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National Sports Festival Athletics Highlights Part One

by Brett Larner
click here for part two

Japan's 71st National Sports Festival cleared the midpoint of its five days of athletics competition Sunday.  Meet records have fallen in five events so far, the highlight being the men's 10000 m race walk where Rio Olympians Eiki Takahashi (Team Fujitsu) and Daisuke Matsunaga (Toyo Univ.) dueled to push each other under the meet record, national record holder Takahashi setting a solid new mark of 38:21.88 but national junior record holder Matsunaga also more than 25 seconds under the old record set two years ago by 20 km world record holder Yusuke Suzuki (Team Fujitsu).

Another Rio Olympian, women's 100 m national record holder Chisato Fukushima (Hokkaido Hi-Tech AC) duly took the 100 m final in 11.66 (+0.5 m/s).  Two members of the Rio silver medal-winning Japanese 4x100 m men's relay team, national champion Asuka Cambridge (Dome) and Ryota Yamagata (Seiko), were scheduled to run the 100 m, but while Yamagata won his opening heat in 10.48 (+0.0 m/s) Cambridge was a DNS, running only the 4x100 m heats for Tokyo.  Their Rio relay teammate Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) also ran the 4x100 m heats for Shizuoka, both Tokyo and Shizuoka advancing to the semifinals.  Yamagata, who ran a PB of 10.03 two weeks ago at the National Corporate Championships, withdrew before the 100 m semifinals, leaving 2016 National University Championships runner-up Takuya Nagata (Hosei Univ.) to win the final in 10.35 (+0.8 m/s).

In distance action, two-time defending champion Kasumi Nishihara led a Yamada Denki sweep of the top places in the women's 5000 m to pick up her third National Sports Festival title in a 15:37.25 season best.  Her younger teammates Hisami Ishii and Sakiho Tsutsui both cleared 15:40 for 2nd and 3rd, with 2:23:20 marathoner Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) 4th in 15:42.62.


Nishihara's counterpart winner last year, Hyuga Endo (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) dominated an exciting and high-level junior men's 5000 m for his own third-straight National Sports Festival win.  Kenyan Lawrence Gure (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) led a pack of high schoolers including Endo, Keita Yoshida of 2015 National High School Ekiden champion Sera H.S. through a 2:43 opening km and stayed mostly in front until the final 1000 m.  Endo and Yoshida broke away with 600 m to go, Endo having the kick to seal the win in 13:58.35, 11 seconds better than his winning time last year.  Yoshida was also under 14 in 13:59.07, 3rd and 4th-placers Junpei Maeda (Kurashiki H.S.) and Kiseki Shiozawa (Iga Hakuho H.S.) just missing.  Gure faded to 12th in 14:18.46.

The National Sports Festival continues Monday and Tuesday.

71st National Sports Festival Athletics Highlights - Part One
Iwate, Oct. 7-9, 2016
click here for complete results

Junior Women's 100 m Final +2.0 m/s
1. Ami Saito (Kurashiki Chuo H.S.) - 11.57 - MR
2. Yukina Shimada (Tsuruga H.S.) - 11.84
3. Yuna Ito (Gifu Shogyo H.S.) - 11.86

Junior Men's 100 m Final +0.0 m/s
1. Daisuke Miyamoto (Rakunan H.S.) - 10.49
2. Yuma Saito (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 10.51
3. Motoki Kuroki (Tokyo H.S.) - 10.68

Senior Women's 100 m Final +0.5 m/s
1. Chisato Fukushima (Hokkaido Hi-Tech AC) - 11.66
2. Miyu Maeyama (Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.) - 11.73
3. Nodoka Seko (Uma Club Crane) - 11.90

Senior Men's 100 m Final +0.8 m/s
1. Takuya Nagata (Hosei Univ.) - 10.35
2. Takuya Kawakami (Chuo Univ.) - 10.37
3. Shuhei Tada (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - 10.38

Senior Women's 400 m Final
1. Seika Aoyama (Osaka Seikei Univ.) - 54.35
2. Konomi Takeishi (Toho Ginko) - 54.93
3. Nanako Matsumoto (Tsukuba Univ.) - 55.09

Senior Men's 400 m Final
1. Takamasa Kitagawa (Juntendo Univ.) - 47.22
2. Nobuya Kato (Waseda Univ.) - 47.30
3. Kosuke Horii (Josai Univ.) - 47.48

Junior Women's 800 m Final
1. Maki Ueda (Ono Higashi J.H.S.) - 2:10.86
2. Ririka Hironaka (Nagasaki Shogyo H.S.) - 2:10.93
3. Eisha Ishikawa (Narita H.S.) - 2:11.01

Junior Men's 800 m Final
1. Yugo Shikata (Nishinomiya H.S.) - 1:51.80
2. Shoga Yamada (Aichi H.S.) - 1:52.30
3. Takero Ichinomiya (Matsuyama Kita H.S.) - 1:52.51

Senior Women's 800 m Final
1. Ayaka Kawata (Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S.) - 2:06.45
2. Ayano Shiomi (Kyoto Bunkyo H.S.) - 2:06.65
3. Airi Ikezaki (Funairi H.S.) - 2:06.67

Junior Women's 1500 m Final
1. Helen Ekarare (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 4:13.74
2. Yuna Wada (Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 4:22.71
3. Ririka Hironaka (Nagasaki Shogyo H.S.) - 4:22.77

Senior Women's 5000 m Final
1. Kasumi Nishihara (Yamada Denki) - 15:37.25
2. Hisami Ishii (Yamada Denki) - 15:38.59
3. Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada Denki) - 15:39.74
4. Rei Ohara (Tenmaya) - 15:42.62
5. Hanae Tanaka (Daiichi Seimei) - 15:43.55

Junior Men's 5000 m Final
1. Hyuga Endo (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) - 13:58.35
2. Keita Yoshida (Sera H.S.) - 13:59.07
3. Junpei Maeda (Kurashiki H.S.) - 14:01.30
4. Kiseki Shiozawa (Iga Hakuho H.S.) - 14:01.80
5. Ryo Saito (Akita Kogyo H.S.) - 14:03.86

Junior Women's 100 mH Final +1.6 m/s
1. Momoko Yamanishi (Mimuro J.H.S.) - 13.89
2. Yuka Oikawa (Shibata H.S.) - 13.93
3. Nana Tamai (Matsuyama Kita H.S.) - 13.96

Junior Men's 110 mH Final +2.9 m/s
1. Rikuto Higuchi (Nara Ikuei H.S.) - 13.67
2. Takuma Kato (Shibata H.S.) - 13.77
3. Shota Takada (Tonan H.S.) - 13.83

Junior Women's 400 mH Final
1. Natsumi Murakami (Narita H.S.) - 59.16
2. Kana Koyama (Kawasaki Tachibana H.S.) - 1:00:15
3. Akane Kobayashi (Niigata Shogyo H.S.) - 1:00.42

Junior Men's 400 mH Final
1. Daichi Inoue (Tokyo H.S.) - 51.36
2. Yusuke Shirao (Tokyo Nogyo Prep Daini H.S.) - 51.79
3. Kotaro Muratomi (Nichinan H.S.) - 52.72

Senior Men's 400 mH Final
1. Takayuki Kishimoto (Fujitsu) - 49.99
2. Yuta Konishi (Sumitomo Denko) - 50.31
3. Yusuke Ishida (Waseda Univ.) - 50.40

Senior Men's 10000 m RW Final
1. Eiki Takahashi (Fujitsu) - 38:21.88 - MR
2. Daisuke Matsunaga (Toyo Univ.) - 38:40.22 (MR)
3. Kai Kobayashi (Bic Camera) - 39:49.18

Junior Women's Triple Jump Final
1. Saki Ozaki (Sei Catalina H.S.) - 12.49 m +1.7 m/s
2. Mizuho Ogawa (Joto H.S.) - 12.36 m +3.7 m/s
3. Ayane Okumura (Seibo H.S.) - 12.34 m +2.4 m/s

Senior Women's Triple Jump Final
1. Kaede Miyasaka (Nippatsu) - 13.33 m +1.5 m/s
2. Kanna Kawai (Osaka Seikei Univ.) - 12.68 m +2.1 m/s
3. Sachiko Masumi (Kyudenko) - 12.63 m +2.4 m/s

Junior Women's Pole Vault Final
1. Yuka Aoyagi (Yukigaya H.S.) - 3.75 m
2. Ruanya Tsunoda (Fudooka H.S.) - 3.70 m
3. Misaki Morota (Ota Joshi H.S.) - 3.70 m

Junior Men's Pole Vault Final
1. Masaki Ejima (Eda H.S) - 5.46 m - MR
2. Keita Shigeto (Takamatsu Daiichi H.S.) - 5.00 m
3. Tomoya Uchiyama (Nagano Yoshida H.S.) - 4.95 m

Senior Women's Pole Vault Final
1. Megumi Nakada (Mito Shinkin Bank) - 4.10 m
1. Ayako Aoshima (Niigata Albirex RC) - 4.10 m
3. Megumi Hamana (Bell Japan AC) - 4.00 m

Junior Women's Long Jump Final
1. Yuki Fujiyama (Ashigaradai J.H.S.) - 6.20 m -0.1 m/s
2. Haruna Ashida (Tsuruga H.S.) - 5.98 m +2.7 m/s
3. Ayaka Kora (Sonoda Gakuen H.S.) - 5.95 m +5.95 m +0.5 m/s

Junior Men's Long Jump Final
1. Yuki Hashioka (Hachioji H.S.) - 7.57 m
2. Taiga Oda (Toin Gakuen H.S.) - 7.35 m
3. Yuta Takenouchi (Kagoshima Minami H.S.) - 7.31 m

Senior Men's Long Jump Final
1. Hiroshi Tebira (Okuwa) - 8.00 m +2.3 m/s
2. Daiki Oda (Nihon Univ.) - 7.90 m +3.5 m/s
3. Shinichiro Shimono (Kyudenko) - 7.83 m +1.7 m/s

Senior Men's High Jump Final
1. Takashi Eto (AGF) - 2.15 m
2. Hiromi Takahari (Hitachi ICT) - 2.15 m
3. Daisuke Nakajima (Nihon Univ.) - 2.12 m

Junior Women's Javelin Throw Final
1. Megumi Okabayashi (Osaka H.S.) - 55.53 m
2. Mahiro Osa (Wakayama Kita H.S.) - 52.32 m
3. Tomoka Kuwazoe (Furukawa Reimei H.S.) - 51.20 m

Senior Women's Javelin Throw Final
1. Risa Miyashita (Osaka Taiiku Univ.) - 58.21 m
2. Yuki Ebihara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 57.75 m
3. Marina Saito (Kokushikan Univ.) - 55.14 m

Junior Women's Discus Throw Final
1. Azusa Okawara (Tsuchiurako Kita H.S.) - 45.62 m
2. Maki Saito (Tsuruoka Kogyo H.S.) - 42.43 m
3. Chiho Kanda (Hanazono H.S.) - 41.94 m

Junior Men's Discus Throw Final
1. Sota Kikuchi (Hirosaki Jitsugyo H.S.) - 51.61 m
2. Toshiaki Abe (Nagaoka Shogyo H.S.) - 46.56 m
3. Hiroto Sato (Nihon Prep Tohoku H.S.) - 46.48 m

Senior Men's Discus Throw Final
1. Yuji Tsutsumi (Alsok) - 57.25 m - MR
2. Shigeyuki Maisawa (Tokai Univ.) - 56.98 m
3. Masateru Yugami (Toyota) - 55.82 m

Junior Women's Shot Put Final
1. Fuyuko Oyamada (Tokyo H.S.) - 13.72 m
2. Fumika Ono (Seibudai H.S.) - 12.95 m
3. Haruka Osako (Hiratsuka Gakuen H.S.) - 12.78 m

Junior Men's Shot Put Final
1. Kanta Matsuda (Sakuyakonohana H.S.) - 17.94 m - MR
2. Kosei Yamashita (Gifu Shogyo H.S.) - 17.10 m
3. Hitoshi Okumura (Tsuruga H.S.) - 16.80 m

Junior Men's Hammer Throw Final
1. Masanobu Hattori (Amagasaki H.S.) - 64.63 m
2. Tetsuya Wakayama (Rakuyo Kogyo H.S.) - 61.67 m
3. Reo Yamamoto (Kisarazu Sogo H.S.) - 60.65 m

Senior Women's Hammer Throw Final
1. Masumi Aya (Maruzen Kogyo) - 62.76 m
2. Hitomi Katsuyama (Tsukuba Univ.) - 60.08 m
3. Akane Watanabe (Maruwaenyukikan) - 59.49 m

© 2016 Brett Larner
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