Kiplangat Wins Corporate 10000 m Title in 27:27.10, 110mH NR Holder Izumiya Wins Long Jump at 8.10 m - National Corporate Championships Day 2 Highlights

 

Summer seemed to finally break right on the autumnal equinox, just in time for the second day of the 2023 National Corporate Track and Field Championships in Gifu. Things kicked off with the women's 10000 m race walk, where Kaori Kawazoe (SDF Academy) took the national title in a leisurely 48:26.31 by 8 seconds over Nami Kumagai (Sekisho).

The men's 10000 mRW didn't happen for another 7 hours, but it saw MR holder Koki Ikeda (Asahi Kasei) take the win in 38:46.81 with Ryo Hamanishi (Sunbelx) 8 seconds behind. WR holder Eiki Takahashi (Fujitsu) was 6th in 41:56.86, with Daisuke Matsunaga (Fujitsu) 8th in 42:50.60 in his final race before retiring and becoming an assistant coach at Toyo University.

The men's 100 m heats saw some of the aging greats of Japanese men's sprinting back in action after sitting on the bench while younger talent represented in Budapest last month. NR holder Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) won H1 in 10.26 (+2.4), 2010 World U20 Championships 200 m gold medalist Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) H2 in 10.08 (+3.2), former NR holder Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) H3 in 10.20 (+0.7) and new blood Hiroaki Yabashi (Rikugido) H4 in 10.31 (+0.3) after fast-starting 4x100 m national team regular Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) false started. Both Iizuka and Kiryu sat out the final, where Akihiro Higashida (Sekisho) outran Yamagata 10.16 (-0.0) to 10.28 for the win.

A solid field led by NR holder Kazuki Kawamura (Toenec) was assembled in the men's 1500 m final, but most looked tired and ready for some time off. After most of the favorites faded in the 2nd half the win went to Yudai Noguchi (Toenec) in 3:43.16, with Yuki Yamasaki (Kagotani) 2nd in 3:43.63 and Hideto Kosode (Honda) 3rd in 3:44.32. Kawamura faded to 10th in 3:51.42.

Haruna Kuboyama (Imamura Byoin) claimed the women's 400 m title in 53.24, with the men's title going to Takuho Yoshizu (GK Line) in 46.84 and the para women's 400 m to T47 class NR holder Sae Tsuji (Nittai Univ.) in 59.73.

In one of the more welcome sights so far at Corporate Nationals, women's 100 m MR holder Mei Kodama (Mizuno) returned from a long injury to win the final in 11.50 (+0.4). T64 class AR holder Saki Takakuwa (NTT Higashi Nihon) took the para women's 100 m in 13.93 (+1.0), with T20 class NR holder Daigo Usuki (KAC) the para men's 100 m in 10.91 (+0.8). 77 Ginko scored the win by over a second in the women's 4x100 m in 46.22, Tokyo Gas Ecomo taking the men's race in 39.69.

In the 3000 mSC, Manami Nishiyama (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) won a relatively slow women's race in 10:04.15 as favorite Yuno Yamanaka (Ehime Ginko) sat it out. Philemon Kiplagat (Aisan Kogyo) took the men's race with easy in 8:36.47, top-ranked Japanese entrant Taisei Ogino (Asahi Kasei) only 9th in 9:15.81.

In the men's 10000 m fast heat, #2-ranked Benson Kiplagat (Subaru) broke free from the main pack and opened a lead of around 50 m only to get caught in the last 100 m by #1-ranked Emmanuel Kiplangat (Mitsubishi Juko). Kiplangat won in 27:27.10, with Kiplagat just holding on to 2nd in 27:28.59 over Kiprono Sitonik (Kurosaki Harima), 3rd in 27:29.07. The top 12 were sub-28, 11th-placer Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) the only Japanese man to do it in 27:56.20. Former NR holder Kota Murayama (GMO) and Hakone Ekiden great Vincent Yegon (Honda) both dropped out mid-race. Although conditions were relatively cool, with high humidity many of the top group of Kenyans fell to the track after finishing and lay on their backs to recover.

Mizuki Higashi (Aisan Kogyo) won the B-heat in 28:29.83 in his final tune-up for next month's Chicago Marathon. Post-race he told JRN, "I'm feeling good and training has been going great. Looking forward to Chicago!"

On the field, the biggest news came in the men's long jump, where 110mH co-NR holder Shunsuke Izumiya (Sumitomo Denko) dropped a very respectable 8.10 (-0.4) PB on his first and only attempt, good enough for the win and for the #3 spot on the Japanese charts this year. Women's LJ winner Nagisa Yamamoto (Hasegawa TC) jumped 6.16 m twice and was given the title over Maya Takeuchi (Mizuno), who dropped a 6.16 m (-0.5) on her final attempt after a 4th-round 6.08 m (-0.5).

Shingo Sawa (Kiraboshi Ginko) took the men's pole vault with a 2nd-attempt clearance of 5.50 m. At the opposite end of the field, 2022 national champion Masaki Ejima (Fujitsu) made the first step in a comeback from injury, tying for last of 18 with a mark of 4.80 m. Misaki Morota (Art Home) won the women's title after making 4.20 m on her first attempt.

Throwing in her secondary event, Nanaka Kori (Niigata Albirex RC) won the women's shot put with a final attempt of 15.50 m. Hitoshi Okumura (Senko) took the men's title at 17.81 m by 5 cm over Shinichi Yukinaga (Shikoku Daishoku). Yuka Sato (Nikonikonori) cleared 60 m on her final attempt to win the women's javelin throw at 60.12 m. Yuta Sakiyama (Ehime T&F Assoc.) took the men's title with a 78.59 throw, favorite Roderick Genki Dean (Mizuno) only 4th at 74.83 m.

Complete results here. The National Corporate Championships wrap up Sunday.

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved