Regional corporate league track and field championship meets are split between two weekends, with this weekend seeing meets in the Kansai, Chubu and Chugoku regions.
© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
At the 67th Kansai Region Corporate Track and Field Championships in Naruto, Tokushima, Yuki Ishii (NTT Nishi Nihon) and Sodai Shimizu (Otsuka Seiyaku) both went under the men's 5000 m meet record from 2007, Ishii getting the win in a new MR of 13:36.94 and Shimizu 2nd in 13:38.96. Takuya Kitasaki (NTT Nishi Nihon) took the men's 10000 m in 28:42.99 and Tomohiro Chimori (Otsuka Seiyaku) the men's 1500 m in 3:46.43. Yuta Koga (Otsuka Seiyaku) broke his own MR in the men's 5000 m RW, going over 19 seconds under his record from last year to win in 18:55.71.
Marathoner Yuka Ando (Wacoal) and steepler Yuno Yamanaka (Ehime Ginko) went 1-2 in both the women's 10000 m and 5000 m, Ando running 32:53.12 to win the 10000 m on Friday and 15:44.99 to take the 5000 m on Sunday, and Yamanaka 32:56.28 and 15:48.65 for 2nd in both. Yamanaka also ran the 1500 m on Saturday, running 4:23.22 for 4th behind winner Jerusha Yuri Mayaka (Otsuka Seiyaku), 4:20.63 for the win. Complete video of all three days of the meet is on the KJR Youtube channel.
At the 67th Chubu Region Track and Field Championships in Gifu, men's 1500 m NR holder Kazuki Kawamura (Toenec) won the 1500 m final in an easy 3:47.36, on Saturday, then was back Sunday to win the open men's 5000 m in 13:45.18. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) won the competitive men's 5000 m in a new MR of 13:29.24, with Tomoki Ota (Toyota) running the fastest Japanese time at 13:38.77. The top four went under 28 minutes in the men's 10000 m, Joseph Karanja (Aichi Seiko) getting the win in 27:47.35.
Akane Yabushita (Toyota Jidoshokki) duplicated Yamanaka's triple on an even more limited time scale, winning the women's 1500 m in 4:18.93 at 17:00 Saturday, then the 10000 m 20 minutes later in 34:19.19. Sunday she was back for the 5000 m where she was the top Japanese finisher at 3rd in 15:52.58. Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) won in 15:32.87, Desta Burka (Denso) taking 2nd in 15:38.92.
In other events, Taiji Hongo (Onotech) and Yoshikazu Sakakura (TGK) both broke the men's 100 m MR, Hongo clocking 10.37 (-0.1) in the semifinals and Sakakura 10.37 (+1.3) to win the final. Masateru Yugami (Toyota) broke his own MR in the men's discus throw by almost two meters, throwing 58.76 m on his third attempt. Akane Minamisawa (Matsumoto Doken) set a MR of 58.97 to win the women's 400 mH. Complete video of both days of the meet is on the CJR Youtube channel.
The 62nd Chugoku Region Corporate Track and Field Championships are split between this weekend and next, with the men's 10000 m and women's 5000 m having happened Saturday and everything else scheduled for next weekend. Both graduates of local ekiden superpower Sera High School, Cosmas Mwangi (Chugoku Denryoku) won the men's 10000 m in 28:18.26, with Rebecca Mwangi (Daiso) taking the women's 5000 m in 15:24.28.
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