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Emi Ikeda Named First Female Head Coach of Ritsumeikan Uji High School Ekiden Team



Three-time National High School Ekiden champion Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. released an announcement on Mar. 19 revealing that alumna Emi Ikeda, 35, will take over as the team's head coach effective Apr. 1. Previous head coach Yoshinobu Ogino will remain on in an advisory position. Speaking enthusiastically at the announcement press conference, Ikeda told the media, "I want to learn from Ogino's wealth of knowhow concerning leadership and aim to be #1 in Japan."

Last year marked 30 straight years of Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. making the National High School Ekiden. Ogino commented, "As I approached age 70 I started to think that I would regret it if I didn't help to develop the team's next leader. The color that has been wrought over a long history will run even deeper, and the Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. name will live on forever."

Ikeda is a native of Kyotanabe, Kyoto. Her runner-up placing on the First Stage of the 2000 National High School Ekiden was key to Ritsumeikan Uji winning its first-ever national title that year. In 2003 she was part of Ritsumeikan University's winning team at the National University Women's Ekiden, returning the next year to help the team defend its title. Following her graduation she ran for the Noritz and Sekisui Kagaku teams before retiring in 2012. Starting her first year of high school she represented Kyoto at the National Women's Ekiden six years in a row.

Translator's note: Ikeda's nomination to head coach follows that of 33-year-old Akari Kishikawa to the coaching staff of the Kanto Gakuin University men's ekiden team and 37-year-old Eri Hayakawa to the Toto corporate women's team since the start of the year, a noticeable increase in the number of women coaching in Japanese long distance.

source article:
https://this.kiji.is/480674556287796321?c=39546741839462401
translated by Brett Larner

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