Kanno, Tsuetaki and Yamanaka Take 10000 m Titles on First Day of University Regionals

by Brett Larner

Compressed from its usual two-weekend format to one this year, the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships started May 14 at Yokohama's Nissan Stadium. In the day's main event, Yamanashi Gakuin University debuted its new Kenyan first-year Dominic Nyairo in the D1 10000 m. Nyairo and two-time National University 10000 m champion Daniel Muiva Kitonyi (Nihon Univ.) led throughout the race, pursued by a large Japanese chase pack that shook down to just one runner, 2014 National University Half Marathon champion Hideto Yamanaka (Nittai Univ.). Yamanaka, who sat out his entire junior year last year with injury, was hesitant to lead, but when he did make a move he and Nyairo shook off Muiva, turning the race into a head-to-head duel over the last lap. Nyairo pulled away with a brilliant last 200 m to win by two seconds, but shortly after the race it was announced that he had been disqualified for stepping over the outer/inner start dividers at the beginning of the race. By default Yamanaka moved up to 1st in 28:54.33, to his credit saying in interviews afterward that he knew he had really lost to Nyairo. Kitonyi was 2nd in 29:00.00 with Taiga Machizawa (Chuo Univ.) picking up 3rd in 29:04.27.

The D2 men's 10000 m likewise worked out to a three-man lead pack, Komazawa University's ambitious 2nd-year Naoki Kudo splitting the race open at halfway with a 2:48 that only the talented Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) and little-known Ryohei Nishiyama (Kanagawa Univ.) could follow. Nishiyama soon lost contact and was caught by Hiroto Kanamori (Takushoku Univ.) and his new Ethiopian teammate Derese Worknesh (Takushoku Univ.), while up front Tsuetaki put pressure on Kudo, pulling away steadily before closing with a 59-second last lap to win in 28:54.21. Kudo hung on to 2nd in 29:14.66, Kanamori dropping Nishiyama and Worknesh for 3rd in 29:15.79 as he tried to run Kudo down in the home straight.

Further south in Osaka at the 92nd Kansai Region University Track and Field Championships, Nanako Kanno (Ritsumeikan Univ.) ran a solo win in the women's 10000 m in 33:06.98, more than 30 seconds ahead of 2nd-place Mai Nagaoka (Osaka Gakuin Univ.),

94th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships Day One
Nissan Stadium, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 5/14/15
click here for complete results

Men's D1 10000 m
1. Hideto Yamanaka (Nittai Univ.) - 28:54.33
2. Daniel Muiva Kitonyi (Nihon Univ.) - 29:00.00
3. Taiga Machizawa (Chuo Univ.) - 29:04.27
4. Shin Kimura (Meiji Univ.) - 29:09.50
5. Hiroki Matsueda (Juntendo Univ.) - 29:09.80
DQ - Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.)

Men's D2 10000 m
1. Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 28:54.21
2. Naoki Kudo (Komazawa Univ.) - 29:14.66
3. Hiroto Kanamori (Takushoku Univ.) - 29:15.79
4. Ryohei Nishiyama (Kanagawa Univ.) - 29:17.71
5. Derese Workneh (Takushoku Univ.) - 29:21.10

92nd Kansai Region University Track and Field Championships Day One
Yanmar Stadium, Osaka, 5/14/15
click here for complete results

Women's 10000 m
1. Nanako Kanno (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 33:06.98
2. Mai Nagaoka (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 33:37.89
3. Saki Tokoro (Kansai Gaikokugo Univ.) - 33:46.40
4. Kanae Imai (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 33:52.82
5. Kimiko Sato (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 34:11.24

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
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