Fukuoka Women Break 4x100 m Collegiate Record on Second Day of National University Track and Field Championships

On-and-off rain and wind from the typhoon passing to the south meant unstable conditions on the second day of the 90th National University Track and Field Championships in Kumagaya, Saitama, some people lucking out and others out of luck.

With Tokyo Olympian Mei Kodama running 2nd, the Fukuoka University women broke the 4x100 m relay meet record of 44.59 set three years ago by Nittai University. Fukuoka ran 44.51 for the win, not only clearing the old meet record but also going under the collegiate record of 44.56. Runner-up Ritsumeikan University was almost a second behind in 45.49. Kodama also won the 100 m final in 11.51 (+0.5), 0.16 off the individual meet record she set last year.

In his first-round heat NR holder and Olympic team member Shunsuke Izumiya (Juntendo Univ.) crushed the 110 m hurdles meet record of 13.67 that had stood since 2001, clocking 13.44 (+0.1). His teammate and Olympic alternate Rachid Muratake (Juntendo Univ.) did the same in his heat, going under the old record in 13.59 (+0.5) to win his heat. Taiga Yokochi (Hosei Univ.) was just off the old record, winning his heat in 13.69 (-1.0) to head to the semis ranked 3rd. No one else was under 13.84.

Other winners on the second day of competition:

Saki Takashima (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) won the women's 400 m final in 55.46.
Minori Yabuta (Mukogawa Joshi Univ.) took the women's 10000 mRW in 46:03.57.
Nagisa Takahashi (Nihon Univ.) won the women's high jump after clearing 1.79 m on her 3rd attempt.
Sakura Uchiyama (Tokyo Univ.) had a 13.02 (+1.0) jump in the first round of the women's triple jump that was good enough for the win.
Maki Saito (Tokyo Joshi Taiiku Univ.) beat discus throw collegiate record holder Nanaka Kori (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) to win in 54.18 m.
Karin Odama (Nittai Univ.) just missed the heptathlon meet record of 5550, scoring 5525 for the win.
In men's action, 2nd-year Aoto Suzuki (Toyo Univ.) was a surprise winner in the 100 m final, running 10.33 (-0.2) to follow in the footsteps of Toyo's meet record holder Yoshihide Kiryu.
1st-year Masataka Tomita (Tokyo Rika Univ.) won the 400 m final in 46.35.
Waseda University returned to the top in the 4x100 m relay, winning in 39.15 over Ritsumeikan University and Juntendo University. Collegiate record holder Chuo University and meet record holder Tokai University both failed to make the final.
Yuta Koga (Meiji Univ.) took 1st in the men's 10000 mRW in 39:45.90, the only one under 40 minutes.
Soku Hiratsuka (Nihon Univ.) won the men's high jump, going over 2.15 m on his 2nd attempt.
1st-year Jason Atuobeng won the men's shot put with a 5th-round throw of 17.64 m. Atuobeng looks like a good candidate to break the collegiate record of 18.64 by the time he hits his senior year.
Ririki Kawamoto (Ritsumeikan Univ.) won the decathlon with a score of 7250, holding off Ryoya Moriguchi (Tokai Univ.) who closed Kawamoto's lead from 88 to 30 points over the second day.

The National University Track and Field Championships wrap up Sunday. Live streaming can be had here.

Murayama and Sasaki Making U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10 km

Every year since 2012 that there's been a United Airlines NYC Half , JRN has partnered with the NYRR and November's Ageo City Half Marathon to bring two top-tier collegiate Japanese men to the NYC Half for what's usually been their international debuts. For years we've wanted to extend that program to include top collegiate women, but that has always faced 2 problems. For one, while the half marathon distance is the main focus for Japanese collegiate men due to the stage lengths at the Hakone Ekiden, few collegiate women run it. Those that do run the National University Women's Half Marathon in Matsue, held the same day as the NYC Half. This year, though, we're finally making it happen in a slightly different way. Amisa Murayama and Nazuki Sasaki of 2025 Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden national collegiate championship runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University are joining the field for the NYRR's Mastercard New York Mini 10 km on June 6. After running an 18:14 CR ...

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Some Reflections on the Ekiden

by Brett Larner This ekiden season I've had a few thoughts kicking around, and watching this week's Hakone Ekiden a few of them became clearer. These are still in progress, but at the moment this is what I'm thinking in terms of running as a spectator sport and about the quality of Japanese men's distance running right now. Quality: Japanese men's running is coming up very, very quickly. I was in the lead car at November's Ageo City Half Marathon , where 18 men, 17 of them university runners, broke 63 minutes. As it was going on we all thought it was a slow race because there were so many people running that pace all the way, no separation at all in the mass of the pack. See the JRN header photo above, taken just past halfway. That's pretty unusual in Japan, especially at the university level; generally you'll get a handful of guys who run an aggressive pace and a mass running dead on a safe pace, 3:00/km in a half marathon, for example. Th...

japan running news

Search This Blog