Skip to main content

National University Championships Day 1 Highlights


There weren't any new meet records on the opening day of this year's National University Track and Field Championships in Yokohama, but some of the favorites still turned in good performances.
  • Ranked #1 in the women's 1500 m, Airi Tajima (Juntendo Univ.) outran #3-ranked teammate Miori Kida for the win 4:14.81 to 4:17.57, with #4-ranked Mana Aiba (Daito Bunka Univ.) 3rd in 4:18.08
  • Juntendo took the top 2 spots in the men's 1500 m too, with #3-ranked Shuntaro Kawaguchi bettering #1-ranked teammate Takumi Nakagawa for the title 3:45.15 to 3:45.86. #5-ranked Soya Mizuno (Ritsumeikan Univ.) got past #2-ranked Koki Terada (Chuo Univ.) for 3rd in 3:46.00.
  • The race walks saw upset wins. Ibuki Hori (Kansai Univ.) beat #2-ranked Toko Nakajima (Waseda Univ.) by 0.47 for the women's title in 21:44.38. After opening a lead late in the race Yushi Nakajima (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) got passed by Riku Kaneko (Kokushikan Univ.) in the last 200 m and finished 2nd in the men's race in 18:14.60, only to get elevated to 1st after Kaneko was disqualified for loss of contact.
  • #2-ranked Natsuki Yano (Waseda Univ.) cleared a PB 1.84 m to win the women's high jump, the only woman to go higher than 1.78 m.
  • The top 3 in the men's pole vault all cleared 5.40 m, with Rikuya Yoshida (Kansai Univ.) getting the national title.
  • Men's long jump favorite Koki Fujihara (Toyo Univ.) opened with a solid 7.81 m (+0.3), but withdrew after a hamstring injury on his 3rd attempt. In his absence, Yukiya Onishi (Tenri Univ.) came through with a 7.91 m (+1.8) PB for the win.
  • The women's shot put and hammer throw favorites both won, Chiharu Saka (Osaka Taiiku Univ.) taking the shot put title at 15.59 m and Mimi Shimamoto (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) the hammer at 62.20 m.
  • Ranked #1 in the men's hammer throw, Kyota Takahashi (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) threw a PB 68.46 m for the win, holding off Andrew Atuobeng who likewise turned in a 67.61 m PB for 2nd. Javelin ranking #2 Hiroya Kiyokawa (Tokai Univ.) bested #1-ranked Rin Suzuki (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) by just 2 cm for the win, 75.12 m to 75.10 m.
  • The highlight of sprinting qualification was in the men's 4x100 m relay, where the winners of 3 of the 5 heats, Toyo University, Daito Bunka University, and Chuo University all went under 39 seconds, Toyo less than 0.4 off the collegiate record in 38.78 to head into Sunday's final ranked #1.
Streaming of days 2 and 3 of the National University Track and Field Championships is here.

95th National University Track and Field Championships

Day One Highlights
Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, 5 Sept. 2026

1. Airi Tajima (Juntendo Univ.) - 4:14.81
2. Miori Kida (Juntendo Univ.) - 4:17.57
3. Mana Aiba (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 4:18.08
4. Koharu Shinoda (Tsukuba Univ.) - 4:21.52
5. Yura Tanaka (Tsukuba Univ.9 - 4:21.98

1. Shuntaro Kawaguchi (Juntendo Univ.) - 3:45.15
2. Takumi Nakagawa (Juntendo Univ.) - 3:45.86
3. Soya Mizuno (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 3:46.00
4. Koki Terada (Chuo Univ.) - 3:46.20
5. Fuga Moritama (Kansai Univ.) - 3:46.88

1. Ibuki Hori (Niigata Shokuryo Nogyo Univ.) - 21:44.38
2. Toko Nakajima (Waseda Univ.) - 21:44.85
3. Suzu Okuno (Kansai Univ.) - 21:54.34
4. Harumi Tabata (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 21:58.49
5. Wakana Usami (Kanazawa Gakuin Univ.) - 22:03.01

1. Yushi Nakajima (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 18:14.60
2. Taisei Yoshizako (Tokyo Gakugei Univ.) - 18:24.06
3. Sotaro Osaka (Toyo Univ.) - 18:40.29
4. Kazuhiro Umeda (Nihon Univ.) - 18:49.23
5. Hayato Nagata (Meiji Univ.) - 18:53.49
-----
DQ - Riku Kaneko (Kokushikan Univ.)

1. Natsuki Yano (Waseda Univ.) - 1.84 m - PB
2. Sakura Maenishi (Tsukuba Univ.) - 1.78 m
3. Nako Esumi (Fukuoka Univ.) - 1.75 m

1. Rikuya Yoshida (Kansai Univ.) - 5.40 m
2. Rui Oscar Kitada (Nittai Univ.) - 5.40 m
3. Atsushi Haraguchi (Osaka Keizai Univ.) - 5.40 m

1. Yukiya Onishi (Tenri Univ.) - 7.91 m (+1.8) - PB
2. Ryosuke Moteki (Nihon Univ.) - 7.83 m (+3.2)
3. Koki Fujihara (Toyo Univ.) - 7.81 m (+0.3)

1. Chiharu Saka (Osaka Taiiku Univ.) - 15.59 m
2. Niko Murase (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 15.03 m
3. Minato Kondo (Tsukuba Univ.) - 14.63 m

1. Mimi Shimamoto (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 62.20 m
2. Miki Sawamukai (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 59.58 m
3. Ayuka Tamaki (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) - 58.77 m

1. Kyota Takahashi (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 68.46 m - PB
2. Andrew Atuobeng (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 67.61 m - PB
3. Mauna Asari (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) - 64.67 m

1. Hiroya Kiyokawa (Tokai Univ.) - 75.12 m
2. Rin Suzuki (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 75.10 m
3. Daigo Kuniyasu (Kokushikan Univ.) - 73.75 m

1. Yuto Yamamoto (Osaka Taiiku Univ.) - 3909
2. Hayato Takahashi (Juntendo Univ.) - 3858
3. Natsuki Miyauchi (Nittai Univ.) - 3816
4. Ryoki Hatori (Gunma Univ.) - 3815
5. Kiichi Miyashita (Tsukuba Univ.) - 3777

Rin Shibato (Fukuoka Univ.) - 11.58 (+1.0) - 1st, H2
Miu Kurashige (Konan Univ.) - 11.62 (+1.0) - 2nd, H2
Aiha Yamagata (Fukuoka Univ.) - 11.65 (-0.2) - 1st, H3
Risa Akizawa (Chuo Univ.) - 11.66 (+1.0) - 3rd, H2
Aoi Sato (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 11.73 (0.0) - 1st, H1
Koyuki Nagaishi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 11.74 (-0.2) - 2nd, H3
Kokoa Yamazaki ( Nittai Univ.) - 11.76 (+1.0) - 4th, H2
Kanon Ueno (Kansai Fukushi Univ.) - 11.83 (0.0) - 2nd, H1

Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.11 (+0.6) - 1st, H3
Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.12 (+1.3) - 1st, H1
Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.14 (+0.3) - 1st, H2
Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.14 (+0.3) - 2nd, H2
Yuki Kayama (Nihon Univ.) - 10.25 (+1.3) - 2nd, H1
Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.26 (+0.6) - 2nd, H3
Sora Nakamura (Toyo Univ.) - 10.26 (+1.3) - 3rd, H1
Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.28 (+1.3) - 4th, H1

Yuzuki Nakao (Sonoda Gakuen Univ.) - 54.01 - 1st, H3
Yuzuki Kojima (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 54.44 - 1st, H2
Akari Saito (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 54.56 - 2nd, H3
Shihori Sato (Juntendo Univ.) - 54.64 - 2nd, H2
Suzune Kato (Aichi Shukutoku Univ.) - 54.84 - 1st, H1
Mana Yamamoto (Waseda Univ.) - 54.84 - 3rd, H3
Arie Aoki (Nittai Univ.) - 54.87 - 4th, H3
Mizuyu Ehara (Fukuoka Univ.) - 55.09 - 2nd, H1

Sho Tanabe (Chuo Univ.) - 45.73 - 1st, H1
Yusei Tanino (Kansai Univ.) - 45.87 - 1st, H3
Kira Hirakawa (Toyo Univ.) - 45.94 - 2nd, H3
Shinya Hayashi (Tsukuba Univ.) - 46.14 - 1st, H2
Tatsuki Hashizume (Tsukuba Univ.) - 46.19 - 2nd, H1
Tsuyoshi Kobata (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - 46.26 - 2nd, H2
Kentaro Shirahata (Toyo Univ.) - 46.29 - 3rd, H2
Ryota Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 46.31 - 3rd, H1

Fukuoka University - 44.51 - 1st, H1
Aoyama Gakuin University - 44.87 - 1st, H2
Konan University - 45.16 - 1st, H4
Ritsumeikan University - 45.29 - 1st, H3
Chukyo University - 45.40 - 2nd, H1
Tokyo Joshi Taiiku University - 45.62 - 1st, H5
Nihon Joshi Taiiku University - 45.77 - 2nd, H4
Sonoda Gakuen University - 45.80 - 3rd, H4

Toyo University - 38.78 - 1st, H3
Daito Bunka University - 38.91 - 1st, H1
Chuo University - 38.95 - 1st, H4
Waseda University - 39.13 - 2nd, H3
Sendai University - 39.37 - 2nd, H4
Nihon University - 39.44 - 1st, H2
Kyoto Sangyo University - 39.45 - 1st, H5
Hosei University - 39.46 - 2nd, H5

© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Airi Tajima did very well to win back to back championships and her 1st year team-mate Miori Kida, if she maintains the momentum she has picked up this year, may very well challenge Airi's 1500m Japan University record in the next 3 years. Mana Aiba was also good in making the race pace and challenge Miori to the very last. Great livestream by the broadcaster and I have to give them high credit for the individual race clips with interviews that are uploaded and can be auto translated. Excellent service for fans of the sport.
September 6, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Kobe Marathon Elite Field

Sunday's Kobe Marathon has announced its elite fields, finally. Japanese athletes have a shot at qualifying for next fall's MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, if they go sub-2:27 for the first Japanese woman across the line or sub-2:09 for the first 3 Japanese men to do it. There aren't a lot of contenders to pull it off. On the women's side, Kaede Hagitani , Ayaka Shimoyamada and Kotomi Tsubokura all ran 2:31-32 PBs in the spring and will need to step it up a couple of notches to get there. 2:23 Kenyan Antonina Kwambai is perfectly positioned to help. On the men's side, Keijiro Mogi is closest with a 2:09:06 at last year's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Hiroto Kanamori his closest domestic competition with a 2:10:01 PB in Osaka in February. The international trio of last year's winner Barnaba Kipkoech , Elisha Rotich and Goitom Kifle all have recent 2:06-7 times and should help set it up for someone to get there, wh...
1 comment
Read more

Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite Field

Another big race on the MGC qualifying calendar has posted its elite fields, the Dec. 6 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon . At this point it's only a partial listing without the general elite field, but even so it looks like a good race for the single MGC spot up for women under 2:27, and the 6 spots for men sub-2:09. Yuka Ando is the favorite in the women's race with a 2:21:18 in Nagoya 2 years ago, with her only real competition coming from Ayumi Morita , who broke 2:27 in Hofu last year but missed qualifying by not being the first Japanese woman across the line. CR holder Workneh Derese is back after his 2:06:58 win last year, leading Kenyan veteran Bedan Karoki and 4 Japanese men with a solid chance at sub-2:09, Tatsuya Maruyama , Ryoma Takeuchi , Shuho Dairokuno and Kento Nishi . Takeuchi set his 2:08:20 PB at Gold Coast in July, and Dairokuno is fresh off a great run at the final Kyushu Corporate Ekiden. Masatoshi Sakata and Daiji Kawai have both come close to sub-2:09 in recen...
1 comment
Read more