Skip to main content

National High School Championships Day 6 Highlights

The star of the 2nd-to-last day of the 2026 National High School Championships was Niko Nozawa (Kofu Minami H.S.). Already all-time #7 on the Japanese high school girls' triple jump lists, on her 5th attempt Nozawa equalled her PB with a 12.88 m (+1.2) jump. That was enough to get both the win and a new meet record, the third event so far to see a new MR at this year's championships.

Takara Ogaki (Atsuma H.S.) took the boys' discus throw at 52.24 m, with the 800 m titles going to Hitomi Imaeda (Chukyodai Chukyo H.S.) in the girls' race in 2:06.74 and Reki Soda (Sapporo Nichidai H.S.) in 1:50.20 in the boys' race. In relays, Chiba teams dominated the 4x100 m. Shiritsu Kashiwa H.S. edged Shiritsu Funabashi H.S. 45.41 to 45.64 to win the girls' race, but the Shiritsu Funabashi boys went one better with a win over Kyoto powerhouse Rakunan H.S. 39.60 to 39.72.

The National High School Championships wrap up Wednesday.

National High School Championships

Day 6 Highlights
Otsu, Shiga, 4 August 2026

1. Hitomi Imaeda (Chukyodai Chukyo H.S.) - 2:06.74
2. Nanami Oide (Tokaidai Sagami H.S.) - 2:07.55
3. Haru Azuma (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 2:07.70
4. Miharu Tsutsumi (Niigata Daiichi H.S.) - 2:07.76
5. Nora Jerotich (Sera H.S.) - 2:08.09
6. Miina Araki (Kagoshima H.S.) - 2:08.11
7. Minami Sugano (Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.) - 2:08.18
8. Ema Gendai (Niihama Higashi H.S.) - 2:08.66

1. Reki Soda (Sapporo Nichidai H.S.) - 1:50.20
2. Kazuki Yamada (Obihiro Hakuyo H.S.) - 1:51.27
3. Yuma Tanaka (Rakunan H.S.) - 1:51.32
4. Aren Nakamura (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) - 1:51.60
5. Akira Kamiya (Hamamatsu Kita H.S.) - 1:51.94
6. Ren Namiki (Maioka H.S.) - 1:52.47
7. Ran Ota (Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin H.S.) - 1:52.92
8. Rion Sorimachi (Kendai Takasaki H.S.) - 1:53.49

1. Shiritsu Kashiwa H.S. - 45.41
2. Shiritsu Funabashi H.S. - 45.64
3. Tokaidai Sagami H.S. - 45.75
4. Chukyodai Chukyo H.S. - 45.87
5. Asahikawa Shiho H.S. - 46.12
6. Tokyo H.S. - 46.17
7. Oita Oginodai H.S. - 46.20
8. Niigata Meikun H.S. - 46.56

1. Shiritsu Funabashi H.S. - 39.60
2. Rakunan H.S. - 39.72
3. Hirosaki Jitsugyo H.S. - 40.18
4. Kyusandai Kyusan H.S. - 40.54
5. Taisha H.S. - 40.54
6. Tokaidai Shoyo H.S. - 40.55
7. Nagoya Otani H.S. - 40.56
8. Kandai Hokuyo H.S. - 40.71

1. Niko Nozawa (Kofu Minami H.S.) - 12.88 m (+1.2) - MR
2. Yumeno Yoshioka (Naruto Uzushio H.S.) - 12.68 m (+1.5)
3. Miyu Onishi (Niihama Higashi H.S.) - 12.60 m (+1.5)

1. Takara Ogaki (Atsuma H.S.) - 52.24 m
2. Peter Chand (Bando Seifu H.S.) - 49.18 m
3. Minami Sato (Gifu Shogyo H.S.) - 49.13 m

© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Waseda Leads Top 7 Teams Under Izumo Ekiden CR, Ivy League Best-Ever 3rd (updated)

3rd last year, Waseda University scored its first Izumo Ekiden win since 2010, taking almost 2 minutes off the CR and leading the top 7 teams under the old record of 2:07:51 for the complete 6-stage, 45.1 km course. Waseda was 16 seconds back in 7th after the First Stage, but its 2nd runner Ojiro Honda made that up easily and put them 6 seconds out front. A massive 22:56 CR for the 8.5 km Third Stage by Shadrack Kipkemei (Nihon Univ.) dropped Waseda back to 2nd even though its runner Ryuki Suzuki broke the old CR too, but back-to-back CR on the next 2 stages by 1st-year Haruki Niizuma and Shunpei Yamaguchi put anchor Shinsaku Kudo out of reach of the rest of the field. Kudo duly won the 10.2 km anchor stage in 29:00, bypassing a 2:06 time entirely for a new 2:05:56 CR, just under 2:48/km average pace for the complete course. Defending champ Koku Gakuin University struggled a bit in the first half of the race but came on strong in the longer second half with 4th and 5th runners...

Kipyegon Repeats, Toyo Wins Hakone Ekiden Qualifier in First Appearance in 21 Years

Back for the first time in 21 years after a disastrous 14th-place finish at the 102nd Hakone Ekiden this past January, Toyo University hit one out of western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park with a solid win at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai, the half marathon that serves as the official qualifying race for the 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The top 10 teams in the Hakone auto-qualify for the following year, with the rest having to run the Yosenkai in October with a squad of 10 to 16 runners out of which the top 10 score on aggregate time, with the 10 fastest schools joining the Hakone field and top individuals from non-qualifying teams names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team to make up the complete Hakone field of 21. Driven in large part by an aggressive run from 3rd-year Yu Miyazaki , one of only 2 Japanese athletes to go with the big African contingent up front, Toyo won in 10:31:30, 1:03:09 or 2:59.6/km per athlete. As the first team to have broken the 3:00/km average pace barrie...

Ngetich and Mutiso Take Down Tokyo Legacy Half CR

In its 5th edition the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon scored 2 new course records via Kenyans from the Ikaika agency, with 10 km WR holder Agnes Ngetich blasting 3 minutes off the old record to win by over 4 in 1:04:23, and Alexander Mutiso skimming just 1 second under the CR for the win by 5 seconds in 59:51. The 2 races played out completely differently, even if the paydays were the same for the winners. Surrounded by an envelope of male runners all the way to the final 100 m, Ngetich was out hard on the downhill in the first 5 km, hitting it on sub-64 pace in 15:08 before leveling out on the flat middle 10 km. Her next 2 splits projected to 1:04:09 and 1:04:17, and even with the uphill back to the stadium in the last 5 km she didn't fall far off from that, winning in 1:04:23. Runner-up Tabitha Njeri Kamau was nearly a mile back in 1:08:28, with Kamau's Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo teammate Kazuna Kanetomo dropping a 1:10:17 PB for 3rd. Now an independent, track Olympian Kaede Ha...