Maki Tabata won her fourth straight overall title while posting a meet record in the 1,500 meters and Keiji Shirahata claimed a record seventh men's title at the Japan's speedskating National Championships on Sunday.
Tabata, who has won two World Cup bronze medals this season, collected a championship record total of 166.471 points after winning two of the women's four races held in the two-day meet at the M-Wave indoor oval in Nagano.
Eriko Seo compiled 170.132 points to take second and Nami Nemoto followed in third on 170.160. In Sunday's races, overnight leader Tabata won the 1,500 by rewriting the meet record with a time of 2 minutes, 0.07 second and sealed her overall title with a runnerup finish in the 5,000. Nemoto pulled away to a 5,000-meter victory in a meet-record 7:21.01, barely outpacing Tabata by 0.14 of a second.
In the men's field, long-distance specialist Keiji Shirahata retained his first-day lead as he won the 10,000 on his way to a winning total of 155.236 points, also a championship record.
Takahiro Ushiyama placed second with 156.573 and Toshihiko Itokawa third with 157.260.