Tokyo University's Hiroaki Furukawa and Hakone Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University's Shota Shiode scored sub-2:20 wins at the Kumamoto Castle Marathon and Kochi Ryoma Marathon, and Hakone runner-up Komazawa University's Ibuki Kaneko and Kyosuke Hanao had good runs over 30 km, Kaneko 2nd at the Ome 30 km in 1:34:15 and Hanao only 5th at the Kumanichi 30 km but faster in 1:33:14. But there were other big results for Japanese collegiate runners this weekend overseas and at home.
At the FISU World University Cross Country Championships in Muscat, Oman, Haruka Ogawa of Rikkyo University was at the front of the pack the entire way through the women's 10 km, unable to hang with eventual gold medalist Maria Karabo Mailula of South Africa over the last 2 km loop and losing touch with Great Britain's Alice Goodall just before the end but hanging on for bronze in 34:22. Ogawa was the only Japanese woman to make the top 10, with Rio Einaga (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) 11th in 35:23, Tomo Muramatsu (Ritsumeikan Univ.) 16th in 35:49, and Nanaka Miyahara (Fukuoka Univ.) 19th of 33 in 36:11. Great Britain was 1st in team scoring with 17, Japan 2nd with 20 and Italy 3rd with 26.
In the men's 10 km, Hakone Ekiden Second Stage winner Asahi Kuroda (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) led in the early stages before H.S. 5000 m NR holder Hiroto Yoshioka (Juntendo Univ.) took over. Yoshioka suffered in the heat at World XC last year, crawling toward the finish and fainting cm from crossing it after leading early, but here he seemed to handle the heat better until a big surge from Uganda's Seth Akampa put him away. Akampa soloed the last lap to win in 29:12, with Miguel Baidal Marco of Spain taking silver in 29:23. France's Baptiste Fourmont came up in the final stretch to pass Yoshioka for bronze 29:26 to 29:29. Shoya Saito of Hakone 3rd-placer Josai University was a close 5th in 29:34, Kuroda dropping to 11th in 30:10. Haruki Sato (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) was a distant 26th in 31:27. Despite getting shut out of individual medals, the Japanese men took the top team spot with 20 points to France's 22. Both Italy and Australia scored 40, with Spain close behind at 41.
Shiode and Kuroda's Aoyama Gakuin teammate Hibiki Obara had a good run at the Boston University DMR Challenge, getting under the 4-minute mark for the mile in 3:59.61 for 8th in Section 2.
Back home, the National Invitational University Mixed-Gender Ekiden had its 4th running in Osaka's Nagai Park, with 19 teams of 3 women and 3 men each racing stages of 2 km, 3 km and 5 km in length. It's interesting that while some of the top distance programs like women's national champion Meijo University, Hakone champ Aoyama Gakuin and 2023 men's national champ Komazawa only focus on one gender, enough top-tier schools have distance squads from both genders to make this ekiden viable.
2022 winner Juntendo University started in 5th with an 8:14 from 1st-year male Kiyoto Ono on the 3.0 km opening leg and fell to 9th when leading woman Wakana Ishibiki was only 11th on the 2.0 km 2nd leg. But for the rest of the way Juntendo made up ground, and with a 16:00 CR for the 5.0 km female anchor leg Mao Kogure overtook 2nd-place Kyoto Sangyo University and leader Nittai University for the win in an overall course record 1:00:06.
The top four teams all broke the 1:00:50 CR set by Nittai last year, Nittai taking 2nd in 1:00:21, Josai 3rd in 1:00:27 and Kyoto Sangyo falling to 4th in 1:00:47. Performances were at a high level across the board, with new CR for 4 of the 6 legs and CR ties on the other two. Hopes were high that collegiate 10000 m record holder Seira Fuwa would make it off the entry list and onto Takushoku University's starting roster after over two years of injury, but in her absence Takushoku was 5th in 1:00:51.
4th National Invitational University Mixed-Gender Ekiden
Nagai Park, Osaka, 18 Feb. 2024
19 teams, 6 stages, 20.0 km
Top Individual Stage Performances
First Stage (men, 3.0 km) - Ryoto Aoki (Rikkyo Univ.) - 8:09 - CR
Second Stage (women, 2.0 km) - Yuka Sato (Nittai Univ.) - 6:13 - CR tie
Third Stage (men, 5.0 km) - Kaito Kojima (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 13:59 - CR
Fourth Stage (women, 3.0 km) - Sayuki Ota (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 9:23 - CR
Fifth Stage (men, 2.0 km) - Takumi Shiobara (Juntendo Univ.) - 5:21 - CR tie
Sixth Stage (women, 5.0 km) - Mao Kogure (Juntendo Univ.) - 16:00 - CR
Top Team Performances
1. Juntendo University - 1:00:06 - CR
2. Nittai University - 1:00:21 (CR)
3. Josai University - 1:00:27 (CR)
4. Kyoto Sangyo University - 1:00:47 (CR)
5. Takushoku University - 1:00:51
6. Kansai University - 1:00:56
7. Ritsumeikan University - 1:01:04
8. Tsukuba University - 1:01:19
9. Kansai Region Select Team - 1:01:52
10. Surugadai University - 1:02:09
© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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