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Asian Cross-Country Championships Results

by Brett Larner

The 28th Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet played host to this year's Asian Cross Country Championships, the international championship races held within Fukuoka's regular senior men's 10 km, senior women's 6 km, junior men's 8 km and junior women's 6 km races.  In the senior men's 10 km, Japan-based Kenyan Jeremiah Karemi (Team Toyota Kyushu), two-time winner of Fukuoka's junior race, ran tough against an all-African Bahraini squad, outkicking its Aweke Yimer by 9 seconds for the win in 28:43.  Karemi's continuing development over the last year is especially noteworthy given that the last time Toyota Kyushu head coach Koichi Morishita, the Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist, took on a Kenyan it was future Beijing Olympics gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru. 2nd overall, Yimer took the Asian Championships gold medal with teammates Isaac Korir and Alemu Bekele taking silver and gold.  2010 5000 m national champion Yuki Matsuoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) was the only Japanese runner to go with the lead pack, finishing 6th overall in 29:20.  Defending champion Charles Ndirangu (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) was only 9th in 29:29.

The senior women's 6km race was likewise an all-African blowout, with Ethiopian-born Tejitu Chalchissa (Bahrain) outrunning Alia Saeed (U.A.E.) for the gold medal in 19:23.  A day shy of four weeks since setting a 2:26:46 collegiate national record at the Osaka International Women's Marathon, Sairi Maeda (Bukkyo Univ.), running for the Japanese team as part of the Asian Championships, took 5th in 20:02, almost running down Bahrainis Mimi Gebreiorges and Gladys Kibiwot.  In both the senior men's and senior women's races Bahrain took the team gold medals along with the individual titles.

In the junior men's 8 km race, Paul Kamais (Kenya/Sera H.S.) and Michael Gitau (Kenya/Fukuoka Daiichi H.S.) staged a great back-and-forth battle, Kamais pulling ahead by two seconds in the home straight to take the win in 23:17.  His Sera teammate John Gathaiya took 3rd but was nearly a minute behind in 24:13, just ahead of unknown high school first-year Takuya Hanyu (Yachiyo Shoin H.S.), 4th overall and the first Japanese finisher in 24:18.  Running with frantic urgency, Yuri Nozoe (Kamimura Gakuen H.S) tried to run away with the win in the junior women's 6 km but was caught at the line by favorite Yuka Kobayashi (Tokiwa H.S.), both women given the same time but Kobayashi the clear winner.

The junior men's 4 km likewise featured a very close race, Haruki Nishimura (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) getting the win in 12:26 over Shun Yuzawa (Tokai Prep Daisan H.S.) by a second.  In the junior women's 4 km Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) returned from a bad run at last month's National Women's Ekiden with what might have been the performance of the meet, winning by 27 seconds in 13:39.

 2014 Asian Cross Country Championships
and 28th Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet
Fukuoka, 2/22/14
click here for complete results

 Senior Men's 10 km
1. Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Kenya/Team Toyota Kyushu) - 28:43
2. Aweke Yimer (Bahrain) - 28:52
3. Miliyon Zewdie (Ethiopia/Team Yachiyo Kogyo) - 29:00
4. Isaac Korir (Bahrain) - 29:01
5. Alemu Bekele (Bahrain) - 29:19
6. Yuki Matsuoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 29:20
7. Zelalem Regassa (Bahrain) - 29:24
8. Charles Ndirangu (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) - 29:29
9. Macharia Ndirangu (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 29:32
10. Bilisuma Gelassa (Bahrain) - 29:58

Senior Women's 6 km
1. Tejitu Chalchissa (Bahrain) - 19:23
2. Alia Saeed (U.A.E.) - 19:30
3. Mimi Gebreiorges (Bahrain) - 19:55
4. Gladys Kibiwot (Bahrain) - 19:57
5. Sairi Maeda (Bukkyo Univ.) - 20:02
6. Ayumi Hagiwara (Team Uniqlo) - 20:04
7. Miho Shimizu (Team Hokuren) - 20:12
8. Misaki Sango (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 20:16
9. Natsuki Omori (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 20:18
10. Naoko Koizumi (Team Denso) - 20:27

Junior Men's 8 km
1. Paul Kamais (Kenya/Sera H.S.) - 23:17
2. Michael Gitau (Kenya/Fukuoka Daiichi H.S.) - 23:19
3. John Gathaiya (Kenya/Sera H.S.) - 24:13
4. Takuya Hanyu (Yachiyo Shoin H.S.) - 24:18
5. Kazuto Kawabata (Ayabe H.S.) - 24:20
6. Kento Hanazawa (Yachiyo Shoin H.S.) - 24:21
7. Hiroyuki Sakaguchi (Isahaya H.S.) - 24:22
8. Chihaya Kasuga (Saku Chosei H.S.) - 24:23
9. Shota Onizuka (Omuta H.S.) - 24:28
10. Yuichi Yasui (Municipal Funabashi H.S.) - 24:32

Junior Women's 6 km
1. Yuka Kobayashi (Tokiwa H.S.) - 20:25
2. Yuri Nozoe (Kamimura Gakuen H.S) - 20:25
3. Maki Izumida (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) - 20:30
4. Kanna Tamaki (Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 20:32
5. Kureha Seki (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 20:33
6. Nodoka Aoki (Mashita Seifu H.S.) - 20:33
7. Harumi Okamoto (Tokiwa H.S.) - 20:35
8. Kotona Ota (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 20:35
9. Haruka Tobimatsu (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 20:37
10. Mai Takahashi (Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.) - 20:40

Junior Men's 4 km
1. Haruki Nishimura (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 12:26
2. Shun Yuzawa (Tokai Prep Daisan H.S.) - 12:27
3. Yugo Yamamoto (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 12:31
4. Naoki Nakamura (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 12:42
5. Naoto Yasunaga (Sera H.S.) - 12:44

Junior Women's 4 km
1. Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 13:39
2. Kana Sugiyama (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) - 14:06
3. Itsuki Shose (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuen H.S.) - 14:07
4. Minami Nakashima (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) - 14:14
5. Yuka Matsumura (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) - 14:21

(c) 2014 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
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Bruce said…
I have uploaded the full results of the 4 junior races into athletic.net, for those who want to see compete results in English. From there you can look at many athletes personal histories.
http://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Results/Meet.aspx?Meet=89964#35218
February 27, 2014 at 1:10 AM
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