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Japan's Team for Tallahassee World XC Championships

Following the track 5000 m held last weekend to pick the lineup for the U20 teams at January's Tallahassee World Cross Country Championships, the JAAF has announced its complete team lineup. The senior men's team features sub-28 runners Ryuto Igawa and Daiki Ozawa, with 31-minute women Momoka Kawaguchi and Wakana Itsuki lead the senior women's squad. The U20 men's team features 6 sub-14 high schoolers led by Haruki Niizuma with a 13:35.33 best, while at 15:27.28 Mei Hosomi leads a U20 women's team made up of a mix of high school runners, collegiate athletes and corporate leaguers. The complete team lineup with track 5000 m / 10000 m bests:

Senior Men's 10 km
Ryuto Igawa (Asahi Kasei) - 27:39.05
Daiki Ozawa (Fujitsu) - 27:55.74
Hiroto Yoshioka (Juntendo Univ.) - 28:08.02
Yuma Shimoo (NTN) - 28:27.52

Senior Women's 10 km
Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) - 31:57.81
Wakana Itsuki (Kraftia) - 31:58.59
Sora Shinozakura (Yokohama T&F Assoc.) - 32:24.50
Mitsu Ozaki (Sysmex) - 32:41.15

Senior 8 km Mixed Relay
Kiyoto Ono (Juntendo Univ.) - 13:56.18
Takumi Shiobara (Juntendo Univ.) - 14:20.87
Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) - 15:34.13
Momoa Yamada (Shimamura) - 15:46.60

U20 Men's 8 km
Haruki Niizuma (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 13:35.33
Ojiro Honda (Tottori Johoku H.S.) - 13:51.20
Rikuto Ikeya (Komazawa H.S.) - 13:55.61
Kain Inagaki (Rakunan H.S.) - 13:57.82
Junsei Murakami (Tottori Johoku H.S.) - 13:58.87
Kota Tamura (Kansai Soka H.S.) - 13:59.74

U20 Women's 6 km
Mei Hosomi (Meijo Univ.) - 15:27.28
Airi Mashiba (Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 15:30.85
Mona Utsunomiya (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) - 15:37.61
Michi Kawanishi (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:42.59
Yui Onotora (Tohoku H.S.) - 15:43.74
Wakana Fukuyama (Saitama Sakae H.S.) - 16:06.86

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Anonymous said…
I find It surprising to see Yoshioka on the team a few days after Hakone and given the issues he had the last XC world championship (those were hot conditions though) which likely impacted his progress, never got close to what he was After his collapse at XC worlds.

Miura won National XC last year and i wondered if he would choose New Years Ekiden or XC worlds. Seems like we got our answer and likely a smart choice. Subaru has a team that could go top 3.

Igawa fought well at last XC Nationals, lets see what he brings to the worlds stage though I doubt theres much of a chance for a big result.
December 6, 2025 at 6:21 AM
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