Kamimura Gakuen Girls Win in Last 50 m, Saku Chosei Breaks Boys' CR at National High School Ekiden

The National High School Ekiden happened Sunday in Kyoto, its 35th edition for girls and 74th for boys. With last year's 3rd-place Kamimura Gakuen H.S. set to run last year's anchor stage winner Caroline Kariba on anchor again, it was all about trying to open as much room as they could over the first four stages for girls' race favorites Sendai Ikuei H.S. and Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. Sendai Ikuei moved up from 3rd to 1st on the 4.0975 km 2nd leg thanks to a stage-winning run by Daisy Jerop and stayed there over the next two legs. Ritsumeikan Uji was in 2nd the entire way, closing the gap to Sendai Ikuei to 30 seconds by the end of the 4th leg after 3rd and 4th runners Nodoka Ashida and Yua Sato won their stages.

Kamimura Gakuen started slow at 13th after the first leg but moved up through the field every stage until it was in 3rd when Kariba started. With 5.0 km to work with she was 50 seconds behind Ritsumeikan Uji and 1:20 behind Sendai Ikuei, an almost impossible margin to make up. Kariba ran down Ritsumeikan Uji's Chiseno Ikeda, but heading onto the track for the final 500 m she was still 10 seconds behind Sendai Ikuei's Rino Kitsuyama. Somehow the gap closed, and coming into the home straight she pulled even with Kitsuyama. Kitsuyama tried to fight back, but Kariba passed her by to break the tape a second ahead, 1:07:28 to 1:07:29.

Kariba was elated with joy at pulling it off, while Kitsuyama collapsed to the track in tears, the second year in a row that Sendai Ikuei lost on the anchor stage. Ritsumeikan Uji took 3rd in 1:08:16, with Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. getting last year's national champion Nagano Higashi H.S. on the line for 4th, both teams clocking 1:08:52. 6th-place Suma Gakuen H.S. was the top team not to have made the eight-deep podium last year, holding off last year's 7th-placer Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S. and Aomori Yamada H.S. by a second in 1:09:16.

The boys' race was the opposite of the dramatic come-from-behind win in the girls' race, with last year's 2nd-place Saku Chosei H.S. battling the clock in a bid to become the first school to break 2:01:00 for the 42.195 km course. By the end of the 3rd leg Saku Chosei was out front by 17 seconds, but it took fifth runner Tetsu Sasaki breaking the 51-year-old CR of 8:22 for his 3.0 km leg in 8:14 to put the overall CR of 2:01:10 set by Kurashiki H.S. last year really in range. 6th runner Toma Yoshioka, the younger brother of 5000 m H.S. NR holder Hiroto Yoshioka, won his stage to set up anchor Kazuma Shino to break the record.

With a 13:55.79 best on the track Shino needed to run under 14:37 for the 5.0 km 7th leg to break Kurashiki's CR and under 14:27 to break 2:01:00. But although he went through halfway on his leg in 7:05, Shino slowed over the second half to broke the tape in exactly 2:01:00. That was 10 seconds under the year-old CR and 57 seconds under Saku Chosei's runner-up time that had been the fastest-ever by an all-Japanese lineup.

Previous CR holder Kurashiki had a very rocky start, in 17th after the first two legs. The centerpieces of its CR last year, 3rd and 4th legs winners Samuel Kibathi and Shunsuke Kuwata both repeated on their individual stage wins to move Kurashiki up to 2nd, Kuwata getting within 15 seconds of Saku Chosei. But that was as high as they could go, and over the last three stages Kurashiki lost ground and ended up 1:49 behind in 2:02:49 for 2nd.

Oscillating in the 6th to 8th range the entire way, last year's 3rd placer Yachiyo Shoin H.S. pulled off another 3rd-place finish thanks to a stage win from anchor Kairi Hirayama. As with the girls, Suma Gakuen H.S. was the top team not to have been on the eight-deep podium last year, starting strong with a great run by Sota Orita, who tied the fastest time ever by a Japanese runner on the 10.0 km 1st leg in 28:48, and ultimately taking 4th just 13 seconds behind Yachiyo Shoin. The top 17 teams all broke 3:00/km average for the full 42.195 km course, just short of the 18 teams that did it last year.

35th National High School Girls Ekiden

Kyoto, 24 Dec. 2023

58 teams, 5 stages, 21.0975 km

complete results

Top Individual Stage Results

First Stage (6.0 km) - Narumi Okumoto (Oita Tomei H.S.) - 19:19

Second Stage (4.0975 km) - Daisy Jerop (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 12:40

Third Stage (3.0 km) - Nodoka Ashida (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 9:39

Fourth Stage (3.0 km) - Yua Sato (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 9:22

Fifth Stage (5.0 km) - Caroline Kariba (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 14:50

Top Team Results

1. Kamimura Gakuen H.S. - 1:07:28

2. Sendai Ikuei H.S. - 1:07:29

3. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 1:08:16

4. Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. - 1:08:52

5. Nagano Higashi H.S. - 1:08:52

6. Suma Gakuen H.S. - 1:09:16

7. Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S. - 1:09:16

8. Aomori Yamada H.S. - 1:09:17

9. Ginga Gakuin H.S. - 1:09:20

10. Toyota Otani H.S. - 1:09:52

74th National High School Boys' Ekiden

Kyoto, 24 Dec. 2023

47 teams, 7 stages, 42.195 km

complete results

Top Individual Stage Results

First Stage (10.0 km) - Sota Orita (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 28:48

Second Stage (3.0 km) - Koki Terada (Koku Gakuin Kugayama H.S.) - 8:14

Third Stage (8.1075 km) - Samuel Kibathi (Kurashiki H.S.) - 22:47

Fourth Stage (8.0875 km) - Shunsuke Kuwata (Kurashiki H.S.) - 23:10

Fifth Stage (3.0 km) - Tetsu Sasaki (Saku Chosei H.S.) - 8:14 - CR

Sixth Stage (5.0 km) - Toma Yoshioka (Saku Chosei H.S.) - 14:16

Seventh Stage (5.0 km) - Kairi Hirayama (Yachiyo Shoin H.S.) - 14:19

Top Team Results

1. Saku Chosei H.S. - 2:01:00 - CR

2. Kurashiki H.S. - 2:02:49

3. Yachiyo Shoin H.S. - 2:03:34

4. Suma Gakuen H.S. - 2:03:47

5. Saitama Sakae H.S. - 2:03:55

6. Omuta H.S. - 2:03:57

7. Rakunan H.S. - 2:04:23

8. Sendai Ikuei H.S. - 2:04:33

9. Kobayashi H.S. - 2:04:40

10. Kyushu Gakuin H.S. - 2:04:51

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved