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National University Championships Day 2 Highlights


Heavy rain through a lot of the day made for tough conditions for the 2nd day of the 95th National University Track and Field Championships in Yokohama, with more forecast for the final day on Monday. In a lot of the sprint and field events that held back the quality of the performances, but even so in 2 events athletes turned in meet record-breaking runs.

In the men's 400 m, #3-ranked Kira Hirakawa (Toyo Univ.) and collegiate record holder Shinya Hayashi (Tsukuba Univ.) pushed each other the entire way, Hirakawa dipping for the win in 45.37 and Hayashi 2nd in 45.41. Both were way under the meet record of 45.75 set by Yuki Yamaguchi back in 2004 and tied by Julian Walsh in 2018.

The other meet record came in the women's 4x100 m relay final, where MR holders Fukuoka University ran an almost identical lineup to the one that set the collegiate record of 43.91 and the MR of 44.31 last year. Rin Shibato, Mayuko Maeda and Aiha Yamagata returned from that team on the first 2 and anchor legs, with 2nd-year Rin Iseki replacing 3rd runner Rin Obayashi. Despite the rain the Fukuoka women crushed main rival Aoyama Gakuin University by over half a second, turning in a new MR of 44.19 for the win.

Other standout performances included:
  • Airi Tajima (Juntendo Univ.) doubled up on her 1500 m national title yesterday with another one in the women's 5000 m, dropping Kyo Honma (Josai Univ.) over the last lap to win 15:56.87 to 15:58.20.
  • Soka University 1st-years Bernard Kikumbi and Genta Sugano went 1-2 in the men's 5000 m, Kikumbi opening a solo lead in the 2nd half, then fighting off multiple attacks from eventual 3rd-placer Tomoya Inoue (Juntendo Univ.) to win in 13:49.84. Sugano came from behind to run Inoue down for 2nd, and got pretty close to catching Kikumbi in the last 200 m as he took 2nd in 13:50.75. It showed how hopeless distance events are for schools outside the Kanto Region that with only 5 Kanto school runners in the field of 16 Kanto took the top 4 spots.
  • National champ Manato Miyao (Toyo Univ.) won the men's triple jump on his first attempt, his 16.21 m (+1.1) enough to take it by 0.52 m over Koki Kanai (Juntendo Univ.). Other #1-ranked athletes who came through with national titles included Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) in the men's 100 m and Jeremy Koga (Juntendo Univ.) in the men's 110 mH,.
  • The Toyo University men pulled off an upset in the 4x100 m relay final to close the night, overcoming their #8 ranking to take the win in 39.04. The rain was enough of a factor in the race that 3 teams, Sendai University, Daito Bunka University and Nihon University, were DQd for missed exchanges.
The National University Track and Field Championships wrap up Monday. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. local time here.

95th National University Track and Field Championships

Day 2 Highlights
Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, 6 September 2026

1. Rin Shibato (Fukuoka Univ.) - 11.78
2. Miu Kurashige (Konan Univ.) - 11.81
3. Koyuki Nagaishi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 11.82
4. Aoi Sato (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 11.88
4. Risa Akizawa (Chuo Univ.) - 11.88
6. Aiha Yamagata (Fukuoka Univ.) - 11.94
7. Kanon Ueno (Kansai Fukushi Univ.) - 12.01
8. Kokoa Yamazaki (Nittai Univ.) - 12.04

1. Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.22
2. Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.35
3. Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.41
4. Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.42
5. Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.47
6. Sora Nakamura (Toyo Univ.) - 10.49
7. Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.51
8. Yuki Kayama (Nihon Univ.) - 10.62

1. Yuzuki Nakao (Sonoda Gakuen Univ.) - 53.80
2. Shihori Sato (Juntendo Univ.) - 54.40
3. Yuzuki Kojima (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 54.42
4. Akari Saito (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 55.35
5. Suzune Kato (Aichi Shukutoku Univ.) - 55.36
6. Mizuyu Ehara (Fukuoka Univ.) - 55.53
7. Mana Yamamoto (Waseda Univ.) - 56.06
-----
DNS - Arie Aoki (Nittai Univ.)

1. Kira Hirakawa (Toyo Univ.) - 45.37 - MR
2. Shinya Hayashi (Tsukuba Univ.) - 45.41 (MR)
3. Yusei Tanino (Kansai Univ.) - 46.03
4. Kentaro Shirahata (Toyo Univ.) - 46.20
5. Tatsuki Hashizume (Tsukuba Univ.) - 46.45
6. Sho Tanabe (Chuo Univ.) - 46.46
7. Ryota Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 46.54
8. Tsuyoshi Kobata (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - 47.36

1. Airi Tajima (Juntendo Univ.) - 15:56.87
2. Kyo Honma (Josai Univ.) - 15:58.20
3. Mariya Noda (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 16:02.92
4. Shiori Ishigami (Juntendo Univ.) - 16:03.54
5. Rinon Akitake (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 16:04.88
6. Haruka Ogawa (Rikkyo Univ.) - 16:05.62
7. Kaede Rikimaru (Meijo Univ.) - 16:05.94
8. Koharu Takeda (Chuo Univ.) - 16:06.40
9. Yunan Furusawa (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 16:06.54
10. Yume Yabutani (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 16:08.40

1. Bernard Kikumbi (Soka Univ.) - 13:49.84
2. Genta Sugano (Soka Univ.) - 13:50.75
3. Tomoya Inoue (Juntendo Univ.) - 13:51.72
4. Shunpei Yamaguchi (Waseda Univ.) - 13:59.15
5. Soya Mizuno (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 14:07.25
6. Yuhi Nanbu (Doshisha Univ.) - 14:11.99
7. Kenya Iwata (Aichi Kogyo Univ.) - 14:16.21
8. Keima Yamashita (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - 14:17.52
9. Shingo Kurita (Sapporo Gakuin Univ.) - 14:21.07
10. Akito Nakamura (Shigakkan Univ.) - 14:26.26

1. Ami Takahashi (Tsukuba Univ.) - 13.43
2. Saki Kodera (Juntendo Univ.) - 13.49
3. Karen Fujiwara (Sonoda Gakuen Univ.) - 13.73
4. Nagisa Inoue (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 13.81
5. Misato Kato (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 13.85
6. Makoto Nakamura (Nittai Univ.) - 13.88
7. Anna Matsuda (Waseda Univ.) - 13.92
8. Yui Nakayama (Chuo Univ.) - 14.13

1. Jeremy Koga (Juntendo Univ.) - 13.57
2. Aoba Oguchi (Hosei Univ.) - 13.77
3. Ato Hirotomi (Kokusai Budo Univ.) - 13.93
4. Hiroto Miyamoto (Juntendo Univ.) - 13.96
5. Seira Asai (Hosei Univ.) - 14.04
6. Kaisei Uchida (Juntendo Univ.) - 14.06
7. Koki Tanaka (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - 14.15
8. Rikuto Nitanai (Iwate Univ.) - 14.30

1. Fukuoka University - 44.19 - MR
2. Aoyama Gakuin University - 44.77
3. Konan University - 45.06
4. Ritsumeikan University - 45.32
5. Chukyo University - 45.48
6. Tokyo Joshi Taiiku University - 45.72
7. Sonoda Gakuen University - 45.83
8. Nihon Joshi Taiiku University - 46.17

1. Toyo University - 39.04
2. Chuo University - 39.14
3. Waseda University - 39.24
4. Hosei University - 39.89
5. Kyoto Sangyo University - 40.01
-----
DQ - Sendai University
DQ - Daito Bunka University
DQ - Nihon University

1. Ion Kondo (Nihon Univ.) - 6.28 m (+1.1)
2. Hiyori Akiba (Yamagata Univ.) - 6.11 m (+2.7)
3. Sayaka Baba (Saitama Univ.) - 6.08 m (+1.2)

1. Manato Miyao (Toyo Univ.) - 16.21 m (+1.1)
2. Koki Kanai (Juntendo Univ.) - 15.69 m (+2.1)
3. Kosei Yoshida (Tsukuba Univ.) - 15.62 m (+1.4)

1. Tokiya Yamaguchi (Tsukuba Univ.) - 50.44 m
2. Reo Wataro (Kokusai Budo Univ.) - 50.03 m
3. Sho Kamei (Tokai Univ.) - 49.12 m

1. Momoko Tsuji (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 53.91 m
2. Kana Shinoda (Kyoto Univ.) - 51.88 m
3. Nozomi Sakurai (Chukyo Univ.) - 51.76 m

1. Yuto Yamamoto (Osaka Taiiku Univ.) - 7158
2. Ryoki Hatori (Gunma Univ.) - 7049
3. Futa Yamazaki (Tokyo Gakugei Univ.) - 7019

Kurumi Sugure (Tsukuba Univ.) - 2:07.72 - 1st, SF1
Yuri Nishida (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 2:08.93 - 2nd, SF1
Yui Nagashima (Juntendo Univ.) - 2:09.00 - 3rd, SF1
Miori Kida (Juntendo Univ.) - 2:10.00 - 1st, SF2
Koharu Shinoda (Tsukuba Univ.) - 2:10.83 - 2nd, SF2
Sari Kamei (Kyoto Kyoiku Univ.) - 2:10.85 - 3rd, SF2
Riho Hirano (Kantaiheiyo Univ.) - 2:11.61 - 4th, SF2
Hanon Sasaki (Tsukuba Univ.) - 2:11.90 - 4th, SF1

Togo Yoshizawa (Tokyo Univ.) - 1:48.53 - 1st, SF1
Ikumi Kunimori (Yamaguchi Univ.) - 1:49.53 - 2nd, SF1
Yuto Mizushima (Waseda Univ.) - 1:49.54 - 3rd, SF1
Atsuki Watanabe (Tsukuba Univ.) - 1:49.66 - 4th, SF1
Nanaki Manno (Kansai Univ.) - 1:50.40 - 1st, SF2
Nobuki Watanabe (Nittai Univ.) - 1:51.23 - 2nd, SF2
Kotaro Mori (Tokyo Gakugei Univ.) - 1:51.75 - 1st, SF3
Ryotaro Ichimura (Keio Univ.) - 1:52.01 - 2nd, SF3

Sonoda Gakuen University - 3:99.96 - 1st, H4
Fukuoka University - 3:40.78 - 2nd, H4
Waseda University - 3:41.87 - 1st, H3
Tsukuba University - 3:43.06 - 2nd H3
Aoyama Gakuin University - 3:43.72 - 1st, H2
Tokyo Joshi Taiiku University - 3:44.39 - 3rd, H3
Ritsumeikan University - 3:44.65 - 1st, H1
Nittai University - 3:44.97 - 2nd, H1

Tsukuba University - 3:05.36 - 1st, H3
Chuo University - 3:05.48 - 2nd, H3
Waseda University - 3:05.54 - 1st, H4
Toyo University - 3:05.88 - 1st, H1
Fukuoka University - 3:06.50 - 2nd, H4
Nittai University - 3:07.25 - 3rd, H4
Chukyo University - 3:07.72 - 1st, H5
Nihon University - 3:08.18 - 1st, H2

1. Ayu Kariya (Nittai Univ.) - 3143
2. Sakura Maenishi (Tsukuba Univ.) - 2976
3. Natsumi Okada (Heisei Kokusai Univ.) - 2930
4. Momoka Takasaki (Tokyo Gakugei Univ.) - 2923
5. Aona Tani (Chukyo Univ.) - 2903

© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Anonymous said…
Airi Tajima surpassed my expectations to win the 5000m. I thought Kyo Honma from Josai Uni would win. Amazing result from Airi. She is in top form. The only thing lacking in both her 1500m and 5000m victories would be a PB time. However, given the conditions yesterday I can understand why that was not possible. Looking forward to the Ekiden season. It is a shame that Juntendo Uni don't have the depth of talent of other universities to be a legitimate contender. Though I did notice they got 4th place (Shiori Ishigami) in the 5000m final too! So perhaps I am mistaken?
September 7, 2026 at 1:51 PM
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