Keiji Shirahata cruised home to set a meet record in winning the men's 5,000 meter race Saturday at the speed skating nationals in Nagano, establishing the overnight lead with 76.704 points after the first day.
Meanwhile, in-form Maki Tabata, bidding for a fourth-straight women's overall title in the two-day meet at M-Wave indoor oval in Nagano, emerged as the early pacesetter with 82.333 points after winning the 3,000 in a new championship time.
Long-distance specialist Shirahata could only scrape a sixth-place finish in the 500-m sprint, but easily outpaced his rivals in the 5,000 as he crossed the finish line in 6 minutes 33.54 seconds. The win virtually guaranteed Shirahata and second-placed Toshihiko Itokawa, who clocked 6:36.24, a place on the Japanese team for February's Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Meji University junior Hiroki Hirako placed third in 6:40.59. Takahiro Ushiyama placed second overall with 76.963 points after finishing fourth and fifth in the 500 and 5,000 respectively, while Hiroyuki Noake followed in third with 77.679.
In the women's field, Tabata, who took her second World Cup bronze medal of the season in the 5,000 in the Netherlands last month, clocked a meet record time of 4:14.24 in the 3,000, and her fourth-place finish in the 500 was good enough for the first-day lead. World Cup teammate Aki Tonokie was second overall on 83.785 with Eriko Seo third on 83.885.
Japan's top sprinters, including men's 500-m Olympic champion Hiroyasu Shimizu and Toyoki Takeda, are not competing in the championships.