Ichikawa Over Shitara Twins at Isesaki Nighter

by Brett Larner

2012 Hakone Ekiden course record-setter Toyo University dominated rival and previous Hakone course record holder Waseda University in the men's 3000 m at the 2012 Trial in Isesaki night meet organized by Jobu University. Toyo's downhill specialist Takanori Ichikawa ran up front with twin teammates Yuta Shitara and Keita Shitara, emerging a step ahead of Yuta for the win as both broke eight minutes. Keita, until recently the stronger of the twins, fell behind late in the race but held on for third in 8:07.12. Waseda's top finisher Fuminori Shikata could do no better than 5th a second back from Keita.

All told Toyo athletes took eight of the top ten spots, boding well for their chances in the upcoming fall ekiden season and their Hakone title defense on Jan. 2-3. Look for Toyo to line up in next month's Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon.

2012 Trial in Isesaki
Jobu University, Isesaki, Gunma, 7/21/12
click here for complete results

Men's 3000 m
1. Takanori Ichikawa (Toyo Univ.) - 7:59.16
2. Yuta Shitara (Toyo Univ.) - 7:59.97
3. Keita Shitara (Toyo Univ.) - 8:07.12
4. Hiroaki Koike (Toyo Univ.) - 8:07.28
5. Fuminori Shikata (Waseda Univ.) - 8:08.35
6. Masaya Taguchi (Toyo Univ.) - 8:10.51
7. Kento Otsu (Toyo Univ.) - 8:10.96
8. Norihisa Imai (Toyo Univ.) - 8:12.33
9. Jun Nobuto (Toyo Univ.) - 8:17.74
10. Shun Sato (Jobu Univ.) - 8:19.76

(c) 2012 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

World Championships Medalist Racewalking Coach Mizuho Sakai Recognized With Highest Coaching Honor

The 2023 Mizuno Sports Mentor Awards recognizing excellence in coaching were held Apr. 23 in Tokyo. Toyo University assistant coach and race walking coach Mizuho Sakai was given a gold award, the program's highest honor, and expressed her thanks and joy in a speech at the award ceremony. The coach of 2023 Budapest World Championships men's 35 km race walk bronze medalist Masatora Kawano , Sakai said, "This is an incredible honor and I'm truly grateful. As a child I wanted to be in the sporting world and I've spent my life in that world. My end goal was always to play a supporting role for other athletes, so I'm honored to be recognized in this way." Sakai's husband Toshiyuki Sakai , head coach of Toyo's three-time Hakone Ekiden champion team, attended the awards gala with her and was also introduced to the audience. After bowing he took a seat in front of her and watched with warmth as she received recognition for her outstanding work. The Mizun

The Ivy League at the Izumo Ekiden in Review

Last week I was contacted by Will Geiken , who I'd met years ago when he was a part of the Ivy League Select Team at the Izumo Ekiden . He was looking for historical results from Izumo and lists of past team members, and I was able to put together a pretty much complete history, only missing the alternates from 1998 to 2010 and a little shaky on the reverse transliterations of some of the names from katakana back into the Western alphabet for the same years. Feel free to send corrections or additions to alternate lists. It's interesting to go back and see some names that went on to be familiar, to see the people who made an impact like Princeton's Paul Morrison , Cornell's Max King , Stanford's Brendan Gregg in one of the years the team opened up beyond the Ivy League, Cornell's Ben de Haan , Princeton's Matt McDonald , and Harvard's Hugo Milner last year, and some of the people who struggled with the format. 1998 Team: 15th of 21 overall, 2:14:10 (43

Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes - Weekend Road Roundup

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was back to running performances consistent with his other PBs with a 1:02:30 for 8th. His AGU teammate Kyosuke Hiramatsu was 10th in 1:04:00. Women's winner Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) also set a new CR in 1:09:57. Aoyama Gakuin runners took the top four spots in the men's half marathon at the Aomori Sakura Marathon , with Hakone alternate Kosei Shiraishi getting the win in 1:04:32 and B-team members Shunto Hamakawa and Kei Kitamura 2nd and 3rd in 1:04:45 and 1:04:48. Club runners took the other division titles, Hina Shinozaki winning the women's half

japan running news

Search This Blog