Skip to main content

Akidor 14:44.83, Yoshioka 13:22.99 High School 5000 m NR at Nittai University Time Trials


This weekend's 300th edition of the Nittai University Time Trials series in Yokohama turned out some of the fastest times in its history as athletes across the country build toward peaking for championship ekiden season. On Saturday Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) ran two of the fastest women's 5000 m marks ever on Japanese soil, Akidor taking 11 seconds off her PB to win in 14:44.83 and Kamau 6 seconds off hers for 2nd in 14:48.26. 3rd-place Yui Komatsu (Matsuyama Univ.) was almost lapped, running 15:47.79. Steeplechase champ Reimi Yoshimura (Daito Bunka Univ.) dropped out mid-race.

The men's 10000 m was fast too. Richard Etir (CJAC) outkicked Obirin University 1st-year Nelson Mandela Mbithi and Josphat Ledama Kisaisa (Kao) for the win in 27:27.51, Mbithi 2nd in 27:29.92, one of the fastest-ever Japanese collegiate times, and Kisaisa 3rd in 27:30.45. 4th-placer Boniface Murua (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) got under 28 minutes as well, running 27:43.60.


Sunday Nittai had 27 consecutive heats of men's 5000 m, with the last two heats producing four high school runners under 14 minutes. Anthony Maina (Toyota Kyushu) led the A-heat in 13:21.58, just edging Joseph Razini Lemeteki (Takushoku Univ.) by 0.41 seconds. Just behind them, Hiroto Yoshioka (Saku Chosei H.S.), 7th in this past summer's World U20 Championships 5000 m, took 16 seconds off his best with a 13:22.99 to break the high school boys' NR by 8 seconds. For comparison, Galen Rupp's U.S. high school NR is 13:37.91. Post-race Yoshioka announced that he will head to Juntendo University in the spring, where he'll train alongside 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura.

Johnson Mogeni (Shigakkan H.S.) ran 13:35.39 for 8th, with Yoshioka's teammate Soma Nagahara turning in a 13:57.15 for 13th. In the B-heat, Jun Tanaka (Josai Nishi H.S.) ran 13:59.46 for 6th, Hayate Nitta (Ikuei H.S.) taking the top spot in 13:54.48.

© 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Rigajags said…
Intense weekend at time trials and some impressive times.
Yoshioka ran a fantastic time. Very interesting news him joining Juntendo next year.
It will likely be a year "too late" as Juntendo core runners not named Miura are 4th years and will be difficult to replace all of those.

I hope he gets to improve and not strugge like another HS great (Ishida) Is doing.
And i Hope Juntendo does a better job with him than it's doing with Miura whose talent hasn't been maximized in my opinion.

We should probably take a breath of relief that komazawa hasn't signed yoshioka up as well otherwise the roster talent would have been even more unfair haha.
Here is hoping to some great yoshioka/Sato battles in the future.

Most-Read This Week

Toyota Wins New Expo Ekiden

A new, nominally one-off event held as part of Osaka's hosting of Expo 2025, Sunday's ACN Expo Ekiden pit top top corporate and collegiate teams against each other on a 7-stage, 54.5 km course. The new race lost a bit of steam when New Year Ekiden runner-up Honda declined to participate, when winner Asahi Kasei pulled out days before the race, and when the top two teams at the Hakone Ekiden, Aoyama Gakuin University and Komazawa University , didn't field A-list lineups. In their absence it was pretty much a blowout for New Year Ekiden 3rd-placer Toyota , who led start-to-finsh off a great leading run by Yamato Yoshii and stage best titles on 4 of the 7 individual legs to win in 2:32:48. Fujitsu came on strong over the 2nd half with wins by 4th and 5th runners Daniel Kosen and Kazuya Shiojiri and strong runs on the final stages by Hiroki Matsueda and Kengo Suzuki to move into 2nd, finishing 1:14 behind Toyota in 2:34:02. Hakonen 3rd-placer Koku Gakuin University b...

Weekend Road Race Roundup

The ACN Expo Ekiden was the biggest race of the weekend domestically, but there was so much else going on domestically and internationally that it was hard to keep track. We'll do our best. Saturday in Fukuoka the Fst in Fukuoka road mile and 5 km moved from its usual fall date to a spring date for the first time. Ireland's Sophie O'Sullivan outran high school sensation Sherry Drury by 1 second for the win in the women's mile, 4:53 to 4:54. Drury's mark was a new U20 NR. The men's mile also came down to a 1-second win for Irishman Brian Fay over Japan's Jo Aoki , 4:12 to 4:13. Margaret Akidor had an easy win in the women's 5 km in 15:34, with veteran Yuichiro Ueno outrunning a doubling Fay in the men's 5 km to win in 14:07. Complete results here . The Matsue Ladies Half Marathon hosted the National University Women's Half Marathon Sunday. National champion Ritsumeikan University 's Makoto Tsuchiya outran Daito Bunka University 's...

Tokumoto and Yamakawa Take Over at Shibaura Kogyo in Quest for Hakone Debut

In a quest to make its first Hakone Ekiden, Shibaura Kogyo University announced this week that former Surugadai University head coach Kazuyoshi Tokumoto , 45, and former Reitaku University head coach Tatsuya Yamakawa , 40, will take over as head and assistant coach starting in April. In a statement issued by the university Tokumoto commented, "I'm pleased to have been named head coach of Shibaura Kogyo University's track and field team. When they came to feel me I could feel their passion about achieving their dream of becoming the first science and technology university to compete in the Hakone Ekiden. I was happy to accept because I felt that this was an environment in which I could grow too. It's my responsibility to help them become the 45th university ever to compete in Hakone. I hope that you'll enjoy Act II of the Tokumoto Show and cheer us on as Shibaura Kogyo heads down the road to Hakone." Yamakawa's comments read, "I arrived early in Feb...