthony Kuriki (Niigata Albirex RC) - 13.67
2. Wataru Yazawa (Descente TC) - 13.72
3. Ryota Fujii (Mie Sports Assoc.) - 13.86

Men's 400 m Hurdles Final
1. Ryo Kajiki (Sumitomo Denko) - 48.92 - MR
2. Keisuke Nozawa (Mizuno) - 49.08
3. Yuki Matsushita (Mizuno) - 49.23

Men's 3000 m Steeplechase Final
1. Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 8:27.27
2. Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) - 8:31.37
3. Yasunari Kusu (Ami AC) - 8:36.03

Men's 10000 m Racewalk Final
1. Satoshi Maruo (Aichi Seiko) - 39:43.72
2. Kazuki Takahashi (AD Works) - 40:30.98
3. Isamu Fujisawa (Alsok) - 40:37.88

Men's 4x100 m Relay Final
1. Fujitsu - 39.41
2. Sumitomo Denko - 39.55
3. Yutic - 39.86

Men's 4x400 m Relay Final
1. Fujitsu - 3:09.71
2. Axle - 3:09.85
3. Roble - 3:14.87

Men's High Jump Final
1. Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) - 2.28 m - MR (tie)
2. Hiromi Takahari (Hitachi ICT) - 2.16 m
3. Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex) - 2.16 m

Men's Pole Vault Final
1. Hiroki Ogita (Mizuno) - 5.30 m
2. Shingo Sawa (Kiraboshi Ginko) - 5.30 m
3. Koki Kuruma (Striders) - 5.20 m

Men's Long Jump Final
1. Kota Minemura (Fujitsu) - 7.89 m +0.9 m/s
2. Minato Ishikura (NTN) - 7.83 m +1.2 m/s
3. Natsuki Yamakawa (Tobu Top Tours) - 7.80 m +0.6 m/s

 Men's Triple Jump Final
1. Ryoma Yamamoto (JAL) - 16.24 m +1.8 m/s
2. Yuki Yamashita (Ibaraki Sport Assoc.) - 16.24 m +1.3 m/s
3. Kohei Yamashita (ANA) - 16.21 m -0.6 m/s

 Men's Shot Put Final
1. Daichi Morishita (Wizas) - 17.81 m
2. Masahira Sato (Niigata Albirex RC) - 17.60 m
3. Daichi Nakamura (Mizuno) - 17.36 m

Men's Discus Throw Final
1. Yuji Tsutsumi (Alsok) - 60.69 m
2. Masateru Yugami (Toyota) - 57.15 m
3. Shigeyuki Maisawa (Orico) - 56.38 m

Men's Hammer Throw Final
1. Hiroki Ako (Manabiyaen) - 67.75 m
2. Ryota Kashimura (Yamada Denki) - 65.26 m
3. Yoshiro Hosaka (Saitama Ika Univ. Group) - 65.15 m

Men's Javelin Throw Final
1. Takuto Kominami (Tsukuba Ginko) - 81.73 m - MR
2. Yuta Sakiyama (Ehime Sports Assoc.) - 77.33 m
3. Kenji Ogura (Nihon Taiiku Assoc.) - 77.30 m

Women

 Women's 100 m A-Final +0.9 m/s
1. Anna Doi (JAL) - 11.74
2. Yukina Shimada (Hokkaido Hi-Tec) - 11.87
3. Momoko Takahashi (World Wing) - 1187

Women's 200 m A-Final +1.8 m/s
1. Sayaka Fujisawa (Cerespo) - 23.90
2. Yukina Shimada (Hokkaido Hi-Tec) - 24.14
3. Mariko Nagano (Denso) - 24.41

Women's 400 m Final
1. Nanako Matsumoto (Toho Ginko) - 54.35
2. Mayu Inaoka (Run Journey) - 54.81
3. Mayu Kobayashi (Ibaraki Sports Assoc.) - 55.35

Women's 800 m Final
1. Yume Kitamura (Edion) - 2:06.05
2. Ryoko Hirano (Mito Shinyo) - 2:06.73
3. Hana Yamada (Warabeya Nichiyo) - 2:06.84

Women's 1500 m Final
1. Tomoka Kimura (Shiseido) - 4:13.38
2. Ran Urabe (Nike Tokyo TC) - 4:14.52
3. Kaede Hagitani (Edion) - 4:16.94

Junior Women's 3000 m A-Final
1. Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) - 9:08.93
2. Kaede Hagitani (Edion) - 9:14.33
3. Yuri Tazaki (Yamada Denki) - 9:15.18

Women's 5000 m A-Final
1. Helen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:30.45
2. Tabitha Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 15:32.15
3. Yui Fukuda (Toyota Jidoshokki)- 15:42.05
4. Nao Yamamoto (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:48.19
5. Shiori Yano (Canon AC Kyushu) - 15:52.38

Women's 10000 m A-Final
1. Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) - 31:45.04
2. Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku) - 32:12.89
3. Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada Denki) - 32:19.71
4. Shiori Yano (Canon AC Kyushu) - 32:27.62
5. Yuka Hori (Panasonic) - 32:30.72

Women's 100 m Hurdles Final +1.2 m/s
1. Mako Fukube (Nikkenko) - 13.28
2. Chisato Kiyoyama (Ichigo) - 13.38
3. Yuri Okubo (Yutic) - 13.40

Women's 400 m Hurdles Final
1. Mayu Saito (Nanajunana Ginko) - 58.24
2. Satsuki Umehara (Sumitomo Kaijo) - 58.36
3. Suzuka Kawabata (Matsumoto Doken) - 58.53

Women's 3000 m Steeplechase Final
1. Ayaka Koike (Owada Jutaku Sendai) - 10:06.06
2. Yuno Yamanaka (Ehime Ginko) - 10:13.13
3. Yui Yabuta (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 10:15.65

Women's 10000 m Racewalk Final
1. Kaori Kawazoe (SDF Academy) - 44:46.63
2. Ai Michiguchi (SDF Academy) - 46:12.70
3. Serena Sonoda (NTN) - 46:34.98

Women's 4x100 m Relay Final
1. Toho Ginko - 45.82
2. Nanajunana Ginko - 46.16
3. NTN - 46.39

Women's High Jump Final
1. Shieriai Tsuda (Tsukiji Gindako) - 1.76 m
2. Haruka Terui (Saitama Ika Univ. Group) - 1.73 m
3. Yuki Watanabe (Miraito Techno) - 1.73 m

Women's Pole Vault Final
1. Mayu Nasu (Run Journey) - 4.10 m
2. Kanae Tatsuta (Nippatsu) - 4.00 m
3. Tomoko Nemoto (Nihon Seitetsu) - 3.90 m

Women's Long Jump Final
1. Sumire Hata (Shibata Kogyo) - 6.38 m -0.8 m/s
2. Sachiko Masumi (Kyudenko) - 6.27 m +1.4 m/s
3. Hitomi Nakano (Washoku Yamaguchi) - 6.06 m -1.5 m/s

 Women's Triple Jump Final
1. Mariko Morimoto (Uchida Kensetsu) - 13.00 m +1.2 m/s
2. Sachiko Masumi (Kyudenko) - 12.98 m +4.6 m/s
3. Hitomi Nakano (Washoku Yamaguchi) +0.5 m/s

 Women's Shot Put Final
1. Chiaki Yoshino (Nihon Joshi Taiiku Univ. Staff) - 14.85 m
2. Aya Ota (Fukuoka Univ. AC) - 14.70 m
3. Chihiro Shigeyama (Ochiai Chukyo) - 14.40 m

Women's Discus Throw
1. Natusmi Fujimori (Fukui Sports Assoc.) - 49.32 m
2. Ai Shikimoto (Niigata Albirex RC) - 46.88 m
3. Saki Terai (Suwa Chukyo) - 45.14 m

Women's Hammer Throw
1. Tamami Saeki (Champion) - 64.44 m
2. Akane Watanabe (Maruwa Unyukikan) - 63.75 m
3. Hitomi Katsuyama (Orico) - 58.68 m

Women's Javelin Throw
1. Yuka Sato (Nikonikonori) - 58.21 m
2. Risa Miyashita (MPE) - 55.60 m
3. Orie Ushiro (Niigata Albirex RC) - 55.28 m

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Metts said…
While the corporate runners no doubt are interesting to read about, I always like the amateur runners and the club system in Japan. Maybe its the culture of valuing effort and running. From the 60+ marathon recorder holder, the 60+ woman in Shizuoka, the veterinarian women in Saitama, to of course YK, and even the little known corporate runners, such as the woman, who runs multiple marathons with no problem. And of course don't forget Tanaka who just ran a 2:48 at the Hokkaido marathon.
September 23, 2019 at 10:31 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Waseda Leads Top 7 Teams Under Izumo Ekiden CR, Ivy League Best-Ever 3rd (updated)

3rd last year, Waseda University scored its first Izumo Ekiden win since 2010, taking almost 2 minutes off the CR and leading the top 7 teams under the old record of 2:07:51 for the complete 6-stage, 45.1 km course. Waseda was 16 seconds back in 7th after the First Stage, but its 2nd runner Ojiro Honda made that up easily and put them 6 seconds out front. A massive 22:56 CR for the 8.5 km Third Stage by Shadrack Kipkemei (Nihon Univ.) dropped Waseda back to 2nd even though its runner Ryuki Suzuki broke the old CR too, but back-to-back CR on the next 2 stages by 1st-year Haruki Niizuma and Shunpei Yamaguchi put anchor Shinsaku Kudo out of reach of the rest of the field. Kudo duly won the 10.2 km anchor stage in 29:00, bypassing a 2:06 time entirely for a new 2:05:56 CR, just under 2:48/km average pace for the complete course. Defending champ Koku Gakuin University struggled a bit in the first half of the race but came on strong in the longer second half with 4th and 5th runners...
8 comments
Read more

Kipyegon Repeats, Toyo Wins Hakone Ekiden Qualifier in First Appearance in 21 Years

Back for the first time in 21 years after a disastrous 14th-place finish at the 102nd Hakone Ekiden this past January, Toyo University hit one out of western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park with a solid win at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai, the half marathon that serves as the official qualifying race for the 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The top 10 teams in the Hakone auto-qualify for the following year, with the rest having to run the Yosenkai in October with a squad of 10 to 16 runners out of which the top 10 score on aggregate time, with the 10 fastest schools joining the Hakone field and top individuals from non-qualifying teams names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team to make up the complete Hakone field of 21. Driven in large part by an aggressive run from 3rd-year Yu Miyazaki , one of only 2 Japanese athletes to go with the big African contingent up front, Toyo won in 10:31:30, 1:03:09 or 2:59.6/km per athlete. As the first team to have broken the 3:00/km average pace barrie...
1 comment
Read more

Ngetich and Mutiso Take Down Tokyo Legacy Half CR

In its 5th edition the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon scored 2 new course records via Kenyans from the Ikaika agency, with 10 km WR holder Agnes Ngetich blasting 3 minutes off the old record to win by over 4 in 1:04:23, and Alexander Mutiso skimming just 1 second under the CR for the win by 5 seconds in 59:51. The 2 races played out completely differently, even if the paydays were the same for the winners. Surrounded by an envelope of male runners all the way to the final 100 m, Ngetich was out hard on the downhill in the first 5 km, hitting it on sub-64 pace in 15:08 before leveling out on the flat middle 10 km. Her next 2 splits projected to 1:04:09 and 1:04:17, and even with the uphill back to the stadium in the last 5 km she didn't fall far off from that, winning in 1:04:23. Runner-up Tabitha Njeri Kamau was nearly a mile back in 1:08:28, with Kamau's Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo teammate Kazuna Kanetomo dropping a 1:10:17 PB for 3rd. Now an independent, track Olympian Kaede Ha...
2 comments
Read more