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"A Great First Step" for Canon's Women's Team in its First Competition

http://mainichi.jp/area/oita/news/20090503ddlk44050297000c.html

translated by Brett Larner

Having become an official team on only Apr. 1, the Oita Canon women's track and field team made its competition debut on May 2 at the Oita Prefectural Track and Field Meet at Oita Municipal Track and Field Grounds. The fledgling team's Chieko Kido (19), who as a high school student had run a stage 2nd-best in the National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden, got the team off to a smooth start with a 2nd place finish in the women's 5000 m.

Five of Canon's eight athletes competed in the meet, taking part in three events. After a first month in which the team's members were busier adjusting to their new lifestyle than to practice itself, "They're on their way to recovering from setback and loss and to rediscovering the way they used to be," said head coach Michio Ito. "This is a great first step. If our runners can recover their old strength it's going to get very interesting." Having laced on her spikes for the first time in three years, Canon's Ayumi Takada (21) was 1st in the 800 m heats. "I was so happy I could have cried when I finished!" she rejoiced afterwards.
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