Hagitani and Miura Win Senior Titles at National XC Championships

20-year-old Kaede Hagitani (Edion) and the just-turned-19 Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.) took the senior titles at the 2021 National Cross-Country Championships Saturday in Fukuoka. Hagitani ran away with it, outclassing a tight chase trio to win the Senior Women's 8 km by 26 seconds in 25:54. High schooler Miku Sakai (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) was an impressive 2nd in 26:20.

Like Sakai opting for the senior race, Miura, the U20 national record holder for 3000 m steeplechase and half marathon, had a tougher race on his hands in the Senior Men's 10 km, just getting two-time 5000 m national champion Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) at the line for the win in 29:10 with the next four finishers, including past national champ Kazuki Tamura (Sumitomo Denko), all within 10 seconds. 36-year-old Hakone Ekiden legend and 2:07:39 marathoner Masato Imai (Toyota Kyushu) showed there's still life in his legs, a surprising 11th in 29:30.

The junior races were both blowouts at the same level as the Senior Women's race. In the U20 Women's 6 km, the race video above, Seira Fuwa (TKFU Takasaki H.S.) came from 4 seconds back with 2 km to go to impressively open a winning margin of 25 seconds as she scored the win in 19:49.

Keita Sato (Rakunan H.S.), the all-time #2 Japanese high schooler over 3000 m, frontran the entire way to end up with the day's biggest winning margin, 28 seconds, running 23:19 in the U20 Boys' 8 km, the race video below. Rakunan turned in the most dominant team performance of the day, putting four runners including Sato in the top ten.

2021 National Cross-Country Championships

Fukuoka, 27 Feb. 2021

complete results

Senior Women's 8 km

1. Kaede Hagitani (Edion) - 25:54

2. Miku Sakai (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) - 26:20

3. Yuna Wada (Meijo Univ.) - 26:21

4. Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 26:22

5. Momoka Kawaguchi (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 26:35

6. Azusa Sumi (Universal Entertainment) - 26:58

7. Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) - 27:11

8. Yukari Abe (Shimamura) - 27:16

9. Miki Hirai (Higo Ginko) - 27:22

10. Natsuki Sekiya (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 27:23

Senior Men's 10 km

1. Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.) - 29:10

2. Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) - 29:10

3. Atsuya Imai (Toyota Kyushu) - 29:16

4. Kazuki Tamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 29:17

5. Takato Suzuki (SGH Group) - 29:18

6. Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) - 29:20

7. Tamaki Fujimoto (Nittai Univ.) - 29:21

(OP) Paul Onyiego (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 29:23

8. Shoya Kawase (Kogakkan Univ.) - 29:24

9. Kenta Muto (JR Higashi Nihon) - 29:24

10. Atsuto Shimanuki (GMO) - 29:27

11. Masato Imai (Toyota Kyuhsu) - 29:30

U20 Women's 6 km

1. Seira Fuwa (TKFU Takasaki H.S.) - 19:49

2. Azusa Mihara (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 20:14

3. Chika Kosakai (Narita H.S.) - 20:19

4. Haruka Ogawa (Junten H.S.) - 20:27

5. Yoshino Namiki (Tokiwa H.S.) - 20:27

6. Rio Einaga (Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.) - 20:29

7. Mariya Noda (Kitakyushu Municipal H.S.) - 20:36

8. Hazuki Doi (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 20:40

9. Marin Nishizawa (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 20:41

10. Kana Kizogami (Luther Gakuin H.S.) - 20:42

U20 Men's 8 km

1. Keita Sato (Rakunan H.S.) - 23:19

2. Aoi Ota (Omuta H.S.) - 23:47

3. Yuta Minamisaka (Kurashiki H.S.) - 23:54

4. Yuto Tanaka (Tsuruga Kehi H.S.) - 23:59

5. Kota Yamasaki (Rakunan H.S.) - 24:03

6. Ayumu Yamamoto (Jiyogaoka H.S.) - 24:04

7. Hiroki Wakabayashi (Rakunan H.S.) - 24:07

8. Seia Hotta (Chiharadai H.S.) - 24:07

9. Itsuki Koizumi (KGU Kugayama H.S.) - 24:10

10. Kazuki Naito (Rakunan H.S.) - 24:16

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...

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