Skip to main content

2019 Hakone Ekiden Winner Tokai University Deep in Summer Training to Break Back Into Top 5 This Season


They say in Hakone Ekiden circles that the team that wins the summer wins Hakone. Aiming to break a three-year streak of finishing off the podium at the main event, 2019 Hakone winner Tokai University is aiming to take the top position at the Oct. 19 Yosenkai Hakone qualifier half marathon. Led by 4th-year captain Yuto Kajitani, the Tokai team is putting in more mileage this summer than usual.

The Shonan-based Tokai's 2019 Hakone title was its first-ever win at Japan's biggest race. Since then it has finished as high as 2nd and 5th, but in the last three years it was 11th, 15th and 11th and missed out on top 10 and a guaranteed place at the following year's Hakone. To try to get back to its winning ways the team is training this summer in Nagano at Lake Shirakaba and at altitude in Sugadaira.

"This season our goal is to make top 5 at both the National University Ekiden and the Hakone Ekiden," said Kajitani. Everyone on the team is working actively to make that goal a reality. We've got a great vibe this year." At a team meeting during the training camp, Kajitani stressed to the other athletes the importance of preparation and consistency. "If you prepare properly before practice starts you can maximize the effectiveness of the workout and reduce the chance of getting injured," he said. "Doing that consistently is critical."

Last year Kajitani's teammate Haruta Koshi was captain as a 3rd-year, but at the start of this year Kajitani was elected to replace Koshi as captain. "I thought that Koshi would be better off concentrating on the running side of things, and that to lead the team to becoming better I should take over as captain," he explained.

Although core member Shotaro Ishihara graduated last year and moved on to the SGH corporate team, this year's lineup still features Judah Hyodo, 5th on the First Stage at Hakone this year, and Hisaya Hanaoka, 13th on the Second Stage. In June Tokai was the top team at the National University Ekiden qualifier with that lineup.

"We're aiming to be the top team at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai too," said head coach Hayashi Morozumi. "The 10 teams that made the podium at Hakone are still ranked above that, so if we're not the top team at the Yosenkai are at least in the top 3 then it will be hard to be competitive at Hakone itself." Last year Morozumi didn't prioritize what place Tokai finished at the qualifier and they just scraped through to Hakone in 10th. But this season is different, and success this fall depends on doing what needs to be done this summer.

source article:



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

National University Championships Entry Lists and Streaming

The 95th National University Track and Field Championships run Friday through Monday at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. The complete meet schedule and live results are here . The 10000 m races were already held separately earlier this season. Streaming starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Japan time, with separate field event channels and Day 2 and 3 streaming here . Top entries in each event with best performance in the qualifying window: Men 100 m Shoma Yamamoto (Hiroshima Univ.) - 10.04 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.07 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.09 Riku Oishi (Toyo Univ.) - 10.13 Kaito Kuroki (Chuo Univ.) - 10.14 Ryunosuke Mizuno (Waseda Univ.) - 10.14 Yugo Haitamataira (Juntendo Univ.) - 10.17 Shun Miyashita (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 10.19 200 m Akira Hayashi (Keio Univ.) - 20.36 Tomoru Funaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 20.39 Oma Asai (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.47 Reishin Yamamoto (Toyo Univ.) - 20.49 Shingo Suzuki (Tokai Univ.) - 20.54 Haruto Nakamura (Fukuoka Univ.) - 20.55 400 m Shinya Hayashi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yuasa and Niiya Win Hokkaido Marathon, 6 Qualify for Olympic Trials

  Six more people picked up qualifying spots for next year's MGC Race at yesterday's Hokkaido Marathon in Sapporo, guaranteeing themselves places at Japan's 2028 Los Angeles Olympics marathon trials. In the men's race, Hibiki Yoshida tried to break away from the massive lead group at 30 km, opening a 25-second lead between there and 35 km before getting cut down by the chase trio of Jin Yuasa , Ken Tansho and Masato Arao . All three stayed together until the very end, Yuasa showing the same kind of closing speed he had in winning 2025 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon and pulling away to win in 2:10:46. The debuting Tansho was next in 2:10:55, with Arao, 6th at last year's Sydney Marathon in an excellent 2:07:42, 3rd here in 2:10:59. By clearing 2:12:00 all three picked up MGC qualifying spots, freeing them up to go overseas next spring. Continuing a great season, Soka University 's Shoki Yamaguchi was 4th in 2:11:47, missing out on trials qualification but bea...
1 comment
Read more

Monterey Welcomes Student-Athletes from Sister City Nanao, Japan

a press release by the Monterey-Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project photos here Fourteen student-athletes from Nanao High School in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, recently completed a weeklong visit to the Monterey Peninsula as part of the Monterey–Nanao Cross Country Exchange Project , bringing together young people from the two Sister Cities through running, education, environmental stewardship, cultural exchange, and friendship. The seven boys and seven girls from Nanao were paired with 14 members of the Monterey High School cross country team and stayed in their homes throughout the visit. The week marked the first half of a reciprocal exchange that will continue when the Monterey students travel to Nanao later this year. The visitors received their first introduction to Monterey shortly after arriving at Monterey High School, walking with their hosts to Sister City Park and gathering for photographs beside the sign honoring Nanao — a fitting beginning for a week devoted to bringin...
Post a Comment
Read more