Skip to main content

Sasaki Runs 8:39.15 at Hokushinetsu, 2nd-Fastest High School 3000 mSC Ever


On the final day of the Hokushinetsu Region National High School Championships qualifier Sunday at Niigata's Denka Big Swan Stadium, Saku Chosei H.S. 3rd-year Tetsu Sasaki won the boys' 3000 m steeplechase in 8:39.15, the 2nd-fastest time ever by a Japanese-born high schooler.

A day earlier Sasaki had run 9:06.93 in his qualifying heat. In the final he was out fast from the gun, but although he missed both the high school record of 8:32.12 set by Saku Chosei teammate Soma Nagahara and Nagahara's 8:36.06 meet record at last year's Hokushinetsu Regionals, Sasaki's time took over 10 seconds off the 8:50.04 PB he set at May's Nagano Prefecture High School Championships, the race in the video above. It also made him the fourth Japanese-born high schooler to break 8:40 in the 3000 mSC, just bettering the former high school record of 8:39.37 set by Tokyo Olympics 7th-placer and future national record holder Ryuji Miura.

Born in Aichi, Sasaki joined the TSM club team when he was in elementary school. At the 2018 National Elementary School Meet he competed in the high jump. At Aichi Kodai Leiden J.H.S. he took 2nd in the 3000 m at the National Junior High School Championships. Last year at the National High School Championships he was 8th in the 3000 mSC, and at December's National High School Ekiden he broke the 51-year-old Fifth Leg course record, running 8:14 for 3 km and playing a key role in Saku Chosei winning for the first time in six years.

3000 mSC High School All-Time Top 10

1. 8:32.12 - Soma Nagahara (3rd yr., Saku Chosei H.S., Nagano) Aug. 6, 2023
2. 8:39.15 - Tetsu Sasaki (3rd yr., Saku Chosei H.S., Nagano) June 16, 2024
3. 8:39.37 - Ryuji Miura (3rd yr., Rakunan H.S., Kyoto) June 27, 2019
4. 8:39.79 - Asahi Kuroda (3rd yr., Tamano Konan H.S., Okayama) June 26, 2021
5. 8:40.71 - Zen Kuroda (3rd yr., Tamano Konan H.S., Okayama) Aug. 6, 2023
6. 8:44.77 - Seiji Kushibe (3rd yr., Ube Kojo H.S., Yamaguchi) Sept. 16, 1989
7. 8:45.47 - Taisei Endo (3rd yr., Saku Chosei H.S., Nagano) Aug. 6, 2023
8. 8:45.66 - Kazuya Shiojiri (3rd yr., Isesaki Seimei H.S., Gunma) July 27, 2014
9. 8:46.85 - Oju Tsujimoto (3rd yr., Hamamatsu Kaiseikan H.S., Shizuoka) Aug. 6, 2023
10. 8:46.86 - Masataka Inaka (3rd yr., Yonago Shogyo H.S., Tottori) Oct. 1, 1998

Translator's note: For comparison, the U.S.A. high school boys' record for 3000 mSC is 8:47.04 by Bailey Roth of Coronado H.S. at the 2014 World Junior Championships.

source article:

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...
1 comment
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview

The Nagoya Women's Marathon , the world's largest women-only marathon and the last race in the selection cycle for September's Tokyo World Championships, happens Sunday. Weather conditions are looking better than what they had in Tokyo and Osaka the last two weekends, 7Ëš at the start and rising to 12Ëš with sunny skies. The wind looks a bit stronger than ideal, but it could be worse. Fuji TV has the live broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. Sunday local time, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch the TVer streaming . One option for  a leaderboard is here , and another here . We'll have some coverage on @JRNLive . Just like last time around there are three Ethiopian and Kenyan-born athletes at the top list, this time it being sub-2:20 women Sheila Chepkirui , winner in NYC last year, and Ruti Aga , winner in Xiamen in January, and last year's Nagoya runner-up Eunice Chebichii Chumba . But last year Yuka Ando still pulled off the win, so there's a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...
1 comment
Read more