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Hemphill Sets Heptathlon Jr. National Record on Day Four of National High School Track and Field Championships

by Brett Larner
photo by Kazuyuki Sugimatsu
video by Ekiden News

After two meet records yesterday, the fourth day of this year's National High School Track and Field Championships saw the meet's first national record.  Rising star Meg Hemphill (Kyoto Bunkyo H.S.) built up a steady lead over the two days of the women's heptathlon, and with 4666 points and only the 800 m left she needed to run just 2:26.14 to break both the high school and junior national records.  Instead of settling for an easy record she went out full-effort, running 2:17.87 to total 5519 and breaking not just the meet record and the two national records but landing at all-time #8 in the Japanese record books.  A relative newcomer, she looks set to be one of the more interesting Japanese track and field athletes in the next few years.

Hemphill brought the performance of the day, but there were other quality results.  Winning the 400 m national title on the first day of the meet and coming back the next day to finish 3rd in the 100 m, Seika Aoyama (Matsue Shogyo H.S.) succeeded in picking up a second win with a 23.86 into a headwind in the girls' 200 m.  Shu Mori (Imabari Meitoku H.S.), 8th at last week's World Junior Championships boys' javelin with a threw of 69.73, threw 72.18 m for the win here, a mark that would have put him 4th in Oregon.



In the men's 5000 m, Paul Kamais of Sera H.S., the same school to bring the world Bedan Karoki and Joseph Gitau, ran a 2:29 final kilometer for the win in 13:45.12, dropping last year's 2nd-placer Charles Ndungu (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) to be runner-up again in 13:48.83.  #1-ranked Japanese runner Fuminori Shimo (Iga Hakuho H.S.) and World Juniors team member Shota Onizuka (Omuta H.S.) were the only Japanese athletes to go with the lead pack of five Kenyans, but where Onizuka fell off early Shimo lasted until nearly the last push, ahead of Isaac Mbuguru (Kaishi Kokusai H.S.) until the last 50 m before losing out to take 6th in 14:18.16.

The day's other main distance action came with the qualifying heats for the girls' 3000 m, always the most competitive event on the schedule.  All 18 qualifiers for the final cleared 9:28 to get there, Shinobu Koyoshikawa (Sera H.S.) topping the list with a 9:21.81 to win Heat 3.  2nd through 4th place in Heat 3 were also under 9:22, with Harumi Okamoto (Tokiwa H.S.) winning Heat 1 in 9:22.98 and Kenyan Mariam Waithera (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) claiming Heat 2 in 9:23.30.  The final closes out the last day of the National Championships on Sunday, with the team titles still up for grabs.  Kanagawa prefecture's Soyo H.S. leads the boys' standings with 29 points, its closest rival Hanazono H.S. of Kyoto holding 23 points.  On the girls' side, Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S. leads with 29 points, Shimane prefecture's Matsue Shugyo H.S. holding up 2nd with 22.  Tokyo H.S. is a close third in both the boys' and girls' divisions, making for an exciting meet-ender tomorrow.

2014 National High School Track and Field Championships Day Four
Kofu, Yamanashi, Aug. 2
click here for official results
click here for comprehensive results in English

Boys' 5000 m Final
1. Paul Kamais (Sera H.S.) - 13:45.12
2. Charles Ndungu (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) - 13:48.83
3. Silas Kingori (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 13:51.36
4. John Kariuki (Aomori Yamada H.S.) - 13:57.47
5. Isaac Mbuguru (Kaishi Kokusai H.S.) - 14:17.79
6. Fuminori Shimo (Iga Hakuho H.S.) - 14:18.16
7. Shota Onizuka (Omuta H.S.) - 14:20.64
8. Takumi Kato (Narita H.S.) - 14:21.39
9. Shiki Shinsako (Sera H.S.) - 14:23.48
10. Atsushi Yamato (Aichi H.S.) - 14:23.99

Girls' 3000 m Qualifiers
Shinobu Koyoshikawa (Sera H.S.) - 9:21.81 (Heat 3)
Mina Kato (Hakuoh Joshi H.S.) - 9:21.84 (Heat 3)
Airi Tanaka (Asahikawa Ryukoku H.S.) - 9:21.90 (Heat 3)
Nao Yamamoto (Tokiha Gakuen Kikugawa H.S.) - 9:21.92 (Heat 3)
Harumi Okamoto (Tokiwa H.S.) - 9:22.98 (Heat 1)
Kureha Seki (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 9:23.26 (Heat 1)
Mariam Waithera (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 9:23.30 (Heat 2)
Kaede Mikada (Hanawa H.S.) - 9:23.59 (Heat 1)
Kanako Yahagi (Aomori Yamada H.S.) - 9:23.82 (Heat 1)
Yuri Nozoe (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 9:23.88 (Heat 1)
Nodoka Aoki (Mashita Seifu H.S.) - 9:24.29 (Heat 2)
Monica Margaret (Aomori Yamada H.S.) - 9:24.61 (Heat 3)
Kyoka Nakagawa (Kumamoto Shinai Joshin Gakuin H.S.) - 9:24.83 (Heat 3)
Kyoko Tokunaga (Shimahara H.S.) - 9:26.66 (Heat 1)
Yuka Kobayashi (Tokiwa H.S.) - 9:27.33 (Heat 2)
Miyu Hatakeyama (Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.) - 9:27.41 (Heat 1)
Kanako Takemoto (Saikyo H.S.) - 9:27.43 (Heat 2)
Misato Kagayama (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 9:27.45 (Heat 2)

Boys' 800 m Final
1. Renya Maeda (Funabashi Municipal H.S.) - 1:51.59
2. Haruki Nishimura (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 1:52.15
3. Tomoya Ogawa (Soyo H.S.) - 1:52.38
4. Motoki Nabeshima (Katsura H.S.) - 1:52.43
5. Ryusei Sakuraoka (Morioka Minami H.S.) - 1:52.80
6. Kenta Masuda (Hokuriku H.S.) - 1:53.04
7. Koei Kobayashi (Toyo Prep Ushiku H.S.) - 1:53.49
8. Suguru Otaguro (Taragi H.S.) - 1:53.73

Girls' 800 m Final
1. Hina Takahashi (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 2:08.71
2. Haruko Ishizuka (Higashi Osaka Prep Keiai H.S.) - 2:09.61
3. Tomoka Mukai (Shigakukan H.S.) - 2:09.80
4. Nana Kuraoka (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) - 2:09.85
5. Masumi Okuda (Tokyo H.S.) - 2:10.22
6. Mina Ueda (Narita H.S.) - 2:10.54
7. Airi Hagiwara (Niijima Gakuen H.S.) - 2:11.01
8. Sae Shuto (Oita Nishi H.S.) - 2:11.16

Boys' 200 m Final -1.6
1. Kyosuke Konno (Soyo H.S.) - 21.08
2. Hakim Sunni Brown (Josai H.S.) - 21.21
3. Jun Yamashita (Fukushima H.S.) - 21.27
4. Hirotaka Takamatsu (Hokkaido Shogyo H.S.) - 21.38
5. Shunto Nagata (Isahaya H.S.) - 21.40
6. Kenta Oshima (Tokyo H.S.) - 21.47
7. Koki Mogami (Morioka Minami H.S.) - 21.58
8. Shunya Kawabe (Hosei Prep Daini H.S.) - 21.66

Girls' 200 m Final -0.5
1. Seika Aoyama (Matsue Shogyo H.S.) - 23.86
2. Kotomi Eguchi (Shohei H.S.) - 24.21
3. Hinako Sato (Sakata Minami H.S.) - 24.22
4. Tomomi Kawamura (Morioka Daiichi H.S.) - 24.54
5. Risa Akita (Seiryo H.S.) - 24.54
6. Akari Masunaga (Nagareyama H.S.) - 24.56
7. Mizuki Kajiura (Aichi H.S.) - 24.75
8. Sayaka Shibayama (Shigakukan H.S.) - 24.75

Boys' High Jump
1. Yuji Hiramatsu (Shijoyo H.S.) - 2.19 m
2. Shuichi Matsumoto (Isahaya Nogyo H.S.) - 2.16 m
3. Kentaro Kato (Suzuka Kogyo H.S.) - 2.10 m
4. Takeshi Kamibeppu (Kagoshima Shogyo H.S.) - 2.10 m
5. Kiyosuke Nakajima (Anjo Gakuen H.S.) - 2.07 m

Girls' Long Jump
1. Rei Mizuguchi (Shiraume H.S.) - 6.14 m +1.9
2. Yumi Uchinokura (Konan H.S.) - 6.03 m -0.1
3. Kanon Hamamoto (Himeji Shogyo H.S.) - 5.89 m +1.0
4. Yukino Tanaka (Saitama Sakae H.S.) - 5.84 m +0.8
5. Miki Takeshima (Nagasaki Nishi H.S.) - 5.84 m +0.9

Boys' Javelin Throw
1. Shu Mori (Imabari Meitoku H.S.) - 72.18 m
2. Ayumu Ishiyama (Hanazono H.S.) - 69.68 m
3. Kensei Hanada (Jiyugaoka H.S.) - 67.29 m
4. Tatsuya Sakamoto (Ichinomiya Minami H.S.) - 66.02 m
5. Atsushi Kawano (Miyazaki Kogyo H.S.) - 65.74 m

Girls' Heptathlon
1. Meg Hemphill (Kyoto Bunkyo H.S.) - 5519 - Jr. NR, HS NR, MR
2. Konoka Takahashi (Shiraume H.S.) - 5118
3. Tomomi Nono (Saikyo H.S.) - 5079
4. Juri Sawada (Shiraume H.S.) - 5018
5. Azusa Ueno (Koku Gakuin Prep Tochigi H.S.) - 4921

(c) 2014 Brett Larner, all rights reserved 
photo (c) 2014 Kazuyuki Sugimatsu, all rights reserved

Comments

Anonymous said…
Brett -- as always, thanks for your reports! Re Meg Hemphill -- any chance you could post other information about her, or link to something about her, or even interview her? Interested to know more about her, her training, etc. Thanks!
Brett Larner said…
Most people don't get what they want in life simply because they never ask. Composite translation article posted Aug. 5.

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