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Suzuki Breaks 10000 m Meet Record at National University Track and Field Championships



The 90th National University Track and Field Championships kicked off Friday at Saitama's Kumagaya Sports Park Field. The biggest result came in the women's 10000 m,, where favorite Yuka Suzuki (Daito Bunka Univ.) soloed a 32:04.58 meet record for the win, taking 19 seconds off the previous record set in 2003 by Emi Ikeda. 2nd-placer Rinka Hida (Ritsumeikan Univ.) was the only other runner under 33 minutes at 32:56.71, Yui Komatsu (Matsuyama Univ.) 3rd in 33:01.16.

Kenyans swept the top four spots in the men's 10000 m. Pre-race favorite Charles Kamau Wanjiku (Musashino Univ.) faded mid-race to leave it to come down to a sprint finish between James Bunuka (Surugadai Univ.) and Philip Muluwa (Soka Univ.). Bunuka took the win in 27:58.60, less than 6 seconds off the meet record, Muluwa 2nd in 28:00.36 and Wanjiku 3rd in 28:29.48. Sota Ueda (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) unexpectedly took the top Japanese spot at 5th in 28:52.63, beating all his Kanto-region rivals.

Haruko Hosaka (Nittai Univ.) won the women's 1500 m final in 4:23.28, Ryosuke Harada (Juntendo Univ.) taking the men's 1500 m title in 3:43.00. The women's pole vault came down to an unusual duel between first-year teammates, with Akari Osakaya and Eri Furubayashi of Sonoda Gakuen Joshi Univ. both clearing 4.00 m but Osakaya getting the win after Furubayashi missed her first attempt at 4.00 m. Ayaka Kora (Tsukuba Univ.) won the women's long jump with a second attempt of 6.33 m (+0.3). Sae Takemoto (Osaka Taiiku Univ.) claimed the women's javelin title on her second throw at 59.90 m.

Riku Ito (Kinki Univ.) delivered another unexpectedly strong performance, winning the men's long jump in 8.05 m (+0.8) over Yuto Toriumi (Nihon Univ.), 2nd at 7.88 m (+1.3). Competing outside his main event, 110 mH NR holder and Tokyo Olympian Shunsuke Izumiya (Juntendo Univ.) was 3rd, jumping 7.73 m (+0.6) on his final attempt. Shinichi Yukinaga (Shokoku Univ.) won the men's discus with a throw of 54.18 m, while first-year Ikkei Yoshino (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) won the men's javelin in 73.98 m.

The National University Track and Field Championships continue through Sunday. Live streaming of Saturday will be available here.

© 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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