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Nagahara Breaks Steeplechase High School NR at National High School Championships

Following yesterday's mishap in the opening heats, Soma Nagahara (Saku Chosei H.S.) delivered the performance of this year's National High School Track and Field Championships. Straight to the front form the guy, Nagahara broke 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura's high school NR by over 7 seconds to win the national title in 8:32.12. Still a senior in high school, that time was also good enough to rank him at all-time #3 on the Japanese U20 lists and #3 in the world this year among U20 athletes.

And it wasn't just him. The race as a whole was the best high school steeple ever, with 2nd-placer Zen Kuroda (Tamano Konan H.S.) running 8:40.71 for #4 on the high school all-time lists, 3rd-placer Taisei Endo (Saku Chosei H.S.) 8:45.47 for #6, and 4th-placer Oju Tsujimoto (Hamamatsu Kaiseizan H.S.) 8:46.85 for #8. By comparison, the American H.S. NR for the 3000 mSC is 8:47.04. Still in college, Miura really looks to have opened the door for other Japanese athletes to take the steeplechase seriously. There's more to come, for sure.

The dominant high schooler of her class, Caroline Kariba (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) turned in another big run in the women's 3000 m, breaking the high school championships meet record in 8:43.09 to win by almost 12 seconds over Rose Wangui (Sera H.S.). 3rd and 4th-placers Lucy Nduta (Aomori Yamada H.S.) and Jecinta Nyokabi (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) were both under 9 minutes, with Nozomi Kondo (Tokaidai Sagami H.S.) taking the top Japanese spot at 5th in 9:09.51.

Another meet record came in the women's triple jump. Already leading after a 12.55 m +0.4 m/s 2nd attempt and turning in 4th and 5th jumps that at least equalled the best anyone in the field could deliver, Yura Taguchi (Kokusai Gakuin H.S.) brought her best on her final attempt, jumping 12.85 m +0.2 m/s for the MR and the national title. Complete results are available here. 

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Bruce said…
Full meet results in English available at https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/514398/results.
August 8, 2023 at 3:47 PM
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