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Women's 1500 m Meet Record Caps National University Individual Track and Field Championships

by Brett Larner

The 2009 National University Individual Track and Field Championships took place June 12-14 in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture just south of Tokyo. An elective meet in which student athletes can choose to compete as opposed to September's team-oriented National University Track and Field Championships, the National Individual Championships offer a rare chance to see athletes from other parts of the country take on those from the powerful, Tokyo-centric Kanto Region.

Coached by Keiichi Murai, the husband of two-time World Championships marathon medalist Reiko Tosa, Matsuyama University's Mami Sogabe and Toshika Tamura both broke the year-old women's 1500 m meet record. Sogabe clocked 4:29.03 and Tamura 4:29.10, with Ritsumeikan University's Hanae Tanaka getting under the old record as well in 4:29.12.

New meet records also came on the track in the men's 3000 mSC, with Masamori Kabuki of Tohoku Fukushi University running 8:58.79 to mark the meet's first-ever sub-9 time, and in the women's 100 mH, where Rena Joshita of Aoyama Gakuin University ran 13.42. Field events saw new meet records in both the men's and women's high jump, the men's shot put, the women's pole vault and the women's triple jump.

Click here for complete results from the 2009 National University Individual Track and Field Championships.

2009 National University Individual Track and Field Championships - Top Results
Women's 5000 m: Kaori Koriki (Kanaya Sports Univ.) - 16:32.52
Women's 1500 m:
1. Mami Sogabe (Matsuyama Univ.) - 4:29.03 - MR
2. Toshika Tamura (Matsuyama Univ.) - 4:29.10 - (MR)
3. Hanae Tanaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 4:29.12 - (MR)
Women's 800 m: Yukari Nomura (Chuo Univ.) - 2:07.84
Women's 100 mH: Rena Joshita (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 13.42 - MR
Women's High Jump: Yuki Mimura (Kansai Univ.) - 1.81 - MR
Women's Pole Vault: Tomomi Abiko (Doshisha Univ.) - 4.00 - MR
Women's Triple Jump:
1. Waka Maeda (Tsukuba Univ.) - 12.82 - MR
2. Aguri Osaka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 12.61 - (MR)

Men's 5000 m: Takuro Nakanishi (Fukuoka Univ.) - 14:23.57
Men's 3000 mSC: Masamori Kabuki (Tohoku Fukushi Univ.) - 8:58.79 - MR
Men's 1500 m: Takuro Nakanishi (Fukuoka Univ.) - 3:53.25
Men's 800 m: Akihiro Katsumada (Hosei Univ.) - 1:52.05
Men's High Jump: Hiromi Takahari (Tokai Univ.) - 2.20 - MR
Men's Shot Put: Sotaro Yamada (Hosei Univ.) - 17.52 - MR

(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

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