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Breakthrough Runs From Bett and Maeda Lead National University Ekiden Kanto Region Qualifier


On the first day of real summer weather conditions were hot and humid enough at Kanagawa's Gion Sagamihara Stadium that 3 out of the 4 track 10000 m heats making up the National University Ekiden's Kanto Region Qualifier saw at least one runner get into trouble.

In Heat One, Yuto Ono (Shibata Kogyo Univ.) was in trouble after only 3000 m, dropping off the pack and falling to his hands and knees, then getting back up and almost walking his way around another couple of laps. His coach finally stopped him, knocking SKU out of contention to make the seven-deep qualifying bracket for November's Nationals.

Heat Two went relatively smoothly, Peter Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) lapping the entire field before getting caught again by the top few in the chase pack but still winning the heat by almost a minute in 29:00.50.

Heat Three saw Taiga Tosen (Surugadai Univ.) staggering in the home straight and falling meters from the finish line, crawling on his hands and knees until his torso crossed the line so that Surugadai wouldn't be eliminated like SKU.

Heat Four went out hard on 28-flat pace, very aggressive given the conditions. The only sub-28 Japanese man in the meet, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) was initially the only Japanese runner to go with the all-Kenyan lead group, but others including Akio Hashimoto (Shibata Kogyo Univ.), Rei Matsunaga (Hosei Univ.) and Kazuma Maeda (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) bridged the gap from the chase group and got on board with the leaders.

As the pace stayed fast the lead group ground down to just five, Amos Bett (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.), James Mutuku (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.), David Shunq'eya (Reitaku Univ.), Pater Kamau (Kokushikan Univ.) and Maeda. Just 18 years old, the 1st-year Maeda was impressively under control, moving past Kamau when he started to fade and staying in contact with the rest of the group. With 500 m to go he made a bold move to the front, dropping Shunq'eya and forcing Bett and Mutok to respond.

The 1st-year Bett, who won last weekend's Nittai University Time Trials 5000 m in 13:16.85, was the strongest of the three, taking the win in a PB 27:59.45. Mutuku was next in 28:01.56, and Maeda stayed strong to finish 3rd in 28:03.51, the second-fastest U20 Japanese mark ever in his debut at the distance in tough conditions. Put him up there with Ryuji Miura, Seira Fuwa and Sherry Drury on the list of brilliant breakthroughs from Japanese juniors over the last three years.

But there was one more casualty in the heat. CGU's 27-minute man Yoshida dropped off the lead group mid-race and moved steadily backward. In the last lap and especially on the home straight he was weaving side-to-side, dizzily crossing lanes. He finished in 29:14 and fell to his hands and knees, but post-race it was ruled that he had stepped inside the line inside the track and was disqualified. That eliminated CGU, the strongest team on paper pre-race, putting an end to its 10-year streak of appearances at Nationals.

It was a controversial call, since on total time of its eight runners CGU sat in the final qualifying spot in 7th, 8 seconds ahead of top non-qualifier Kokushikan University. CGU's disqualification bumped Kokushikan into the qualifying bracket, its first time making Nationals since 2016.

With wins in two heats and five of its eight runners making the top ten in their heats Josai University took the top team spot in 3:57:35.40. Wanjiru's Heat Two win led Daito Bunka University to 2nd in 3:57:50.77, Tokai University 3rd in 3:57:58.89 and Tokyo Kokusai University 4th in 3:59:02.86. Tokyo Nogyo University was the biggest surprise of the day at 5th in 3:59:20.68, thanks in large part but not exclusively to Maeda. Teikyo University was also a surprise at 6th in 3:59:34.06, with Kokushikan picking up 7th in 3:59:45.19 after CGU's disqualification.

Rikkyo University was the top non-qualifier at 8th in 3:59:59.49, with Kanagawa University and Meiji University unable to perform up to ability at 9th and 10th.

55th National University Ekiden Kanto Region Qualifier

Gion Stadium, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 17 June 2023

Team Results
top 7 teams on aggregate time qualify for Nationals

1. Josai University - 3:57:35.40
2. Daito Bunka University - 3:57:50.77
3. Tokai University - 3:57:58.89
4. Tokyo Kokusai University - 3:59:02.86
5. Tokyo Nogyo University - 3:59:20.68
6. Teikyo University - 3:59:34.06
7. Kokushikan University - 3:59:45.19
-----
8. Rikkyo University - 3:59:59.49
9. Kanagawa University - 4:00:07.27
10. Meiji University - 4:00:20.02
11. Reitaku University - 4:01:53.78
12. Nihon University - 4:02:45.74
13. Hosei University - 4:02:46.17
14. Senshu University - 4:03:13.98
15. Nittai University - 4:03:23.77
16. Yamanashi Gakuin University - 4:04:13.48
17. Asia University - 4:04:30.50
18. Surugadai University - 4:05:02.70
-----
DNF - Shibata Kogyo University
DQ - Chuo Gakuin University

Individual Results

Heat 4
1. Amos Bett (1st yr., Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 27:59.45 - PB
2. James Mutuku (2nd yr., Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 28:01.56
3. Kazuma Maeda (1st yr., Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 28:03.51 - debut
4. David Shunq'eya (2nd yr., Reitaku Univ.) - 28:07.21
5. Peter Kamau (3rd yr., Kokushikan Univ.) - 28:19.48 - PB
6. Godfrey Musanga (2nd yr., Surugadai Univ.) - 28:32.20
7. Shotaro Ishihara (4th yr., Tokai Univ.) - 28:37.33
8. Yuito Yamamoto (4th yr., Josai Univ.) - 28:41.00
9. Hisaya Hanaoka (2nd yr., Tokai Univ.) - 28:46.38
10. Akio Hashimoto (4th yr., Shibata Kogyo Univ.) - 28:47.70
11. Yudai Katakawa (3rd yr., Asia Univ.) - 28:48.36
12. Victor Kimutai (2nd yr., Josai Univ.) - 28:49.14
13. Toru Kubota (4th yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 28:50.76
14. Shota Morishita (2nd yr., Meiji Univ.) - 28:55.80
15. Duncan Kisaisa (2nd yr., Senshu Univ.) - 28:56.31
16. Ryuichiro Ono (4th yr., Teikyo Univ.) - 28:56.57
17. Atsuki Kobayashi (4th yr., Kanagawa Univ.) - 28:59.67
-----
DQ - Reishi Yoshida (3rd yr., Chuo Gakuin Univ.)

Heat 3
1. Hayato Nomura (4th yr., Josai Univ.) - 29:40.85
2. Yoshiteru Takatsuki (4th yr., Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 29:43.47
3. Hiroki Yamanaka (3rd yr., Teikyo Univ.) - 29:44.42
4. Tatsuya Iizuka (4th yr., Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 29:48.07
5. Chio Nishikawa (3rd yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 29:50.18

Heat 2
1. Peter Wanjiru (3rd yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 29:00.50
2. Tatsuyuki Mizuno (3rd yr., Tokai Univ.) - 29:59.36
3. Shuma Yamanaka (4th yr., Josai Univ.) - 30:02.10
4. Itsuki Hirabayashi (3rd yr., Josai Univ.) - 30:02.52
5. Taisei Kobayashi (3rd yr., Teikyo Univ.) - 30:03.77

Heat 1
1. Koyo Hayashi (3rd yr., Josai Univ.) - 30:03.40
2. Yuki Satake (4th yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 30:05.78
3. Masaki Kodama (4th yr., Meiji Univ.) - 30:06.16
4. Kihira Iriyama (2nd yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 30:09.39
5. Keisuke Ando (3rd yr., Rikkyo Univ.) - 30:10.46
-----
DNF - Yuto Ono (3rd yr., Shibata Kogyo Univ.)

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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