Muratake Ties 110mH NR in 13.04, Fukuda Breaks Murofushi's Hammer MR - National University Track and Field Championships Day 3 Highlights

Early season injuries might have kept him home from Budapest, but Rachid Muratake (Juntendo University) showed he's more than just back with the performance of the meet on day 3 of the National University Track and Field Championships in Kumagaya, Saitama. After leading the men's 110 mH heats with a conservative 13.52 (+1.5) and the semifinals with an even more conservative 13.71 (-1.0), Muratake blazed a 13.04 (-0.9) to win the final. That took 0.25 off former Juntendo teammate Shunsuke Izumiya's meet record, 0.02 off Izumiya's collegiate record, and tied the national record Izumiya set earlier this year as a pro. It also put Muratake alongside Izumiya in the top 10 worldwide this year, no small feat while still in college. 2nd-placer Ryota Machi (Kokusai Budo Univ.) was a distant afterthought at 13.72.

In the men's hammer throw Shota Fukuda (Nihon Univ.) did the nearly impossible, breaking the great Koji Murofushi's 1996 meet record 71.84 m with a 5th-round throw of 72.01 m. And he wasn't the only one to get close, as Kohei Oda (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.), the leader before Fukuda's mighty mark, summoned up a 70.39 m on his last throw, just 10 cm short of his PB. Koshin Yamakawa (Chukyo Univ.) was far back in 3rd at 66.79 m.

Collegiate record holder Raika Murakami (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) also broke the MR in the women's hammer throw, adding 1.31 m to the mark she set last year to win with a 2nd attempt of 64.03 m. As in the women's shot put it was a Kyushu Kyoritsu University sweep of the podium, with Remi Katsuya taking 2nd at 59.18 m on her final attempt and Ririka Okumura 3rd with an opening throw of 58.45 m.

In other track finals:

• The top 3 in the women's 100 mH final also gave the 13.25 MR a pretty good shot, Mao Shimano (Nittai Univ.) getting the win in 13.31, Sayuri Nagasaki (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) 2nd in 13.32 and Kiyono Tanaka (Surugadai Univ.) 3rd in 13.32.
• This year's World University Games women's 5000 m bronze medalist Risa Yamazaki (Nittai Univ.) unexpectedly beat favorite Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) to win the 5000 m title. From early on it shook down to just Wanjiru and Yamazaki, but with conditions reported at 32˚ and 66% humidity Wanjiru started to show signs of fatigue from her 10000 m win on Thursday and couldn't respond when Yamazaki started to pick up the pace over the last 2000 m. Yamazaki took 1st in 15:47.16, Wanjiru next in 15:54.63 with her Daito Bunka teammate Mariya Noda close behind in 3rd in 15:58.49. National champion Meijo University was a non-factor again, Asuka Ishimatsu and Naru Yabutani 14th and 15th in 16:37.84 and 16:43.08, and star Nanaka Yonezawa a DNS.
• Kenyans took the top 3 spots in the men's 5000 m, Kamina Leakey (Soka Univ.) getting the win in 13:52.16, Godfrey Musanga (Surugadai Univ.) 2nd in 13:53.84 and Silas Chebotibin (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) 3rd in 13:56.84. H.S. NR holder Hiroto Yoshioka (Juntendo Univ.) was the top Japanese man at 4th in 14:00.43.
• Kazuhiro Tateiwa (Juntendo Univ.) won a back-and-forth battle over the last lap against Kento Yoshikawa (Tokyo Gakugei Univ.) to win the men's 10000 m race walk 41:36.43 to 41:42.60. Rhihito Ishida (Toyo Univ.) took 3rd in 42:05.93, carrying on Toyo's legacy in this event.
• After struggling a bit on the first day of the decathlon, joint favorite Masayuki Maekawa (Chukyo Univ.) was solid through most of day two, pulling into the lead after throwing 61.71 m in the javelin throw and holding off Tetta Miura (Nihon Univ.) with a 4:46.09 1500 m to take the win with 7189 points to Miura's 7110. Renjiro Tanaka (Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.) was 3rd in 7055, with the other pre-meet favorite, Ririki Kawamoto (Ritsumeikan Univ.) last with only 4335 points after DNFing in the 400 m and 110 mH and recording a NM in the pole vault.

In field events:

• Yaya Hosoda (Nittai Univ.) won the women's high jump with a first-attempt clearance of 1.76 m.
• Manato Miyao (Toyo Univ.) took the men's triple jump title with a 15.83 m (+0.1) jump on his 4th attempt, beating Kosuke Tanaka (Juntendo Univ.) by just 1 cm.
• Miu Kimura (Shikoku Univ.) won the women's long jump at 6.10 m (+0.7) on her 2nd attempt, her 4th attempt of 6.08 m (+0.8) also good enough to have won it.
• Just 2 points separated Shiina Maeda (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) and Misaki Matsushita (Chuo Univ.) at the end of the first day of the women's heptathlon, Maeda standing at 3180 points and Matsushita at 3178. Kaede Okuma (Tokyo Joshi Taiiku Univ.) and Momoko Ito (Tokyo Gakugei Univ.) were both over 3100 points too, making for a close second day of competition.

In qualifying rounds:

• Ai Watanabe (Sonoda Gakuen Joshi Univ.). led the women's 800 m heats in 2:08.25, one of five women to go under 2:09, and the semifinals in 2:07.33, one of five women under 2:08.
• Mikuto Kaneko (Chuo Univ.) led the men's 800 m heats, barely, in 1:50.51, with Soshiro Yamada and Koki Hiramoto (Tsukuba Univ.) both under 1:50.60. All three crapped out in the semifinals, though, and failed to advance to the final. SF1 winner Mahiro Hashimoto (Kinki Univ.) was the only man under 1:50 in semis, clocking 1:49.35.
• Budapest team member Ai Yamamoto (Ritsumeikan Univ.) was the class of the women's 400 mH semifinals, the fastest qualifier for the final at 58.01 with nearest competition Rui Tsugawa (Waseda Univ.) clocking 58.19.
• Masaki Kanemoto (Waseda Univ.) and Ken Toyoda (Keio Univ.) were very close in the men's 400 mH semifinals, Kanemoto taking SF3 in 49.04 and Toyoda 2nd in 49.09. The meet record dating back to 2005 is only 48.35.
• Miharu Tajima (Fukuoka Univ.) led the first round of women's 200 m heats with a 24.11 (+1.3) to win Heat 1. Fukuoka runner also took the 2nd and 3rd heats, with 4x100 m winner Konan University splitting it with them and taking heats 4-6.
• Shoto Uno (Juntendo Univ.) led the men's 200 m heats in 20.85, with 5 of the 8 heats won with sub-21 times.
• Waseda University led the women's 4x400 m qualification round in 3:39.48, with the 3:37.30 MR dating back to 2004.
• With a 3:04.32 MR in the men's 4x400 m, record holder Nihon University led the qualifiers in 3:05.37. Waseda was close behind in 3:05.73, with Tsukuba University clocking 3:06.07, Josai University 3:06.34, Toyo University 3:06.39, and Fukuoka University 3:06.68.

Complete results here. The National University Track and Field Championships continue through Sunday in Kumagaya, Saitama.

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