Skip to main content

Nagano Set For National Interprefectural Ekiden Title Defense

http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=200901/2009011500556&rel=j&g=spo
http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2009011700250

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The 14th annual National Interprefectural Men's Ekiden takes place Jan. 18, covering a 7-stage, 48-km course starting and finishing at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park. This year's race looks set to be a battle between defending champion Nagano Prefecture and 2007 winner Hyogo Prefecture.

Last year Nagano took its fourth national title in five years; this year the team is even stronger thanks to the addition of the heart of Nagano's Saku Chosei High School team, the 2008 National High School Boys' Ekiden champion. Saku Chosei's Akinobu Murasawa, Sugeru Osako, Shota Hiraga and Kenta Chiba will all run for Nagano, along with Hakone Ekiden greats Yuki Sato (Tokai Univ.), Kodai Matsumoto (Meiji Univ.) and Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B), all three of whom are Saku Chosei alumni. Barring an accident a repeat win for Nagano looks all but inevitable.

Nagano's strongest challenger may be Hyogo Prefecture, ranked #1 among the 47 prefectural teams based on aggregate time and the last team to beat Nagano. Much will depend upon Hyogo's contingent from the powerhouses Nishiwaki Kogyo High School and Suma Gakuen High School, but the return of Hakone star Masato Kihara (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) on the 3rd stage and of anchor Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin), now a nationally-ranked professional, will make the race extremely interesting to say the least.

Fukushima may well be the most anticipated of the 47 teams, as Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.), who became a national star after running a spectacular new stage record on the 5th leg of this year's Hakone Ekiden, will run the 3rd stage for the team. Beijing Olympics marathoner Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) will likewise return to anchor his 'hometown' Fukushima team. Hurting Fukushima's chances is the decision of Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu), whose 'unbreakable' Hakone Ekiden 5th stage record Kashiwabara took down this year, to run for his current base of Fukuoka rather than returning home to join Kashiwabara and Sato. Sato's fellow Beijing Olympian Takayuki Matsumiya will run for his native Akita Prefecture.

Other strong teams looking for their first wins include hosts Hiroshima, along with Saitama, Yamaguchi, Aichi, Kagoshima and Fukuoka.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...
1 comment
Read more

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...
Post a Comment
Read more