The National High School Ekiden took place Dec. 25 in Kyoto with a live nationwide ad-free broadcast on NHK. In the girls' race, Nagano Higashi H.S. ran a perfect second half to run down 2021 national champ Sendai Ikuei H.S. on the anchor stage for its first-ever national title. In the boys' race, Kurashiki H.S. broke the overall course record by 8 seconds to win for the 3rd time in the race's 73-year history, with runner-up Saku Chosei H.S. running the fastest-ever time by an all-Japanese team thanks in large part to a brilliant run from 5000 m H.S. NR holder Hiroto Yoshioka.
7th last year, the Nagano Higashi girls got off to a good start with leading runner Kanoko Nawa 4th and just 6 seconds off the lead. Sendai Ikuei's Daisy Jerop put the defending champs into the lead on the second leg, with its next two runners Misaki Nagaoka and Kurea Watanabe holding that position. But a stage win from Nagano Higashi's fourth runner Yuka Sato cut Sendai Ikuei's lead from 17 to 14 seconds, putting anchor Miku Muraoka in position to run down Sendai Ikuei's Aoi Hosokawa midway through the 5.0 km final stage.
Muraoka was superb, finishing 3rd on stage time in 15:45 as the only Japanese runner to break 16 minutes. Post-race she said that she had just focused on what was ahead of her, not the Kenyans, including stage winner Caroline Kariba of 2018 national champ Kamimura Gakuen H.S., who were behind her.
Nagano Higashi covered the complete 5-stage, 21.0975 km course in 1:07:37 to become the first girls' team from Nagano prefecture ever to take the national title. Sendai Ikuei was next in 1:07:51, with Kamimura Gakuen 3rd in 1:08:03 after spending the entire race recovering from a shaky start by lead runner Airi Tashima. Last year's runner-up Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. was 6th in 1:08:42 after leading the first leg thanks to a great run from Kana Mizumoto.
9 teams broke 70 minutes, matching last year's high-quality results. In a freak statistical happening, runners from 3 girls-only high schools, 5th-place Hakuho Joshi H.S., 6th-place Kunei Joshi Gakuin, and 7th-place Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S., ran exactly the same times, 10:01, on the 3.0 km third leg, followed by their next runners all clocking 9:27 on the 3.0 km fourth leg. What are the chances?
Like Nagano Higashi having placed 7th last year, Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. had a solid start thanks to a 29:11 stage win on the 10.0 km first stage by the ambitious Sonata Nagashima. Nishiwaki Kogyo's second runner Iori Oda held on to the lead, but third runner Daichi Fujita was caught by Yoshioka, who said pre-race that his goal was to become the first Japanese-born runner to break 23 minutes on the 8.1075 km stage. Yoshioka's lead was short-lived, though, as he was overtaken by Kurashiki's Samuel Kibathi, who broke the CR in his ekiden debut with a stellar 22:30, 9 seconds under the old record. Yoshioka couldn't hang with that, but true to his word he clocked 22:51, 19 seconds faster than the previous best-ever time by a Japanese runner on the stage and faster than the 6 other Kenyans on the stage.
Kurashiki's fourth runner Shunsuke Kuwata started with a 15-second lead over Saku Chosei's Shunpei Yamaguchi and delivered a crucial stage win to extend the team's lead to 29 seconds. From there it was a race against the clock, not just a new CR for the overall 7-stage, 42.195 km course but the first ever sub-2:01:00 looking like it may be in the cards. Kurashiki didn't quite get to that point, but anchor Aoi Higaki still brought them home 8 seconds under the old record in 2:01:10, close enough to make it clear that a 2:00:** is on the horizon and to raise the possibility of a sub-2 hour winning time at some point not too far away in the future.
After Yoshioka was run down by Kibathi Saku Chosei stayed in 2nd the entire way, unable to catch Kurashiki for the win but still in pursuit of another achievement, the fastest-ever time by an all-Japanese team. That mark, 2:01:59, was set last year by local Rakunan H.S. with then-3rd-year U20 5000 m NR holder Keita Sato running the previous fastest-ever JPN-born third leg time, 23:10. Saku Chosei anchor Haruto Matsuo had the weakest run on the team, only 9th on stage time, but just made it, crossing the line in 2:01:57 to bring the all-Japanese distinction back to Saku Chosei. Yoshioka beating Sato's stage time was the icing on the cake.
Yachiyo Shoin H.S. overcame a mid-stage fall by leading runner Kazuki Aya to take 3rd in 2:02:18, the team's best-ever performance. Along with a stage win from anchor Aimu Tanaka, Yachiyo Shoin's third runner Shinsaku Kudo was especially strong, finishing 5th in 23:31, just 21 seconds off Keita Sato's old record. Head coach Masato Otsuka was proud of his team, giving them a rating of "100%!" post-race.
5th in 2:03:51, combined with its girls' 2nd-place finish Sendai Ikuei H.S. confirmed its position as the best all-around high school ekiden program in the country. Early leader Nishiwaki Koryo fell to 6th in 2:04:16, with Rakunan 7th in 2:04:37. 8th-place Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. got under 2:05 in 2:04:46, the only other school to put both its girls and boys in the top 10. 2-time defending champ Sera H.S. was a non-factor, never in the top 12 and ultimately finishing 14th in 2:06:24.
National High School Ekiden
Kyoto, 25 Dec. 2022
Girls
47 teams, 5 stages, 21.0975 km
Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (6.0 km) - Kana Mizumoto (Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 19:20
Second Stage (4.0975 km) - Rose Wangui (Sera) - 12:31
Third Stage (3.0 km) - Aiko Hosoya (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 9:41
Fourth Stage (3.0 km) - Yuka Sato (Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 9:18
Fifth Stage (5.0 km) - Caroline Kariba (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 15:09
Top Team Results
1. Nagano Higashi H.S. - 1:07:37
2. Sendai Ikuei H.S. - 1:07:51
3. Kamimura Gakuen H.S. - 1:08:03
4. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 1:08:12
5. Hakuho Joshi H.S. - 1:08:32
6. Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. - 1:08:42
7. Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S. - 1:09:18
8. Kojokan H.S. - 1:09:34
9. Junten H.S. - 1:09:43
10. Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. - 1:10:04
Boys
47 teams, 7 stages, 42.195 km
Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (10.0 km) - Sonata Nagashima (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 29:11
Second Stage (3.0 km) - Rio Hattori (Kobayashi H.S.) - 8:07
Third Stage (8.1075 km) - Samuel Kibathi (Kurashiki H.S.) - 22:30 - CR
Fourth Stage (8.0875 km) - Shunsuke Kuwata (Kurashiki H.S.) - 22:48
Fifth Stage (3.0 km) - Kaito Matsui (Saitama Sakae H.S.) - 8:39
Sixth Stage (5.0 km) - Konosuke Takahashi (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) - 14:37
Seventh Stage (5.0 km) - Aimu Tanaka (Yachiyo Shoin H.S.) - 14:13
Top Team Results
1. Kurashiki H.S. - 2:01:10 - CR
2. Saku Chosei H.S. - 2:01:57 (all-JPN CR)
3. Yachiyo Shoin H.S. - 2:02:18
4. Saitama Sakae H.S. - 2:03:35
5. Sendai Ikuei H.S. - 2:03:51
6. Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. - 2:04:16
7. Rakunan H.S. - 2:04:37
8. Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. - 2:04:46
9. Oita Tomei H.S. - 2:05:57
10. Tonodai Daini H.S. - 2:05:59
Comments