Skip to main content

Hakone Ekiden 4th-Placer Toyo University Recruits Strong Incoming Class

4th overall at the 100th Hakone Ekiden on Jan. 2nd and 3rd, Toyo University has recruited a strong incoming class featuring the 2nd and 3rd-placers on the 10.0 km First Stage at December's National High School Ekiden, Kaito Matsui (Saitama Sakae H.S.) and Yu Miyazaki (Toyo Ushiku H.S.).

At the National High School Ekiden, Sota Orita (Suma Gakuen H.S.) ran 28:48 to tie the fastest-ever Japanese time on the stage set in 2019 by Yachiyo Shoin H.S. athlete Issei Sato, now a member of Aoyama Gakuin University's 2024 Hakone Ekiden champion team. Right with Orita until the very last straight, Matsui and Miyazaki ran excellent times of 28:54 and 28:57. Matsui and Miyazaki preceded that performance with a 1-2 on the 10.0 km First Stage at November's Kanto Region High School Ekiden, Matsui in 29:10 and Miyazaki in 29:16. Third on the same stage in that race, Yu Uchibori (Koma H.S.) is also Toyo-bound, a major recruiting coup for Toyo to pull in the top three.

At both Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. and at the Konica Minolta corporate team, JR Higashi Nihon assistant coach Tadakatsu Mukae, 47, was teammates with Toyo head coach Toshiyuki Sakai, 47. Having finished 8th on the Kanto Region High School Ekiden First Stage in 29:45, Mukae's son Haruto Mukae will also join the Toyo roster and can look forward to further growth under the leadership of his father's longtime friend. Other top recruits include Sendai Ikuei H.S. captain Sota Sugiura, 14:13.35 runner Angelo Baba (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.), and 2023 National High School Ekiden Second Stage 3rd-placer Shion Jinnai (Kobayashi H.S.) and Fourth Stage 6th-placer Yusuke Fujimoto (Kobayashi H.S.).

At the 100th Hakone Ekiden earlier this month Toyo University overcame low expectations with a great team performance that landed them 4th overall, Toyo's 19th-consecutive finish on the 10-deep podium. Returning members of that team include Second Stage 6th-placer Ren Umezaki (3rd yr.), Third Stage 6th-placer Ryota Kobayashi (3rd yr.), uphill Fifth Stage 10th-placer Renato Ogata (2nd yr.), Sixth Stage 8th-placer Mashu Nishimura (2nd yr.), Ninth Stage 2nd-placer Shu Yoshida (3rd yr.) and anchor stage winner Ryotaro Kishimoto (2nd yr.). Bolstered by the strong incoming 1st-year class, Toyo can be expected to be in contention for the top places at the 101st Hakone Ekiden next January.

source article:
translated by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...
1 comment
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview

The Nagoya Women's Marathon , the world's largest women-only marathon and the last race in the selection cycle for September's Tokyo World Championships, happens Sunday. Weather conditions are looking better than what they had in Tokyo and Osaka the last two weekends, 7Ëš at the start and rising to 12Ëš with sunny skies. The wind looks a bit stronger than ideal, but it could be worse. Fuji TV has the live broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. Sunday local time, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch the TVer streaming . One option for  a leaderboard is here , and another here . We'll have some coverage on @JRNLive . Just like last time around there are three Ethiopian and Kenyan-born athletes at the top list, this time it being sub-2:20 women Sheila Chepkirui , winner in NYC last year, and Ruti Aga , winner in Xiamen in January, and last year's Nagoya runner-up Eunice Chebichii Chumba . But last year Yuka Ando still pulled off the win, so there's a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...
1 comment
Read more