Skip to main content

Junior Women Score Bronze Medal at World XC

by Brett Larner

Click here for a gallery of photos from the 2009 World Cross Country Championships.

Once again, Japan's junior women's squad led the way at the 2009 World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan, scoring the overall team bronze medal while the Japanese teams in the other three races came up empty-handed. Junior woman Nanaka Izawa had the strongest individual finish of the day, 17th, followed closely by scoring members Erika Ikeda, Asami Kato and Aki Otagiri, and by 5th runner Chitose Shibata.

The senior men's and women's squads had modest improvements over last year, the men finishing 11th despite missing ace Yuta Takahashi, and the women 8th, led by Yuko Shimizu's strong 18th place finish. Only the junior men showed a decline, the three members of 2008 National High School Ekiden champions Saku Chosei H.S. and aces Wataru Ueno, Kazuto Nishiike and Yutaro Fukushi coming in only 8th after last year's 4th place finish. Star runner Akinobu Murasawa led the junior men's race in its earliest stages but finished a disappointing 27th.

Complete results for the Japanese teams are listed below. Click each division header for overall results.

2009 World Cross Country Championships - Amman, Jordan
Junior Women 6 km - 3rd
Nanaka Izawa - 21:27 (17th)
Erika Ikeda - 21:30 (18th)
Asami Kato - 21:33 (20th)
Aki Otagiri - 21:40 (21st)
Chitose Shibata - 21:47 (22nd)
Emi Kameyama - 22:51 (36th)

Junior Men 8 km - 8th
Akinobu Murasawa - 24:46 (27th)
Wataru Ueno - 25:30 (40th)
Shota Hattori - 25:32 (42nd)
Kazuto Nishiike - 25:39 (44th)
Kenta Chiba - 25:44 (45th)
Yutaro Fukushi - 26:38 (73rd)

Senior Women 8 km - 8th
Yuko Shimizu - 28:02 (18th)
Kazuka Wakatsuki - 28:54 (45th)
Korei Omata - 28:56 (48th)
Chisa Nishio - 29:05 (54th)
Yuki Numata - 29:48 (68th)
Tomoka Inadomi - 30:07 (72nd)

Senior Men 12 km - 11th
Suehiro Ishikawa - 37:11 (47th)
Seigo Ikegami - 37:38 (59th)
Hiroyoshi Umegae - 37:47 (64th)
Naoki Okamoto - 38:02 (76th)
Makoto Fukui - 38:43 (94th)
Yuta Takahashi - DNS

(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Japan Post Holds Off Sekisui Kagaku to Win Queens Ekiden National Title

  Japan Post  was back on top at the Queens Ekiden corporate women's national championships Sunday in Sendai, holding off last year's winner Sekisui Kagaku  over the second half of a race that came as close as 1 second to take 1st with a final margin of victory of 27 seconds. Sekisui Kagaku was out fast with a win on the 7.0 km opening leg by Erika Tanoura  and a new CR for the 12:56 second leg by Yuma Yamamoto , 17 seconds better than her own CR from last year. Last year's 4th-placer Shiseido  briefly led on the 10.6 km third leg with an excellent 33:17 stage win from Rino Goshima , but behind her Japan Post's Ririka Hironaka  returned from her latest injury problems to pass Sekisui Kagaku's Sayaka Sato  and hand off 6 seconds ahead. New recruit Caroline Kariba  ran Shiseido down on the 3.6 km fourth leg and put Japan Post 22 seconds ahead of Sekisui Kagaku, but a duel of marathoners between JP's  Ayuko Suzuki  and Sekisui's Hitomi Niiy...
Post a Comment
Read more

Olympian Hagitani Takes 10 Minutes Off Yodogawa Kanpei Half Marathon CR

At the Yodogawa Kanpei Half Marathon in Hirakata, Osaka on Dec. 15, Kaede Hagitani , 24, took over 10 minutes off the women's course record to win in 1:10:37. Hagitani ran the 5000 m at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and is targeting the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Men's winner Koki Hosokawa , 31, broke his own CR with a 1:08:03 to win for the 2nd year in a row. In 5˚ temperatures the race set off along the Yodogawa river. Competing as a first step in her comeback after having left the sport post-Olympics, Hagitani had a spectacular record-breaking run that earned her a permanent invitation. "I usually train alone, so I never feel like I'm really on except in a race like this," she said. "The male runners in the race helped me have a good one." When asked why she ran a local race like the Kanpei Half when everyone else there was just a regular amateur Hagitani laughed and said, "My parents live near here." At the Tokyo Olympics Hagitani broke her 5000...
Post a Comment
Read more

2023 Champion Kamimura Gakuen Girls Ready for Sunday's National High School Ekiden

Ahead of the Dec. 22 National High School Ekiden in Kyoto, the 2023 national champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. girls held an open practice session for the media. 2023 was Kamimura Gakuen's only 2nd national title ever. Can it make it two in a row? The Kamimura Gakuen girls won the Nov. 2 Kagoshima Prefecture High School Ekiden, its 9th-straight win and 31st victory overall in the prefectural qualifying race for Nationals. 3rd on her stage at Nationals last year as part of the winning team, Hina Ogura summed up this year's lineup. "There's no really dominant star runner this year, but each person is aware of their position on the team and working together to share in everyone playing leading roles." Sakine Noguchi ran the Second Stage at Nationals last year. "I think we've improved our stamina," she said, "so I hope that we can get the best possible results and all finish with a smile." Handling the First Stage last year, Rin Setoguchi said,...
Post a Comment
Read more