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Men's 800 m NR and 2 H.S. Records Cap National High School Track and Field Championships Highlights


The new Japanese men's 800 m NR of 1:44.80 by Ko Ochiai (Shiga Gakuen H.S.) and winning solo 2:00.81 meet record by Rin Kubo (Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S.) were the big stories at this year's National High School Track and Field Championships in Fukuoka, but there were a lot of other good results across the meet's five days.
  • Jeremy Koga (Tokyo H.S.) set a new high school NR and meet record in the 110 m hurdles, winning the final in 13.59 (-0.7) after breaking them in the semifinals in 13.67 (-0.9). 2nd-placer Koki Takajo (Miyazaki Nishi H.S.) was also under the old records in 13.68.
  • Another high school NR and meet record went down in the boys' high jump, where Kaisei Nakatani (Fukuoka Daiichi H.S.) cleared 2.24 m on his 2nd attempt. That beat future NR holder Naoto Tobe's previous H.S. NR of 2.23 set back in 2009.
  • Kei Wakana (Sano H.S.) broke the boys' 200 m meet record, running 20.61 (+0.1) to win the final. Manaka Matsui (Otsuka H.S.) took the girls' pole vault meet record, clearing 4.05 m on her 2nd attempt and walking away as the only athlete to go higher than 3.80 m. Kyo Kikuta (Hosei Ni H.S.) tied the boys' 400 m hurdles meet record in 50.14 to win the final.
  • The boys' 5000 m saw an amazing 10 runners break 14 minutes, led by Samuel Ngayu (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) in 13:38.84 with Rui Suzuki (Yachiyo Shoin) close behind in 13:39.85 for 2nd, breaking Keita Sato's record for fastest time ever by a Japanese-born runner at High School Nationals.
  • Kenyans Janet Jepkoech (Kurashiki H.S.), Lucy Nduta (Aomori Yamada H.S.), Rose Wangui (Sera H.S.) and Jacinta Nyokabi (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) all went under 9 minutes in the girls' 3000 m final, with Jepkoech taking 1st in 8:46.62. Jepkoech also won the 1500 m by over 5 seconds in 4:07.59.
  • Tetsu Sasaki (Saku Chosei H.S.) ran a solid 8:37.23 to win the boys' 3000 m steeplechase final by over 5 seconds after finishing 3rd in the 1500 m final in 3:46.67 behind teammate Yamato Hamaguchi, 3:43.58, and winner Felix Muthiani (Yamanashi Gakuin H.S.), 3:40.66.

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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