Toyo's Ishida and Waseda's Yamaguchi Lead Entries for National University Men's Ekiden Kanto Region Qualifier
On June the KGRR released the entry lists for the Kanto Region qualifying race for the Nov. 3 National University Men's Ekiden. Taking place June 23 at Kanagawa's Sagamihara Gion Stadium, the Kanto Region qualifier consists of four heats of 10000 m, with participating school fielding two runners per heat and scored on the total time of its eight entrants. The seven fastest teams will go on to November's Nationals.
Going for its 11th-straight Nationals appearance, Tokai University is led by 3rd-duo Hisaya Hanaoka, who was a standout at last month's Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, and Judah Hyodo. Tokai's combined time of 3:48:37.21 for its eight entrants makes it the fastest in the field, an average of 28:34.65 per runner. 4th-year Yuto Kajitani and 3rd-year Makoto Takewari also feature in Tokai's lineup.
Missing the podium at Nationals last year, Toyo University is back at the Kanto qualifier for the first time in two years. In the midst of a senior-year comeback, former H.S. 5000 m record holder Kosuke Ishida and Ren Umezaki, a major player at the qualifier two years ago, front a Toyo lineup that features four rookies.
Hakone Ekiden 7th-placer Waseda University is led by 2024 National Cross-Country champion 3rd-year Tomonori Yamaguchi with support from 4th-years Haruto Ishizuka, Taishi Ito and Yota Ifuku, and from Hakone Fifth Stage runner Shinsaku Kudo, a 2nd-year.
Juntendo University's team has high-potential 1st-year Riku Tamame up front with a 10000 m best of 28:13.67 and relies heavily on fellow 1st-years Rinto Ikema, Ryuto Kawahara and Koshiro Tanimoto. With leadership from 4th-year Kenshin Ebisawa Juntendo hopes to make Nationals for the 8th year in a row.
Strong at the Kanto Region qualifier last year, Teikyo University's lineup features a lot of athletes with ekiden experience, including 4th-year Hiroki Yamanaka, 4th in the 10000 m at May's Kanto Regionals. 4th-year Taisei Kobayashi and 3rd-year Teruki Shimada will also do heavy lifting for the Teikyo team.
Having qualified last year, Kokushikan University is bringing most of its top talent again. On the other hand, after making Nationals last year for the first time in 14 years, Tokyo Nogyo University is missing 10000 m U20 NR holder Kazuma Maeda and two of its other fastest men, 3rd-year Tomoteru Yoshimura and 4th-year Yusho Takashima.
Among teams hoping to make it back into the cut Chuo Gakuin University is one of the big names, looking to make up for missing Nationals last year after being disqualified at the Kanto qualifier. 4th-year Reishi Yoshida, who represented Japan at the World University Games, leads the CGU squad.
Hosei University's lineup includes sub-29 4th-year Itsuki Koizumi and Hakone Sixth Stage winner Kazuma Takeda. Both Nittai University and Meiji University will field almost everyone on their teams who ran at Hakone in January. Nihon University, Surugadai University, Yamanashi Gakuin University, Reitaku University and Senshu University all have Kenyan athletes on their entry lists, raising the chances of some drama in the last of the four scoring heats.
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translated by Brett Larner
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