Nagano Higashi Girls Lead Start to Finish to Win National High School Ekiden

2022 National High School Ekiden girls' champion Nagano Higashi H.S. was back in force after a 5th-place finish last year, leading start to finish to win this year's national title Sunday in Kyoto. Lead runner Airi Mashiba kicked it off with a 19:30 stage win on the 6.0 km opening leg, something that head coach Fumio Yokouchi said later that he hadn't been expecting. That ended up being Nagano Higashi's only individual stage win in the 5-leg, 21.0975 km race, but the rest of its team ran well enough to hold a lead that was never less than 11 seconds but never more than 21.

Last year's 4th-placer Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. spent most of the race in 2nd, but over the second half of the race Sendai Ikuei H.S., 2nd last year by just 1 second, came from further back to run Kunei down on the anchor stage thanks in big part to a critical stage win on the 4th leg by Tsubomi Tezuka that put anchor Aoi Hosokawa in position to catch Kunei's Mizuki Oda. Nagano Higashi won in 1:07:27, 1 second faster than Kamimura Gakuen H.S. did in winning the 2023 title, with Sendai Ikuei 2nd in 1:07:45 and Kunei Joshi Gakuin 3rd in 1:08:05.

A major rule change this year barred non-Japanese athletes from running anything except one of the two 3.0 km legs, which meant the CR on the longer stages were all out of reach. The Third Stage saw a new CR of 9:14 by Lucy Nduta of 9th-place Aomori Yamada H.S. as a result, with 2nd and 3rd placers Rose Wangui (Sera H.S.) and Margaret Muthoni (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) also under the old CR of 9:21. Despite Muthoni's efforts, last year's national champ Kamimura Gakuen was only 5th in 1:08:41. 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo (Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S.) came up short of the fastest time ever by a Japanese-born runner on the 4.0975 km Second Stage but still managing to take the stage win in 12:47. Higashi Osaka Keiai was 6th in 1:08:42.

36th National High School Girls Ekiden

Kyoto, 22 Dec. 2024

58 teams, 5 legs, 21.0975 km

complete results

Top Individual Stage Results

First Stage (6.0 km) - Airi Mashiba (Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 19:30

Second Stage (4.0975 km) - Rin Kubo (Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S.) - 12:47

Third Stage (3.0 km) - Lucy Nduta (Aoyama Yamada H.S.) - 9:14 - CR

Fourth Stage (3.0 km) - Tsubomi Tezuka (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 9:10

Fifth Stage (5.0 km) - Momoka Onishi (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 15:46

Top Team Results

1. Nagano Higashi H.S. - 1:07:27

2. Sendai Ikuei H.S. - 1:07:45

3. Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. - 1:08:05

4. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 1:08:32

5. Kamimura Gakuen H.S. - 1:08:41

6. Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. - 1:08:42

7. Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S. - 1:08:45

8. Gingawa Gakuin H.S. - 1:09:19

9. Aoyama Yamada H.S. - 1:09:36

10. Saitama Sakae H.S. - 1:10:03

Five New Championship Records at Japanese Olympic Trials Day Two

Great conditions on the second day of Japan's National Track and Field Championships , U20 National Championships and Paris Olympics trials helped athletes set new National Championship meet records in the women's pole vault, men's 400 mH, men's and women's 1500 m, and men's 5000 m, with three of the five record setters and guaranteeing themselves places on the Paris Olympics team. Complete results here . Women's Pole Vault Final National record holder Misaki Morota cleared her minimum goal, the win in 4.31 m to score enough points to move from 33rd to 32nd in the 32-deep Paris Olympic quota. Morota took two attempts to get over 4.30 m, but on her first try at a Japanese National Championships meet record 4.41 m she got it done. That gave her enough points to move to 30th, but it would take clearing 4.50, 2 cm higher than Morota's NR, to move to 29th. That proved to be out of range, leaving Morota in good position but still waiting to see the outcome of...

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