National Track and Field Championships Day Three Highlights

The last day of the 104th National Track and Field Championships saw a short stack of new records across disciplines, mostly on the women's side.

The biggest news came in the women's discus throw, where Maki Saito (Tokyo Joshi Taiiku Univ.) threw a new national junior record of 55.41 m on her fourth attempt and putting defending champ Minori Tsujikawa (Uchida Yoko AC) into 2nd before coming back on her last to almost equal it.

In the women's 100 m hurdles, it took a PB from Masumi Aoki (77 Ginko) to hold off national record holder Asuka Terada (Pasona Group) for the win, tying the meet record in 13.02 (-0.1). Taio Kanai (Mizuno) likewise held off national record holder Shunya Takayama (Zenrin), tying the meet record in 13.36 (-0.1) to win. Kanai and Takayama have alternated national titles for the last four years, with 13.36 their winning time for the last three.

The women's 200 m saw the top three all drop PBs, Remi Tsuruta (Minami Kyushu Family Mart) unexpectedly holding off 2019 national champ Mei Kodama (Fukuoka) for the win in 23.17 (-0.1), good enough for all-time Japanese #3. At 20.44 Kodama came in at #7 and #2 on the collegiate lists. The men's 200 m wasn't as fast relatively speaking, but in an exciting last 50 m Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) ran down Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) to score the national title in 20.75. Ryota Suzuki (Josai Univ.) nearly pipped Koike at the line for 2nd, coming up just short in 20.89 to Koike's 20.88.

Both the women's 800 m and 400 m hurdles were also good, with Ayaka Kawata (Higashi Osaka Univ.) and Aisha Ibrahim (Sapporo Kokusai Univ.) each winning their races by over half a second. Kawata took the 800 m in 2:03.54 over collegiate rival Ayano Shiomi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) and last year's national champ Ran Urabe (Sekisui Kagaku), and Ibrahim the 400 m hurdles in a PB 56.50 that moved her up to all-time Japanese #6 and all-time #4 on the collegiate charts.

In the men's high jump, Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) followed up his 2.31 win at last month's National Corporate Championships, the #2 jump in the world this year, with a 2.30 for the win and solidifying his position alongside national record holder Naoto Tobe at the top of the game in Japan. 2019 men's discus throw winner Yuji Tsutsumi (Alsok) was the only national champ to defend on the last day of the meet, throwing 60.24 m to score another title.

National Track and Field Championships

Day Three Highlights
Denka Big Swan Stadium, Niigata, Oct. 3, 2020
complete results

Women

Women's 200 m Final -0.1 m/s
1. Remi Tsuruta (Minami Kyushu Family Mart) - 23.17 - PB
2. Mei Kodama (Fukuoka Univ.) - 23.44 - PB
3. Sayaka Oishi (Cerespo) - 23.78 - PB

Women's 800 m Final
1. Ayaka Kawata (Higashi Osaka Univ.) - 2:03.54
2. Ayano Shiomi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 2:04.24
3. Ran Urabe (Sekisui Kagaku) - 2:04.56

Women's 100 m Hurdles Final -0.1 m/s
1. Masumi Aoki (77 Ginko) - 13.02 - MR tie, PB
2. Asuka Terada (Pasona Group) - 13.14
3. Nana Fujimori (Zenrin) - 13.33

Women's 400 m Hurdles Final
1. Aisha Ibrahim (Sapporo Kokusai Univ.) - 56.50 - PB
2. Eri Utsunomiya (Hasegawa) - 57.09
3. Akiko Ito (Cerespo) - 57.34

Women's Discus Throw Final
1. Maki Saito (Tokyo Joshi Taiiku Univ.) - 55.41 m - U20 NR
2. Minori Tsujikawa (Uchida Yoko AC) - 51.62 m
3. Natsumi Fujimori (Fukui Sports Assoc.) - 50.46 m

Men

Men's 200 m Final -0.5 m/s
1. Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 20.75
2. Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) - 20.88
3. Ryota Suzuki (Josai Univ.) - 20.89

Men's 800 m Final
1. Daichi Setoguchi (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:47.70
2. Mikuto Kaneko (Chuo Univ.) - 1:47.95
3. Junya Matsumoto (Hosei Univ.) - 1:48.04

Men's 110 m Hurdles Final -0.1 m/s
1. Taio Kanai (Mizuno) - 13.36 - MR tie
2. Shunya Takayama (Zenrin) - 13.47
3. Shunsuke Izumiya (Juntendo Univ.) - 13.48

Men's Triple Jump Final
1. Hikaru Ikehata (Surugadai AC) - 16.54 m +0.7 m/s
2. Yuki Yamashita (Kokushikan Club) - 16.28 m +0.6 m/s
3. Kohei Nakayama (Watanabe Pipe) - 16.05 m +1.1 m/s

Men's High Jump Final
1. Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) - 2.30 m
2. Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) - 2.20 m
2. Ryo Sato (Niigata Albirex RC)- 2.20 m
2. Takashi Eto (Ajinomoto) - 2.20 m

Men's Discus Throw Final
1. Yuji Tsutsumi (Alsok) - 60.24 m
2. Masateru Yugami (Toyota) - 56.57 m
3. Shinichi Yukinaga (Shikoku Univ.) - 55.89 m

© 2020 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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