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Shuhei Tada Runs Wind-Aided 9.94, Fourteen Meet Records Fall at National University Individual Championships

The National University Individual Track and Field Championships are a poorer cousin to September's National University Track and Field Championships, no team scoring, no combined events, no 10000 m, held every year in Shonan BMW Stadium Hiratsuka just south of Yokohama. It's rarely mattered much to the bigger names, but it's just as rarely been as good as this year's edition.


Meet records fell in fourteen events across sprints, middle distance, jumps and throws, with up to five athletes breaking the old record in some of them. In the 800 m, shot put and discus throw, both the men's and women's winners set new records. The 100 m, the highlight of the weekend, almost saw the same.

After several women skimmed the 11.62 meet record in the women's 100 m, strong tailwinds put four under under the record in the first semifinal, where Miki Sugiyama (Chukyo Univ.) led in 11.38 +6.0 m/s. The winds dropped into legal territory for the next two semis, where Miyu Maeyama (Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.) took the third semi in 11.51 +2.0 m/s, chopping 0.11 off the old record.  Come the final the wind had further dropped to +1.2 m/s but Maeyama again cleared the old record, winning in 11.59.

The men's 100 m played out almost the same way but produced a result that made nationwide TV news. Shuhei Tada, a third-year at Kwansei Gakuin University with a best of 10.22, won his opening round heat in 10.25 +0.9 m/s to go on to the semis with the fastest qualifying in the field. With a 4.5 m/s tailwind in the first semifinal he blasted a 9.94, the first time aided or unaided that a Japanese man has cleared 10 on Japanese soil. With intense focus on Japanese men's sprinting after the men's 4x100 m silver at the Rio Olympics last summer, the great burning eye of the media was quick to swivel and focus on Tada for the final.

The wind having dropped into legal territory in time, Tada surprised by winning it in 10.08 +1.9 m/s, exactly tying Rio 4x100 m team member Shota Iizuka's best set just six days earlier with an identical 1.9 m/s tailwind and moving into all-time Japanese #7. With the shadow of Tokyo 2020 looming ever larger the prospect of another contender for the men's 4x100 m team will be more than welcomed by the public and JAAF alike.

In the women's 1500 m, first-years Wakana Kabasawa (Keio Univ.) and Kyoka Kudo (Nittai Univ.) broke and tied the meet record in the opening heats, Kabasawa setting a new record of 4:20.84 and Kudo tying the old one in 4:21.75.  In the final Kudo lost out to third-year Mina Ueda (Meijo Univ.), who was just off the old record in 4:22.24 for the win. Kabasawa ended up 4th.

A Rio Olympian in the 3000 m steeplechase, Anju Takamizawa (Matsuyama Univ.) came up four seconds short of her own meet record but had no trouble adding another national title to her resume, winning by almost thirteen seconds in 10:01.21.

Although the meet is billed as a national championships, a number of Taiwanese universities also take part every year. This year they contributed to the high level of the meet, winning four events and setting meet records in three. Hung-Min Lin (Taiwan Taiiku Univ.) won the men's long jump in a meet record 8.10 m +0.4 m/s, Tsai-Yi Li (Taiwan Kokuritsu Taiiku Univ.) took the women's discus throw with a 53.75 m meet record, and Marina Saito (Koushikan Univ.) set a meet record of 59.63 m to win the women's javelin throw.

2017 National University Individual Track and Field Championships
Shonan BMW Stadium, Hiratsuka, Kanagwa, June 9-11, 2017
click here for complete results

Men's 100 m Final +1.9 m/s
1. Shuhei Tada (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - 10.08
2. Yusuke Tanaka (Nihon Wellness Univ.) - 10.30
3. Yuki Hirao (Nihon Univ.) - 10.31

Women's 100 m Final +1.2 m/s
1. Miyu Maeyama (Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.) - 11.59 - (MR)
2. Mizuki Nakamura (Osaka Seikei Univ.) - 11.70
3. Ichiko Iki (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 11.79

Men's 200 m Final +0.9 m/s
1. Jun Yamashita (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.59 - MR
2. Yusuke Tanaka (Nihon Wellness Univ.) - 20.63 (MR)
3. Sho Kitagawa (Juntendo Univ.) - 20.71

Women's 200 m Final +0.9 m/s
1. Mizuki Nakamura (Osaka Seikei Univ.) - 23.95
2. Sayaka Takeuchi (Keio Univ.) - 24.01
3. Miyu Maeyama (Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.) - 24.05

Men's 400 m Final
1. Kota Wakabayashi (Surugadai Univ.) - 46.66
2. Fuka Sato (Sakushin Gakuin Univ.) - 46.88
3. Lung-Hsaing Yang (Taiwan Shihan Univ.) - 47.07

Women's 400 m Final
1. Yuna Iwata (Chuo Univ.) - 54.05
2. Chika Matsumoto (Surugadai Univ.) - 54.92
3. Kanako Shiiya (Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.) - 55.14

Men's 800 m Final
1. Shuichi Takaki (Kanoya Taiiku Univ.) - 1:49.21 - MR
2. Ryuhei Takahashi (Josai Univ.) - 1:49.33 (MR)
3. Kenta Umetani (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:49.46 (MR)
4. Takuto Hanamura (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) - 1:49.73 (MR)

Women's 800 m Final
1. Yume Kitamura (Nittai Univ.) - 2:04.69 - MR
2. Airi Ikezaki (Juntendo Univ.) - 2:08.32
3. Ayami Tsukanaka (Meijo Univ.) - 2:10.29

Men's 1500 m Final
1. Ryoji Tatezawa (Tokai Univ.) - 3:47.18
2. Riku Kimura (Tokai Univ.) - 3:47.66
3. Kazuki Kawamura (Meiji Univ.) - 3:48.15

Women's 1500 m Final
1. Mina Ueda (Josai Univ.) - 4:22.24
2. Kyoka Kudo (Nittai Univ.) - 4:22.75
3. Nodoka Aoki (Meijo Univ.) - 4:23.21

Men's 5000 m Heat 2
1. Ryohei Sakaguchi (Tokai Univ.) - 14:02.64
2. Taisei Hashizume (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 14:03.37
3. Yuji Onoda (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 14:04.54

Women's 5000 m Heat 2
1. Rika Kaseda (Meijo Univ.) - 16:00.39
2. Honoka Tanaike (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 16:06.84
3. Nodoka Aoki (Meijo Univ.) - 16:12.04

Men's 110 m Hurdles Final +1.6 m/s
1. Shusei Nomoto (Waseda Univ.) - 13.63
2. Taio Kanai (Hosei Univ.) - 13.64
3. Anthony Kuriki (Kokusai Budo Univ.) - 13.68

Women's 100 m Hurdles Final +1.1 m/s
1. Yuki Nakamura (Kansai Univ.) - 13.48
2. Mako Fukube (Nittai Univ.) - 13.48
3. Kaho Horiike (Kokushikan Univ.) - 13.54

Men's 400 m Hurdles Final
1. Chieh Chen (Taiwan Taiiku Univ.) - 49.92
2. Ryo Kajiki (Josai Univ.) - 50.52
3. Yusuke Ishida (Waseda Univ.) - 50.89

Women's 400 m Hurdles Final
1. Kana Koyama (Waseda Univ.) - 58.56
2. Moe Oshiden (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 58.80
3. Haruka Katayama (Fukuoka Univ.) - 59.66

Men's 3000 m Steeplechase Heat 3
1. Shingo Fujisaki (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) - 8:53.20
2. Taro Ebisawa (Komazawa Univ.) - 8:53.75
3. Seiya Shigeno (Seisa Doto Univ.) - 8:55.73

Women's 3000 m Steeplechase Heat 2
1. Anju Takamizawa (Matsuyama Univ.) - 10:01.21
2. Kako Okada (Matsuyama Univ.) - 10:14.03
3. Momoe Nobuoka (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 10:15.41

Men's 10000 m Race Walk
1. Ryosuke Kawagishi (Toyo Univ.) - 41:13.16
2. Kazuki Takahashi (Waseda Univ.) - 41:16.82
3. Kyohei Dairaku (Meiji Univ.) - 41:29.10

Women's 10000 m Race Walk
1. Kaori Kawazoe (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 47.03.19
2. Serena Sonoda (Chukyo Univ.) - 47:23.60
3. Rena Goto (Chubu Gakuin Univ.) - 47:27.43

Men's High Jump
1. Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.) - 2.21 m - MR
2. Ryoichi Akamatsu (Gifu Univ.) - 2.21 m (MR)
3. Kazuhiro Ota (Kanazawa Seiryo Univ.) - 2.18 m

Women's High Jump
1. Haruka Nakano (Waseda Univ.) - 1.78 m
2. Satomi Teratani (Tsukuba Univ.) - 1.75 m
3. Shuriai Tsuda (Higashi Osaka Univ.) - 1.75 m

Men's Pole Vault
1. Masaki Ejima (Nihon Univ.) - 5.50 m
2. Shingo Sawa (Nihon Univ.) - 5.50 m
3. Yusei Shimono (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 5.20 m

Women's Pole Vault
1. Yoshika Kanaji (Mukogawa Joshi Univ.) - 3.90 m
2. Rina Suzuki (Nittai Univ.) - 3.80 m
3. Mayu Nasu (Sonoda Gakuen Joshi Univ.) - 3.80 m

Men's Long Jump
1. Hung-Min Lin (Taiwan Taiiku Univ.) - 8.10 m +0.4 m/s - MR
2. Yuki Hashioka (Nihon Univ.) - 7.95 m +1.0 m/s (MR)
3. Natsuki Yamakawa (Nihon Univ.) - 7.92 m +1.8 m/s (MR)
4. Tomoya Nomura (Tokai Univ.) - 7.84 m +1.6 m/s (MR)

Women's Long Jump
1. Erika Tsujimoto (Osaka Seikei Univ.) - 6.21 m +2.1 m/s
2. Ya-Jyun Liuo (Taiwan Taiiku Univ.) - 6.11 m +0.7 m/s
3. Saki Harada (Kyushu Kyoiku Univ.) - 6.11 m +1.2 m/s

Men's Triple Jump
1. Ryoma Yamamoto (Juntendo Univ.) - 16.66 m +1.7 m/s - MR
2. Yuki Kyoda (Kanoya Taiiku Univ.) - 16.23 m +2.1 m/s
3. Yuki Yamashita (Kokushikan Univ.) - 16.14 m +1.3 m/s

Women's Triple Jump
1. Moeno Saito (Nihon Joshi Taiiku Univ.) - 12.95 m +3.4 m/s
2. Kanna Kawai (Osaka Seikei Univ.) - 12.77 m +3.9 m/s
3. Machiko Ota (Nihon Univ.) - 12.68 m +2.7 m/s

Men's Shot Put
1. Daichi Morishita (Tsukuba Univ.) - 17.90 m - MR
2. Reiji Takeda (Nihon Univ.) - 17.61 m (MR)
3. Shinichi Yukinaga (Shikoku Univ.) - 17.37 m

Women's Shot Put
1. Aya Ota (Fukuoka Univ.) - 16.23 m - MR
2. Nanak Kori (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 15.47 m
3. Honoka Oyama (Fukuoka Univ.) - 14.86 m

Men's Discus Throw
1. Yume Ando (Tokai Univ.) - 52.12 m
2. Seiya Takakura (Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.) - 51.38 m
3. Daiki Shuto (Nihon Univ.) - 51.29 m

Women's Discus Throw
1. Tsai-Yi Li (Taiwan Kokuritsu Taiiku Univ.) - 53.75 m - MR
2. Nanaka Kori (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 52.37 m
3. Minori Tsujikawa (Tsukuba Univ.) - 50.67 m

Men's Hammer Throw
1. Kunihiro Sumi (Chukyo Univ.) - 70.05 m - MR
2. Yudai Kimura (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 68.71 m (MR)
3. Hiroki Uchibori (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 67.46 m

Women's Hammer Throw
1. Kosumo Ehara (Tsukuba Univ.) - 58.75 m
2. Karin Motomura (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) - 57.94 m
3. Nao Yoshikawa (Fukuoka Univ.) - 57.36 m

Men's Javelin Throw
1. Chao-Tsun Cheng (Taiwan Hojin Univ.) - 79.42 m - MR
2. Takuto Kominami (Kokushikan Univ.) - 79.17 m (MR)
3. Shih-Feng Huang (Taipei Shiritsu Univ.) - 77.33 m (MR)
4. Kenji Ogura (Nihon Univ.) - 76.08 m (MR)
5. Shu Mori (Nihon Univ.) - 75.79 m (MR)

Women's Javelin Throw
1. Marina Saito (Koushikan Univ.) - 59.63 m - MR
2. Haruka Kitaguchi (Nihon Univ.) - 59.08 m (MR)
3. Hiroko Takigawa (Chukyo Univ.) - 56.31 m

© 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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