Skip to main content

Yuya Sawada Passes English Test, Plans to Move to Louisiana State in Summer


6th in the 1500 m at the last World U20 Championships, Yuya Sawada of Hamamatsu Shiritsu H.S. has achieved the required score on the English test needed for her to enter Louisiana State University.

Sawada was 5th in the 1500 m at the National Junior High School Championships her 3rd year at Hosoe J.H.S. while still a member of the school's basketball team. She started running seriously in 2021 during her first year of high school and made it to the National High School Championships in the 3000 m that year. Her second year she made the 1500 m final at the National Track and Field Championships, placing 10th, then went on to take 6th at the Cali World U20 Championships in Colombia in 4:12.87, the 2nd-fastest time ever by a high schooler.

Selected as an athlete with international potential, Sawada was later named to the JAAF's Diamond Athlete support program, receiving education in areas like leadership and English. Her performance at the World U20 Championships attracted the attention of several overseas university coaches, and she received multiple offers. After visiting universities both in Japan and overseas she decided on Louisiana State. She plans to move to the U.S. for school this summer and will stay in her hometown in Shizuoka until then to keep training at Hamamatsu Shiritsu in prep for competitions like June's National Championships.

Located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the prestigious Louisiana State University was founded in 1860. Known as the "Fighting Tigers," its track and field program is one of the best in the United States, competing in the NCAA Division 1. Graduates include men's pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden, and high jumper/long jumper JaVaughn Harrison is a standout among current students. Along with four national titles in American football, LSU is also strong in both baseball and basketball. NBA star Shaquille O'Neal is one of its most famous alumni.

source article:

Labels:

Comments

Stefan said…
For someone relatively new to the sport and so young, posting a 4:12:87 in the 1500m is impressive. I hope Yuya Sawada finds a good fit at Louisiana State University.

Tomoka Kiumura ran 4:16:69 at the Canberra Classic in Australia the other day. Ran Urabe 4:24.64 and Saki Katagihara 4:38.06. Sawada would have won the race with that time!

https://meets.rosterathletics.com/public/competitions/details/results?id=24437&meId=175573#title-anchor
March 7, 2024 at 3:42 AM
Dave in Denver said…
Don't forget 100m world champion Sha'Carri Richardson!
March 7, 2024 at 7:06 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

World Marathon Majors Japanese Entries

We're back from a short summer break. A week and a half out from the first race of the season's four World Marathon Majors races, here's a look at Japanese athletes scheduled to run. Everything right now is about qualifying for the MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to be held in the fall of 2027 in Nagoya. The JAAF makes no mistake about wanting to keep its top people racing domestically where it can get a share of revenue from the TV broadcast and race operations, so anyone who decides to race overseas has to do it in a WA platinum label race and hit either 2:06:30 or 2:23:30, regardless of place, course or weather if they want to make the trials. At the same time concessions are make for domestic races, like for example the late-August Hokkaido Marathon where up to 3 men and 3 women can qualify if they go 2:12:00 or 2:32:00. As a result, you get things like last year where amateur runner Yudai Fukuda made the trials by finishing 3rd Jap...
1 comment
Read more

Nakajima Breaks 100 mH NR Twice, Kitaguchi Returns - August Track Roundup

Catching up on what's been happening in track and field this month during our summer break: Men's 3000 m NR holder Nagiya Mori was just off his 5000 m PB at the IFAM Oordegem meet in Belgium on Aug. 1, taking 16th in 13:15.01. Shota Nakano was 26th of 28 in 13:35.02. This year's national champion Ryoma Aoki ran the 3000 mSC but didn't finish. Naoto Hasegawa was the only Japanese athlete at Mutaz Essa Barshim 's What Gravity Tour stop at the Monaco Athletics Festival meet on Aug. 5. Having cleared 2.30 m for the first time earlier this year Hasegawa only managed 2.18 m in Monaco, taking 7th of 10. There were a lot of good performances at the Fuji Hokuriku World Trial meet in Fujiyoshida on Aug. 9, but the one that got the headlines was a 12.62 (-0.2) NR in the women's 100 mH by Hitomi Nakajima . Nakajima actually did it twice, running 12.62 (+2.0) in the heats before repeating in the final. Masumi Aoki also ran big in the heats, with a 12.68 (+2.0) for al...
1 comment
Read more

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more