Skip to main content

King of Junior High Athletics Ishida Scores XC National Title Ahead of Graduation



At the 3rd National Junior High School Cross-Country Championships Sunday in Chiba, Fukuoka's Kosuke Ishida, a 3rd-year at Asakawa J.H.S., scored the win in the boys' 3 km in an excellent 8:47. With three junior high school national records to his name Ishida is the undisputed king of junior high athletics. Set to graduate next month before going on to Gunma's Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S., his win in his final national-level competition as a junior high school student crowned what has been a superb season. Osumi J.H.S. 3rd-year Mio Hashimoto from Kyoto won the girls' 3 km in 9:47.

Ishida won the race by 13 seconds over the 2nd-placer. "I've won every national competition up to now," Ishida smiled afterward. "Winning this one too is a big relief." This season he won both the National Junior High School Championships and Junior Olympics and broke the junior high national records for 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m, a record of success that marks him as one of the super elite of junior athletics. "This was my last national championships," he said. "I couldn't afford to lose to anyone." Raising his pace from 1 km out, he pushed on to the finish with room to spare.

Of his decision to leave Fukuoka and travel across the country to Gunma to attend Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S. he said, "I want a coach who's going to help me grow as a person. I want to become competitive at the international championships level."



For girls' winner Hashimoto the 3 km was her first national title, like Ishida's coming in her final race as a junior high school student. Her winning move came at the 1200 m point. "Pushing hard from start to finish is the way to win," she said. Running behind Junior Olympics champ Seira Fuwa after the start, Hashimoto noticed that Fuwa's pace was slipping and made a move to drop her. "I was really worried that she was going to come back and get me at the end," Hashimoto admitted, but her fears never materialized as she won by a margin of 7 seconds. Of her ambitions for the future she echoed Ishida when she said, "I want to become an athlete who can be internationally competitive."

source article:
https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2018/02/05/kiji/20180204s00103000302000c.html
translated by Brett Larner
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...
2 comments
Read more

JAAF Announces World Road Running Championships Half Marathon Team

The JAAF announced the men's and women's half marathon teams today for this fall's World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen: Women Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon) - 1:09:14 (1st, 2026 Osaka Half) Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:20 (1st, 2026 Nat'l Corp. Half) Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:09:22 (2nd, 2026 Osaka Half) Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 1:09:23 (3rd, 2026 Osaka Half) Men Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:22 (4th, 2026 Marugame Half) Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:26 (5th, 2026 Marugame Half) Neo Namiki (Subaru) - 1:00:29 (6th, 2026 Marugame Half) Daisuke Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 1:00:40 (7th, 2026 Marugame Half) Mile and 5 km teams, if any, will be decided after June's National Track and Field Championships. © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved
Post a Comment
Read more

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...
Post a Comment
Read more