Skip to main content

Aoyama Gakuin, Ritsumeikan Uji and Tottori Johoku Win Oga Ekiden


110 teams took part in the 72nd National Oga Ekiden in Akita Saturday, with 30 teams in the open division, 12 universities, 44 high school boys' teams and 24 high school girls' teams. The Shingenden Kogyo corporate team won the open division for the 2nd year in a row, with Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University winning the 7-stage, 64.8 km university division in 3:14:28.

In the 5-stage, 21.0975 km high school girls' race, Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. took the win in 1:10:43. Right from the start it was a tough race against Sendai Ikuei H.S., which fielded 3 teams. Ritsumeikan Uji's lead runner Yui Ueda and Sendai Ikuei A's Rikka Kuroda both clocked 14:09, and a great stage-winning run from 2nd runner Nodoka Ashida put Ritsumeikan Uji out front. But Sendai Ikuei B's Miriam Njeri closed down the lead from 1:14 to 24 seconds on the 3rd leg, and her teammate Non Tachibana rode that momentum to overtake Ritsumeikan Uji for the lead.

It came down to the anchor stage, where Ritsumeikan Uji's Miyu Kobayashi closed down a 5-second deficit to Sendai Ikuei B and turned it into a 9-second margin of victory. Sendai Ikuei B was 2nd in 1:10:52, with its A-team 3rd in 1:11:25. 2024 National High School Ekiden winner Kamimura Gakuen H.S. was 4th in 1:11:34.

In the 7-stage, 42.195 km high school boys' race, Tottori Johoku H.S. was 1st across the finish line in 2:06:51. But because Tottori Johoku was running in a non-competitive capacity, Rakunan H.S. was the official winner in 2:07:57. Tottori Johoku's Ojiro Honda went straight into the lead on the opening leg. Sendai Ikuei H.S. took over on the 3rd leg with a stage win from Tsukasa Wakabayashi, and built its lead on the 4th and 5th legs. But on the 6th leg Tottori Johoku closed it back down to 1 second, then ran away on the anchor stage to finish 1st.

Official winner Rakunan was 5th after the 1st leg and dropped as far as 7th by the 4th leg. But its momentum turned after that, moving up one place on the 5th leg and then 6th runner Ryoya Taniguchi turning in a stage win to move into 3rd. Anchor Taishi Nojiri was also the fastest on his leg, covering the 9.3 km stage in 27:31 to pass Sendai Ikuei and open a lead of 1:04. In 2nd was 2024 National High School Ekiden winner Saku Chosei H.S. in 2:08:11, with Sendai Ikuei falling to 3rd in 2:09:04, holding off Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. by just 4 seconds.

Complete results: Open ・ University ・ High School Boys ・ High School Girls


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