Skip to main content

Yamaguchi and Hokuriku Kick Off September - Weekend Track Roundup



The powers that be may have decided that there isn't going to be a road season, but September's going to be a busy month on the track in Japan. Just getting in Saturday night ahead of the leading edge of Typhoon #10, the Yamaguchi Nighter Time Trials meet saw Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) take the men's 3000 m in 8:01.87 almost six seconds ahead of teammate Yusuke Tamura. Tosu Kogyo H.S. teammates Sei Sonoda and Junpei Maseda went 3-4 in 8:07.38 and 8:08.21, Sonoda taking the all-time #8 Japanese U20 and #7 Japanese high school marks and Maseda #8 on the high school list.



The 50th Hokuriku Corporate Championships took place Saturday and Sunday in Toyama, rescheduled to this weekend from their original date in the spring. Still going strong all these years later, 2009 World University Games 10000 m gold medalist and 5000 m silver medalist Kasumi Nishihara (Yamada Denki) won the women's 5000 m in a meet record 15:44.55 over teammates Maho Shimizu and Yuri Tasaki. Daisuke Hosomori (YKK) took the men's 5000 m title in 14:15.63 on Sunday a day after running 29:41.74 for 2nd behind winning teammate Vincent Kipkemoi in the men's 10000 m. Men's 800 m national record holder Sho Kawamoto (Suzuki) had a decent day, winning in 1:47.30 by more than a second.



Looking ahead, next weekend has the National University Track and Field Championships in Niigata. A week later it's the National Corporate Track and Field Championships in Saitama, followed up the last weekend of September by the rescheduled regional Kansai and Chugoku Corporate Track and Field Championships in Osaka and Hiroshima. Those will be the lead-in to the non-distance event National Track and Field Championships the first weekend of October back in Niigata.

© 2020 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Keita Satoh Running New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile

1500 m U20 NR holder Keita Satoh (Nike Swoosh TC) is running this weekend's New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile , the first time that a Japanese man has been invited in the race's 45-year history. In university Sato had to change focus away from middle distance to the half marathon-scale lengths of the Hakone Ekiden stages, but since graduating in March and relocating to Flagstaff he has refocused on the 1500 m, going from 3:43.19 in April in his first 1500 m in almost 4 years to 3:38.30 over the course of 5 races. Fifth Avenue will be his last race before heading back to Japan for one more track 1500 m and some down time. Men's entries with best 1500 m times in last 3 years: Stefan Nillessen (NED) - 3:29.23 (2025) Flavien Szot (FRA) - 3:30.74 (2025) Oliver Hoare (AUS) - 3:31.07 (2024) Jake Heyward (GBR) - 3:31.18 (2026) Titouan Le Grix (FRA) - 3:31.46 (2026) Romain Mornet (FRA) - 3:31.62 (2025) Adam Spencer (AUS) - 3:31.83 (2026) Pieter Sisk (BEL) - 3:31.85 (2025) Gary Martin (...
2 comments
Read more

Multiple National Records This Weekend

Olympic and World champion Haruka Kitaguchi got the biggest headlines among Japanese athletes this weekend, overcoming a rough last year and a half that included injury and a coaching change to break her own javelin throw NR by over a meter and a half to win the inaugural WA Ultimate Championship in Budapest. U20 WR and Asian AR holder Ziyi Yan opened with a big 68.05, 0.67 m further than Kitaguchi's best-ever from back in 2023. That could have been the end, but Kitaguchi came back from a 61.15 m first attempt to throw a massive 68.92 m NR on her next one, ultimately enough for the win. She still has a long way to go to match the 18-year-old Yan's 71.74 m from May, but it was a clear statement that Kitaguchi is back. Back home at the National Corporate Track and Field Championships in Kyoto, women's pole vault NR holder Misaki Morota continued a solid comeback season of her own, bettering her NR from May by 1 cm with a 4.51 m on her first attempt. Morota took another 3...
Post a Comment
Read more