Skip to main content

Ritsumeikan's Nishino Wins Kansai Div. I Half-Marathon

http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/article.php?mid=P2009043000234&genre=L1&area=K00

translated by Brett Larner

On the first day of western Japan's Kansai University Track and Field Championships in Osaka on Apr. 30, Division I runner Tomoya Nishino (Ritsumeikan Univ.) scored his first win in the half marathon. Nishino covered the loop course around Osaka's Nagai Park in 1:06:47 to take the win, with 2nd place finisher Yoshiki Sekitani (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) 19 seconds back in 1:07:06. The 3rd and 4th place finishers were also from Ritsumeikan University, with six of the top eight runners hailing from Kyoto-based schools.

Division II Tanzanian exchange student Jackson Kwarai (Nara Sangyo Univ.) was the first finisher overall in 1:06:26. Kwarai was the pivotal figure in the race, with a lead group of five or six taking shape around him. When he sped up at 15 km the other runners dropped off one by one, but Nishino tried to hang on with all his might.

Many of the same athletes will run again in the remaining four days of the Kansai University Championships. The competitions on May 8th and 9th will take place in Nishikogyo Stadium, while those on the 16th and 17th will be at Nagai Stadium's secondary track.

Translator's note: Despite the wording of the article and headline, it sounds as though Kwarai actually won the race. Nishino was the top Div. I runner and most likely the top Japanese finisher.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Goshima and Kasai Win 10000 m National Titles, Maeda Breaks U20 Asian Record

Rino Goshima and Jun Kasai stepped up with PBs to win the 2024 National Championships 10000 m titles Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. In the women's race, Goshima, 4th in last December's 2023 National Championships 10000 m, went out front from the start with Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich pacing and 2023 3rd-placer Haruka Kokai in tow. Things were never on track to hit the 30:40.00 Paris Olympics standard, but except for a brief dip to 3:08 at 7000 m Goshima held steady at 3:05 to 3:06/km even as Kokai and Jepngetich fell off. With blood dripping from her left knee after getting spiked by Jepngetich, Goshima closed in 3:03 to take 5 seconds off her best from December's Nationals and win in 30:53.31, moving up to all-time Japanese #6. Jepngetich also PBd at 31:09.42 without counting in the standings, with Kokai 2nd in 31:10.53 and Kazuna Kanetomo 3rd in a PB 31:59.29. The runner-up last time, Yuka Takashima was last in 33:33.27. The men's race went out in a

10000 m National Championships Preview

  Less than five months since the 2023 10000 m National Championships went down at the 2021 Olympic stadium in Tokyo, the 2024 edition happens Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium, with NHK broadcasting it live starting at 19:25 local time. Doubling up on Nationals like this lets Japanese athletes double dip on placing points to try to get into the Paris Olympics on rankings. But between the number of people who've hit the 30:40.00 women's standard and 27:00.00 men's standard and the lopsided eight spots given away to top placers at World XC, there are only four women's spots and three men's available via rankings. Of those, three of the four women's spots and two of the three men's spots are currently occupied by top placers at December's 2023 Nationals, Ririka Hironaka , Haruka Kokai and Rino Goshima for women and Ren Tazawa and Tomoki Ota for men. The 2023 Nationals did get close to the standards, with Hironaka leading the top four women under

Golden Games in Nobeoka Top Results

  For everyone not running yesterday's 10000 m National Championships , where the Asahi Kasei corporate team dominated the men's race with four out of four men sub-28 including winner Jun Kasai , 27:17.46, the grand dame of Japan's long distance time trial circuit was happening on AK's home ground in Miyazaki at the Golden Games in Nobeoka . Not including kids' races, a total of 74 women and 227 men ran in 14 heats of 5000 m, with a packed-in crowd of fans lining the track beating on metal sponsor boards with batons. It's a pretty awesome meet, and memorable performances included: National champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. standout Caroline Kariba continued to kill it in the second month of her corporate league career, winning the 5000 m A-heat in 15:00.95 in a race where 3 out of the top 4 including her ran PBs. National champion Meijo University seemed flat at this point in the season, with none of its people under 16 minutes and star Nanase Tanimoto leading