Karemi Over Ndungu for National H.S. Boys' 5000 m Title

by Brett Larner

Summer heat couldn't stop the fast times in the 5000 m final on the fourth day of the 2012 National High School Track & Field Championships Aug. 1 in Niigata. After a Kenyan-dominated round of qualifying heats, #1 seed Charles Ndungu (Kenya/Sapporo Yamanote H.S.), #2 Jeremiah Karemi (Kenya/Toyokawa H.S.), #4-ranked Kazuma Taira (Toyokawa Kogyo H.S.) and four others took the final out hard, starting at 13:07 pace and gradually slowing. As the rest of the field faded away, first-year Ndungu and the experienced Karemi battled for the lead as top-ranked Japanese Taira struggled to stay with them. Over the last kilometer Taira fell behind, and in the final sprint down the home straight Karemi emerged a fraction of a second ahead of Ndungu to take the 2012 national title in a solid 13:46.30 to Ndungu's 13:46.56. Taira held on to 3rd in 13:55.64, just outrunning #3 seed John Maina (Kenya/Aomori Yamada H.S.). 1500 m champion Hiram Ngatia (Kenya/Sendai Ikuei H.S.) was never a factor, only 6th in 14:03.85.

The distance events continue on the final day of competition with the final of the girls' 3000 m, where 22 girls ran under 9:30 in the qualifying rounds led by Ngatia's teammate Mary Waithira (Kenya/Sendai Ikuei H.S.) in 9:17.07.

2012 National High School T&F Championships
Niigata, July 29-Aug. 2, 2012
click here for complete results

Boys' 5000 m Final
1. Jeremiah Karemi (Kenya/Toyokawa H.S.) - 13:46.30
2. Charles Ndungu (Kenya/Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) - 13:46.56
3. Kazuma Taira (Toyokawa Kogyo H.S.) - 13:55.64
4. John Maina (Kenya/Aomori Yamada H.S.) - 13:57.69
5. Keisuke Nakatani (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 14:02.55
6. Hiram Ngatia (Kenya/Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 14:03.85
7. Yusuke Nishiyama (Iga Hakuho H.S.) - 14:16.51
8. Soma Ishikawa (Sano Nittai Prep H.S.) - 14:17.77
9. Tsubasa Uchida (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 14:17.92
10. John Gathaiya (Kenya/Sera H.S.) - 14:20.70

Boys' 1500 m Final
1. Hiram Ngatia (Kenya/Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 3:45.37
2. Kojiro Tomikoshi (Saitama Sakae H.S.) - 3:46.29
3. Yusuke Nishiyama (Iga Hakuho H.S.) - 3:46.48
4. Tsukasa Anzai (Komyo Gakuen Sagamihara H.S.) - 3:46.68
5. Takumi Ichida (Kyushu Kokusai Fuzoku H.S.) - 3:48.78

(c) 2012 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that Sis

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n

Three Japanese Men Running 128th Boston Marathon

Back in Japan's golden years Boston was a big draw for its top talent in the marathon, but for a long time it was off the list of first-choice marathons as the preoccupation shifted to times. That started changing again in 2017 when 5000 m NR holder Suguru Osako made his debut there with a 2:10:28 for 3rd, following in the footsteps of other Waseda University alum who ran well in Boston including two-time winner Toshihiko Seko and the late Tomoyuki Taniguchi . Osako was 3rd at October's Paris Olympic marathon trials, putting him in position to be on the Paris team unless someone runs 2:05:50 or better at February's Osaka Marathon or March's Tokyo Marathon. Having run 2:06:13 in Tokyo last year but beaten by two Japanese men who both went under 2:06, there wasn't really any upside to Osako doing Tokyo this time. Osaka seemed like the logical choice, but like he has for most of his life Osako is following his own motivations and opting to return to the 128th Boston

japan running news

Search This Blog