Kora and Murakami Break Meet Records, Fuwa Returns - National University Track and Field Championships Day 1

The 91st National University Track and Field Championships got underway in Kyoto Friday. Shion Ono (Juntendo Univ.) was the first athlete to take a national title on the track, beating Yuiri Ogata (Nittai Univ.) by 0.20 to win the women's 1500 m final in 4:22.75. The men's 1500 m looked like it would go the same way, with favorites Keita Sato (Komazawa Univ.) and Kazuto Iizawa (Tokai Univ.) side by side with 400 m to go. But on the back straight Chuo University duo Tomohiro Chimori and Tomoki Nakano made contact, and when Iizawa responded Sato was left behind. Iizawa hung on to the win in 3:45.33 with both Chuo runners within 0.90. Sato fell to 7th in 3:47.61.

The women's 10000 m was one of the most anticipated races of the weekend, with collegiate NR holder Seira Fuwa (Takushoku Univ.) entered after an Achilles injury in January that kept her out of the spring season and the Oregon World Championships. Saying that she was at about 40% fitness, Fuwa took the lead after a 3:16 opening 1000 m, holding steady on a very conservative 3:20/km pace through halfway until Yui Komatsu (Matsuyama Univ.) took over. Komatsu's lead only lasted 2000 m before Fuwa threw in a 3:14 to go back into the lead, then a 3:13, and finally closing in 3:06 to win in 32:55.31. That's over 2 minutes slower than her all-time Japanese #2 best from last December, but it was a big first step back toward full fitness for the highest-potential woman in Japanese distance running. Let's hope her coach has learned a lesson about doing too much too soon.

The men's 10000 m was all Philip Mulwa (Soka Univ.) all the way, except for a brief move to the front around 3000 m by Boniface Murua (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.). Mulwa dropped Murua and the rest of the lead pack early in the second half, at one point opening a lead of over 50 m before slowing in the final 2000 m. But that was enough of a lead to hold everyone off, Mulwa taking the national title in 28:36.70 with Murua 2nd in 28:38.37 and Charles Ndungu (Nihon Univ.) 3rd in 28:41.11. Jinichiro Kameda (Kansai Univ.) pulled off an upset for 4th, outkicking Yuito Nakamura (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) 28:49.45 to 28:51.55. It's rare to see a runner from outside the Tokyo-area Kanto Region who can compete with Hakone Ekiden schools, but the Osaka-area Kameda did exactly that. Beating the course record breaker of the most competitive stage on Hakone Day 2, a key player in his team's overall victory this year, was worth bonus points for style.

In other track finals on the meet's opening day, Shizuho Moriyama (Fukuoka Univ.) won the women's 400 m final in 53.62 by 0.03 over Marin Adachi (Sonoda Gakuen Joshi Univ.), with Joseph Nakajima (Toyo Univ.) winning the men's 400 m in 46.18. Yusuke Oyoshi (Teikyo Univ.) took the men's 3000 mSC in 8:41.45 thanks in part to NR holder Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.) having opted for the Diamond League final instead.

On the field, the biggest news was in the women's long jump, where U20 NR holder Ayaka Kora (Tsukuba Univ.) jumped 6.50 m +0.7 for the win, breaking the 6.46 m meet record set in 1987 by Minako Isogai. The meet record also went in the women's hammer throw, where first-year Raika Murakami (Kyushu Kyoritsu) cleared the old record by 2 cm to win in 62.72 m. Eri Furubayashi (Sonoda Gakuen Joshi Univ.) won the women's pole vault, at 4.10 m the only athlete to go over 4 m.

Tatsuto Nakagawa (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) came tantalizingly close to men's hammer throw NR holder Koji Murofushi's 71.84 m meet record from 1996, throwing 71.39 m on his fifth attempt. Nakagawa was over 71 m on his last attempt too, but his fifth throw ended up the one that got him the win. His teammate Rin Suzuki won the men's javelin throw in 72.15 m by just 8 cm over Suguru Fukuoka (Juntendo Univ.). Sota Ishimaru (Juntendo Univ.) won the men's pole vault, clearing 5.40 m on his third attempt. Yuto Adachi (Fukuoka Univ.) took the men's long jump with a second jump of 7.68 m +0.3.

Complete results are here. The National University Track and Field Championships continue through Sunday in Kyoto.

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