Skip to main content

Kise and Kyoyama Win National Junior High School Ekiden


The 33rd National Junior High School Ekiden took place in Shiga's Kibogaoka Bunka Park, with boys running 18 km in 6 legs and girls 12 km in 5 legs. Making Nationals for the first time, Gunma's Kise J.H.S. won the boys's race, while Okayama's Kyoyama J.H.S. became only the 3rd school in event history to pull off a threepeat.

Ryunosuke Ideta (Chukyo J.H.S.), winner of the boys' 3000 m at last summer's Okinawa National Junior High School Track and Field Championships, and girls' 1500 m champ Aika Koreeda (Utsube J.H.S.) both raced, the first time in 17 years that the winners of both the boys' and girls' long-distance events ran at the National Junior High School Ekiden. Both ran up to potential and won their stages.

Running the First Stage, Koreeda came to Nationals with a solid season since her national title on the track, winning at the National Sports Festival U16 and taking her 3000 m PB down to 9:34.44. Even with all the other schools' best runners positioned on the same stage, Koreeda went to the front from the start. Kyoyama's Iroha Nakanishi and Kioka Hirata (Matsunami J.H.S.) tried to put pressure on her, but Koreeda kept calm and carried on at the front of the lead group, ignoring others went they tried to pass her and staying focused on her own race.

"I'm good on uphills, so I attacked on them and relaxed a bit on the downhills," Koreeda said post-race. She finally broke free of Hirata on the last uphill, taking the stage win in 10:12. It was the first time for a runner from Mie prefecture to win a stage at the National Junior High School Ekiden. "Winning the National Junior High School Championships 1500 m on the track gave me the experience to pull it off here," she said. "Competing in the big races makes you less nervous."

While Koreeda led off, Ideta was assigned the anchor stage for Chukyo. Chukyo had been a favorite for the overall win, but the team struggled from early on, and Ideta was in 15th when he took over, 1:07 behind the leader. A come-from-behind win was probably out of reach, but Ideta gave it a go with aggressively fast running from the start. Gaining momentum on the first downhill, he started catching the competition one by one. 8th place, the bottom of the podium, had been about 30 seconds ahead when he started, but Ideta succeeded getting all the way up to 7th by the end of his run, clocking a stage-winning 9:11.

Chukyo's captain this year, Ideta said, "My job was to try to get to the finish line first no matter what place I was in when I got the tasuki. I'm happy I at least got the stage win."

Both Koreeda and Ideta plan to run January's National Women's Ekiden and National Men's Ekiden, a chance for them to score triple national titles this season. "I don't know what stage I'll be running yet, but my goal is to win whatever I run," Ideta said. "If I'm on the Second Stage then I want to break Kain Inagaki's 8:21 CR from last time."

33rd National Junior High School Ekiden

Kibogaoka Bunka Park, Shiga, 14 Dec. 2025
girls: 48 teams, 5 stages, 12 km
boys: 48 teams, 6 stages, 18 km

Girls
Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (3.0 km) - Aika Koreeda (Utsuno J.H.S.) - 10:12
Second Stage (2.0 km) - Hinano Sugawara (Kuroishino J.H.S.) - 6:44
Third Stage (2.0 km) - Mikoto Ando (Ryunan J.H.S.) - 7:03
Fourth Stage (2.0 km) - Sorano Sugawara (Kuroishino J.H.S.) - 6:55
Fifth Stage (3.0 km) - Chisato Shimoda (Kyoyama J.H.S.) - 10:27

Top Team Performances
1. Kyoyama J.H.S. (Okayama) - 42:07
2. Kuroishino J.H.S. (Iwate) - 42:24
3. Otokoyama Dalsan J.H.S. (Kyoto) - 42:42
4. Matsubashi J.H.S. (Kumamoto) - 42:50
5. Tsurugashima Fuji J.H.S. (Saitama) - 43:11
6. Matsunami J.H.S. (Kanagawa) - 43:11
7. Funehiki J.H.S. (Fukushima) - 43:13
8. Omigawa J.H.S. (Chiba) - 43:23
9. Shimodate Minami J.H.S. (Ibaraki) - 43:41
10. Ryunan J.H.S. (Aichi) - 43:53

Boys
Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (3.0 km) - Shunta Sakai (Okazaki J.H.S.) - 9:13
Second Stage (3.0 km) - Eita Shimobayashi (Naruse J.H.S.) / Tomoki Negishi (Kawanakashima J.H.S.) - 9:16
Third Stage (3.0 km) - Ryoga Takahashi (Obusuma J.H.S.) - 9:30
Fourth Stage (3.0 km) - Seishiro Takada (Kise J.H.S.) - 9:19
Fifth Stage (3.0 km) - Tsubasa Osawa (Kise J.H.S.) - 9:33
Sixth Stage (3.0 km) - Ryunosuke Ideta (Chukyo J.H.S.) - 9:11

Top Team Results
1. Kise J.H.S. - 57:01
2. Miyazaki Oyodo J.H.S. - 57:38
3. Naruse J.H.S. - 57:52
4. Tokiwamatsu J.H.S. - 57:58
5. Kawanakashima J.H.S. - 57:58
6. Inami Kita J.H.S. - 58:21
7. Chukyo J.H.S. - 58:35
8. Otokoyama Daisan J.H.S. - 58:42
9. Tomita J.H.S. - 58:53
10. Matsubashi J.H.S. - 58:54

source article:

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more