Hironaka and Nakaya Win National XC Junior Races, Kimura and Osako Take Senior Titles

Top-ranked high schoolers Ririka Hironaka (Nagasaki Shogyo H.S.) and Yuhi Nakaya (Saku Chosei H.S.) won the junior titles at Saturday's National Cross-Country Championships in Fukuoka's Umi no Nakamichi Kaihin Park.

With some of her main competition including Nozomi Tanaka (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) on a training camp in Australia, Hironaka's primary challenge in the U20 Women's 6 km came from Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) who pushed her throughout the race but couldn't keep up in the later stages. Hironaka won in 19:50 by a margin of 8 seconds over Takamatsu, the pair the only ones to break 20 minutes.

Nakaya, star runner of 2017 National High School Ekiden champ Saku Chosei H.S. with accomplishments including a 13:47.22 best for 5000 m last October, outclassed the field to win the U20 Men's 8 km in 24:05 by 12 seconds over Takuro Miura (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.). His Saku Chosei teammates Sakito Matsuzaki and Keita Honma took 3rd and 5th for a typically dominant team performance.

In the Senior Women's 8 km, Rika Kaseda of 2017 National University Women's Ekiden winner Meijo University did most of the hard work early in the race, but with a run of sheer relentlessness Tomoka Kimura (Universal Entertainment) pulled ahead to win in 26:31 over corporate league competition Yukari Abe (Shimamura) and Rina Nabeshima (Japan Post). Sub-32 for 10000 m, Yuki Munehisa (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) ran Kaseda down to take the top collegiate spot at 4th in 26:44, Kaseda another 11 seconds back in 5th. Along with 8th placer Rino Goshima (Chuo Univ.) both were selected for the Japanese women's team for April's World University Cross Country Championships in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

In the Senior Men's 10 km, 2012 winner Suguru Osako (NOP), a Saku Chosei graduate, did what he did best, laying back for the first three laps of the 2 km course before sealing the race with a long push. In the past Osako has often fallen victim to overestimating his last kick. Here he judged his timing perfectly to avoid the shortcoming, just out of range of the hard-kicking Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) and Toyo University teammates Kazuya Nishiyama and Shunsuke Imamura in the home straight. Toyo dominated the collegiate component of the race, with Nishiyama, Imamura and Toyo's Sota Watanabe, 6th overall, picked for the World University XC team.

National Cross-Country Championships

Umi no Nakamichi Kaihin Park XC Course
Fukuoka, 2/24/18

U20 Women's 6 km
1. Ririka Hironaka (Nagasaki Shogyo H.S.) - 19:50
2. Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 19:58
3. Yuna Wada (Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 20:02
4. Narumi Kobayashi (Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 20:02
5. Miku Moribayashi (Isahaya H.S.) - 20:05

U20 Men's 8 km
1. Yuhi Nakaya (Saku Chosei H.S.) - 24:05
2. Takuro Miura (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 24:17
3. Sakito Matsuzaki (Saku Chosei H.S.) - 24:23
4. Soshi Suzuki (Hamamatsu Nittai H.S.) - 24:26
5. Keita Honma (Saku Chosei H.S.) - 24:31

Senior Women's 8 km
1. Tomoka Kimura (Univ. Ent.) - 26:31
2. Yukari Abe (Shimamura) - 26:34
3. Rina Nabeshima (Japan Post) - 26:39
4. Yuki Munehisa (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 26:44
5. Rika Kaseda (Meijo Univ.) - 26:55
6. Yuko Kikuchi (Hokuren) - 26:58
7. Nanami Watanabe (Panasonic) - 27:11
8. Rino Goshima (Chuo Univ.) - 27:14

Senior Men's 10 km
1. Suguru Osako (NOP) - 29:53
2. Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) - 29:57
3. Kazuya Nishiyama (Toyo Univ.) - 29:58
4. Shunsuke Imanishi (Toyo Univ.) - 30:01
5. Shin Kimura (Honda) - 30:05
6. Sota Watanabe (Toyo Univ.) - 30:06
7. Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota) - 30:06
8. Kazuma Taira (Kanebo) - 30:06

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Two-Time Olympic Marathon Medalist Erick Wainaina Referred to Prosectors on Suspicion of Assault

According to investigators, two-time Olympic marathon medalist Erick Wainaina has had his case referred to prosecutors after allegedly injuring a railway employee by striking him in the face at a station in Setagaya, Tokyo. Wainaina, 50, was the bronze medalist in the marathon at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and won silver in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Wainaina is suspected of assaulting a woman in her late teens and a male Tokyo Denentoshi Line employee by hitting them in the face during an altercation at Komazawa University Station in March this year, resulting in minor injuries to the man's face. According to investigators, the incident began on the train between Wainaina and the woman, and after getting off at Komazawa University Station he hit her in the face when she asked him to go to the station office with her to report it. When the male railway employee responded to the situation Wainaina reportedly hit him too. In response to questioning Wainaina is said to have answered,

Wanjiru Breaks Own MR, Fuwa and Ishida Return - Kanto Regionals Day 1 Highlights

Japan's best college meet kicked off Thursday at Tokyo's National Stadium at the 103rd Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships . Looking like she was doing a controlled tempo run, 2nd-yr Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) lapped the entire field to win the women's 10000 m in a meet record 32:02.87, almost 15 seconds under the record she last year in her debut. 3rd-yr Aoi Takahashi (Josai Univ.) was 2nd in 33:29.22 and 2nd-yr Nana Nagashima (Josai Kokusai Univ.) 3rd in a PB 33:30.28, but the other main news alongside Wanjiru's new record was the return of collegiate 10000 m record holder Seira Fuwa (Takushoku Univ.) in her first 10000 m in 19 months. Fuwa hung at the back of the chase pack for the first half, made a move to lead it in the second half, and ultimately faded to 9th in 33:40.20. Every comeback has to start somewhere. The D1 men's 10000 m had a tight group up front with the top 6 all finishing within 6 seconds and under 28:10. 3rd-yr Jam

Police Arrest 20-Year-Old Man Charged With Assaulting Female Runner at Popular Tokyo Running Spot

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a female runner along the banks of the Tama River in Ota Ward, Tokyo. "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go for a walk and move my body a bit," the man told police. Local resident Hirai Muroyama , 20, of no known occupation, was arrested on charges of sexual assault. He is accused of acts including grabbing the breasts of a woman in her 20s at around 10 p.m. on May 31 along the banks of the Tama River. According to police, the woman was taking a break in her run when Muroyama approached her silently from behind and grabbed her breasts before running away. Under police interrogation Muroyama told investigators, "I've been stuck at home because of the coronavirus, so I wanted to go out for a walk and move my body. I'd had a few drinks and was feeling pretty hype. She was totally my type." source article: https://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newsey

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