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Conditions weren't great for the last day of this year's National University Track and Field Championships either, with off-and-on heavy rain in Yokohama through most of the day. But the Chuo University men's 4x400 m relay team of Hiroto Shogomori , Kota Uematsu , Shiita Hamada and Sho Tanabe still came through with a 3:03.30 meet record for the win, 0.89 up on 2nd-placer Tsukuba University . That was under Toyo University 's 3:03.64 MR from last year, a mark that had also been the fastest-ever by a single university team. Only a mixed-school collegiate team has run faster than Chuo's winning time this year with a 3:03.20 back in 2005, but not by much. Ritsumeikan University took the women's 4x400 m in 3:36.78. Other highlights: #1-ranked Ami Takahashi (Tsukuba Univ.) took the women's 200 m in 23.79 (-0.5). Takahashi's teammate Kurumi Sugure , likewise ranked #1 in the women's 800 m, took it by over 2 seconds in 2:05.99, with Tsukuba's Hano...

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 ...

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 ...

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...

The National University Track and Field Championships wrapped up Sunday with another collegiate record. Following Mao Shimano 's 100 mH hurdle record Saturday , the Toyo University men dominated in the 4x400 m relay final. Running with a completely different lineup from when it set the 3:04.08 meet record 2 years ago, the Toyo team of Rui Yamasaki , Kira Hirakawa , Kentaro Shirahata and Katsuo Tsujiura ran 3:03.64 for the win, 0.07 under the old collegiate record set by Nihon University in 2000 before any of them had been born. The women's 4x400 m final wasn't quite up to collegiate record level, but the top 2 teams still both broke the meet record. Sonoda Gakuen University scored the win in 3:35.41 with a lineup that included Hinata Tochio and Yuzuki Nakao from its 2023 MR-setting lineup with the addition of 2nd-year twins Ayu Yoshii and Mayu Yoshii . Ritsumeikan University was 2nd in 3:36.28, but that was good enough to break SGU's old record of 3:36.71. Af...

After a wind-aided 12.93 at the Fuse Sprint meet, Nihon Joshi Taiiku University 's Mao Shimano turned in the biggest performance of the 3rd day of this year's National University Track and Field Championships . Running the women's 100 mH final with a -1.8 m/s headwind, Shimano took 0.02 off her own collegiate record with a 13.02 for the win. That was also way under the old meet record of 13.23, and despite the wind 2nd-placer Rei Honda of Juntendo University made it under too with a 13.12 for 2nd. Another meet record fell in the women's 5000 m. After winning the 10000 m in a 31:48.44 MR on Thursday, Daito Bunka University 3rd-year Sarah Wanjiru took 5 seconds off her own 5000 m MR, dropping her only real competition Daisy Cherop of Josai Kokusai University on the last lap to win in 15:30.04 and complete the distance double. The 1st-year Cherop was 2nd in 15:39.52, with Juntendo's Airi Tajima 3rd in 15:57.14 in a 3-way sprint finish against Sayo Imanishi o...

Sarah Wanjiru of Daito Bunka University  opened the first day of the 2025 National University Track and Field Championships by lapping the field to break the women's 10000 m MR , and day 2 of the meet saw that repeated in the women's 10000 m race walk. Collegiate record holder and Ritsumeikan University 4th-year Ayane Yanai lapped the entire field to win the 10000 mRW by almost 2 minutes, chopping almost 35 seconds off the 2007-era meet record with a 44:18.02 for the win. 2nd-placer Satsuki Ishida of Mukogawa Joshi University had a close one over 3rd-placer Toko Nakajima of Waseda University , finishing just 5 seconds up in 46:14.57 to 46:19.75. The most unexpected result came in the men's 1500 m. Better known as a half marathoner and long distance track runner, Waseda's Tomonori Yamaguchi won his 1500 m heat in 3:44.21 on Thursday to make Friday's final. There he took over after a slow 61-second first lap, cruising the next 2 laps in 57 each before kicking...

Usually held in September right before ekiden season, this year's National University Track and Field Championships moved to early June to avoid conflicts with the Tokyo World Championships. Doubling up on her solo 10000 m win a month ago at Kanto Regionals , Sarah Wanjiru lapped the entire field to win the women's 10000 m in 31:48.44. That was 16 seconds under the old meet record set by fellow Daito Bunka University runner and future Olympic 6th-placer Yuka Suzuki , and missed Wanjiru's PB by just over a second. Less than a second separated the next 3 finishers, with newcomer Mei Hosomi from Meijo University getting 2nd in 33:23.46, Wanjiru's DBU teammate Mariya Noda 3rd in 33:23.77, and Asahi Shirakawa from Tsukuba University off the podium in 33:24.17. Less than 2 weeks after rocking a 27:29.15 for 2nd in the National University Ekiden Kanto Region Qualifier 10000 m , Nihon University 's Shadrack Kipkemei found himself in another close race, this one aga...

Waseda University 1st-year Shota Fuchigami and Toyo University 1st-year Hayato Shimoda were the stars of this year's National University Track and Field Championships this weekend at Kanagawa's Todoroki Stadium. Squeezing through the men's 400 mH first round in 3rd in his heat with a time of 50.72, Shimoda watched as Fuchigami won semifinal 2 in 48.78, 0.31 under the U20 national record set way back in 1996 by two-time World Championships bronze medalist Dai Tamesue . Lining up next in SF3, Shimoda bettered Fuchigami with a 48.59 U20 NR. That was only good enough for 3rd in his semi behind Shunta Inoue (Hosei Univ.), whose 48.46 missed the 2005-era meet record by 0.11, and 2nd-placer Shu Watanabe (Nittai Univ.) who ran 48.51 but it got him to the final. There Fuchigami delivered again, going under Tamesue's old record for the second time and beating Inoue by 0.12 to win in 48.96. Shimoda couldn't deliver the same kind of performance, finishing 7th in 50.08, but...

The 93rd National University Track and Field Championships start today at Kanagawa's Todoroki Stadium and run through Sunday. The meet schedule and live results can be had here . Streaming of most events will be linked here once competition starts each day. Top entrants in each event: Women 100 m Wakana Okane (Konan Univ.) - 11.55 Yume Okuno (Konan Univ.) - 11.55 Yu Ishikawa (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 11.55 Miu Kurashige (Konan Univ.) - 11.63 Yuiko Yamazaki (Nihon Joshi Taiiku Univ.) - 11.63 Misato Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 11.64 200 m Aiha Yamagata (Fukuoka Univ.) - 23.53 Ami Takahashi (Tsukuba Univ.) - 23.67 Arie Flores (Nittai Univ.) - 23.73 Yuzuki Kojima (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 23.82 Miu Kurashige (Konan Univ.) - 23.96 Hazuki Yoshinaga (Chuo Univ.) - 23.96 400 m Arie Flores (Nittai Univ.) - 53.28 Marin Adachi (Sonoda Gakuen Joshi Univ.) - 53.52 Yuzuki Kojima (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 53.99 Yuzuki Nakao (Sonoda Gakuen Joshi Univ.) - 54.12 Ririka Miyachi (Surugadai Univ.) - 54.13 800 m Ai Wat...