Past UNICON and Standard Skill results

In a message dated 96-01-02 14:47:04 EST, Andy Cotter wrote:

>What I looking for was how the Japanese did in both racing and standard. Now
>with racing adding 3 additional races to become the World Champion it opens up
>the playing field (not for me but possibly other USA competitors). Since Unicon
>VI is the last Unicon where we have access to Japenese racing records it would
>be nice to see how good the best times were in the 6 official races and what
>country acheived that time.

So. I thought you wanted this information for humanitarian reasons. To
objectively share it witht the world, but NO! You just want to see how you and
your friends can get an edge on the competition next summer, heh heh heh.
Nothing wrong with that. Any smart competitor should know what they’re up
against, so I’ll share the results with all of you out there.

This is only a partial compilation from World UNICON VI, 1992, Quebec, Canada.

STANDARD SKILL, FEMALE (only finishing scores are available): -10

  1. Cindy Torres PR 231.42
  2. Mika Hirasawa JP 222.95
  3. Gina Messamer US 200.80 (whew) -12
  4. Miho Suzukake JP 215.45 13-14
  5. Ayako Kurihara JP 238.22
  6. Michelle Herrera DR 222.10 (Dominican Republic/New York City)
  7. Tomomi Sakamoto JP 220.98
  8. Millca Terrero DR 218.85
  9. Kyoko Nakazato JP 218.20 15-18
  10. Yumiko Ichikawa JP 236.32
  11. Hiromi Hirasawa JP 236.12
  12. Akino Izumida JP 219.72 EXPERT
  13. Miyuki Koyama JP 266.08
  14. Margarita Ruiz PR 258.50
  15. Constance Cotter US 233.63

STANDARD SKILL, MALE -12
16. Jun Kitazawa JP 224.60
17. Kiroko Suzukake JP 204.88 13-14
18. Takayuki Kanoo JP 245.68
19. Seiji Ishii JP 237.42
20. Yuuta Kitazawa JP 234.05
21. Daiki Izumida JP 231.98 15-18
22. Manabu Misonoo JP 264.38
23. Noriaki Handa JP 242.18
24. Marc Bolduc CA 234.95
25. Takashi Ashino JP 233.72
26. Takayuki Nagayama JP 226.62
27. Dale Granberry US 224.32 19-29
28. Anthony Hernandez PR 251.18
29. Andy Cotter US 248.62
30. Yoshiaki Handa JP 247.70
31. Wanja Lindner DE 233.80
32. Gilles LeBlanc CA 229.20
33. Thomas Geib DE 218.90 30-39
34. Bill Gilbertson US 227.10
35. Seth Granberry US 220.12
36. Nick Messamer US 204.10 EXPERT
37. Jose Roman PR 272.90
38. Javier Ruiz PR 272.25
39. Carlos Medina PR 268.52
40. Yuichiro Kato JP 247.50
41. Yuuichi Ono JP 241.85
42. Ken Fuchs US 236.80

STANDARD SKILL WORLD RECORDS These are the top three scores for male and female
from competitions at UNICONs IV through VII, and USA competitions in '94 and
'95 (I don’t have full results from '94). The only thing not consistent over
the years was the level of judge training. UNICONs IV and V scores may not be
as accurate.

FEMALE (all competed as experts)
43. Miyuki Koyama JP 266.08 UNICON VI, 1992
44. Dana Schneider US 259.25 (261.5) NUC, 1995
45. Margarita Ruiz PR 258.50 UNICON VI, 1992

MALE (all competed as experts)
46. Jose Roman PR 273.8 UNICON V, 1991 (and
47.9 at U. VI)
48. Javier Ruiz PR 272.25 UNICON V, 1991 (and
49.33 at U. VI)
50. Carlos Medina PR 268.52 UNICON VI, 1994
Note: These three names, in the same order, occupy the same three places at
the past three UNICONs!

RACING: In the past, the World Racing Champion was chosen from their combined
results in 3 races; the 100m, 400m and 1500m. At USA conventions, the champions
are decided from combined results in almost all of the races. At UNICON VIII,
the World Racing Champions will be the riders who do the best in the 100, 400,
1500, One Foot, Walk the Wheel and Obstacle Course. These last three races are
not standard events in Japan (which has the fastest, and most, riders in
standard track races). Japan dominated at UNICON VI, partially because of the
sheer size of the Japanese team, but mostly because they are GOOD RIDERS! An
awful lot of unicycle racing goes on in Japan, with over 20 meets per year that
are all larger than the USA conventions. Here are the UNICON VI results from the
top 6 racing events:

100m FEMALE

  1. Yumiko Ichikawa JP 14.9 (UNICON record with tailwind)
  2. Tomomi Sakamoto JP 15.0
  3. Ai Yamada JP 15.3

100m MALE
4. Yuichiro Kato JP 13.1 (UNICON record with tailwind)
5. Daisuke Kawamura JP 13.2
6. Yuuichi Ono JP 13.4 (talk about photo finishes!)

400m FEMALE
7. Ai Yamada JP 1:11.4
8. Kyooko Nakazato JP 1:12.0 (13-14)
9. Tomomi Sakamoto JP 1:13.9

400m MALE
10. Daisuke Kawamura JP 1:01.6
11. Eri Funamizu JP 1:02.0
12. Manabu Misonoo JP 1:02.8

1500m FEMALE
13. Kyooko Nakazato JP 4:52.0 (13-14)
14. Tomomi Sakamoto JP 4:52.2
15. Miyuki Koyama JP 4:53.5

1500m MALE
16. Manabu Misonoo JP 4:18.5
17. Daisuke Kawamura JP 4:22.7
18. Andy Cotter US 4:23.3

50m One Foot FEMALE
19. Margarita Ruiz PR 10.8
20. Kyooko Nakazato JP 11.0
21. Risa Somoda JP 11.0

50m One Foot MALE
22. Yuichiro Kato JP 8.3
23. Yuuichi Ono JP 8.6
24. Tadamasa Takagi JP 8.7

30m Walk the Wheel FEMALE
25. Miyuki Koyama JP 9.2 (World Record)
26. Ai Yamada JP 10.2
27. Tomomi Sakamoto JP 10.8

30m Walk the Wheel MALE
28. Yuichiro Kato JP 8.0 (World Record)
29. Yuuichi Ono JP 8.1
30. Tadamasa Takagi JP 9.0

Obstacle Course FEMALE
31. Amy Edwards US 23.59 (World Record)
32. Abby Cernkovich US 24.26 (0-12)
33. Eri Funamizu JP 24.89

Obstacle Course MALE
34. John Foss US 20.01
35. Dale Granberry US 21.02 (15-18)
36. Anthony Hernandez PR 21.45 (19-29)

Yes, very strong racing from the Japanese team. I don’t know how accurate these
times were recorded. As you can see there are no hundredths of seconds, and lots
of the names were also spelled wrong. Below are the world records, to the best
of my knowledge. I’m fairly positive that faster times than these have been set
in Japan (in the 100m and 400m), but I don’t know what those times are.

100m FEMALE 14.9 (with tailwind) Yumiko Ichikawa JP 1992 Quebec
37.02 (no tailwind) Tomomi Saisho JP 1987 Tokyo
(UNICON III)

100m MALE 12.54 (Guinness; unknown crank length) Peter Rosendahl of Sweden
38.1 (approx.)(cranks less than 5") Yuichiro Kato,
1994(?) Japan
39.74 (previous Guinness; 5" cranks) Peter Rosendahl,
in Las Vegas

400m FEMALE 1:04.81 Tomomi Saisho JP 1987 Tokyo (UNICON III) 400m MALE 58.49
Tadamasa Takagi JP 1990 Tokyo (Japan Nationals)

1500m FEMALE 4:36.30 Tomomi Saisho JP 1987 Tokyo (UNICON III) 1500m MALE 4:12.78
John Foss US 1991 Hull, Canada (UNICON
V)

50m One Foot FEMALE 9.84 Risa Shohhuku JP 1988 Puerto Rico (U. IV) 50m One Foot
MALE 7.98 John Foss US 1988 Puerto Rico (U.
VI)

30m Wheel Walk FEMALE 9.20 Miyuki Koyama JP 1992 Quebec (U. VI) 30m Wheel Walk
MALE 8.0 Yuichiro Kato JP 1992 Quebec (U.VI)

Obstacle Course FEMALE 23.59 Amy Edwards US 1992 Quebec (U. VI) Obstacle Course
MALE 19.80 John Foss US 1993 Adrian, MI (NUM)

I can’t believe I STILL hold some of those records. Now get out there (in the
snow or whatever) and practice! And make your plans to attend World UNICON VIII
in England this August!

John Foss unicycle@aol.com