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Matsuo Breaks High School Half Marathon Record in 1:02:47


At the 48th Kanagawa Half Marathon at Yokohama's Nissin Olio Group's Isogo Plant, Jinya Ozaki (Teikyo Univ.) outran tough competition from National University Ekiden champion Komazawa University and Hakone Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University to take 1st in the men's race in 1:02:04. AGU's Sho Fukutomi was 2nd in 1:02:07, with Komazawa's Rinta Muta 3rd in 1:02:08. High schooler Nichika Maeda (Miura Gakuen H.S.) took the women's race in 1:16:30.

But it was another high schooler who made headlines. 3rd-year Koki Matsuo (Shiritsu Funabashi H.S.) ran 1:02:47, taking 28 seconds off the fastest half marathon time ever run by a Japanese-born high school student. Last summer Matsuo ran the 5000 m at the National High School Track and Field Championships, and in November he went under 14 minutes for 5000 m, his time of 13:55.07 putting him into the top class of high school running.

At last fall's Chiba Prefectural High School Ekiden Matsuo set a new CR of 24:06 to win the 8.0875 km Fourth Stage. At December's National High School Ekiden he was assigned the most competitive stage, the 10.0 km opening leg, where he ran an excellent 28:54 for 4th to demonstrate his abilities on the road.

At the Kanagawa Half Matsuo went out in the lead group of collegiate runners, hitting 10 km in 29:33. He faded in the 2nd half but managed to hang to finish 17th overall in 1:02:47, cracking the 3:00/km barrier to better the 1:03:15 record set by Yuta Minamisaka (Kurashiki H.S.) in 2023.

The high school girls' half marathon record also nearly went down, but at a different race. At Ibaraki's Moriya Half Marathon, Anna Szbrucek (Ushiku H.S.) debuted in 1:13:33, just short of the 1:12:06 record set in 2017 by Yuka Kato (Toki Shogyo H.S.). Born in Japan to Slovakian and Bulgarian parents, Szbrucek holds the 2000 mSC and 3000 mSC high school records.

The men's race in Moriya was a group run by Chuo Gakuin University, Kota Yoneda leading his team in 1:04:15. CGU runners took 9 of the top 10 spots, with only Sota Takeichi (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) breaking up the party in 1:04:58 for 9th.

48th Kanagawa Half Marathon

Yokohama, Kanagawa, 1 Feb. 2026

Men's Half Marathon
1. Jinya Ozaki (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:04
2. Sho Fukutomi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:07 - debut
3. Rinta Muta (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:08 - debut
4. Kosei Niitani (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:11 - PB
5. Ao Funakoshi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:12 - PB
6. Yuto Abe (Meiji Univ.) - 1:02:14 - PB
7. Koki Ishikawa (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:15 - debut
8. Harua Hinata (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:15 - debut
9. Riku Anjima (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:16 - PB
10. Daichi Hoshino (Hosei Univ.) - 1:02:17 - PB
11. Riku Anzai (Chuo Univ.) - 1:02:20 - PB
12. Zen Kuroda (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:22 - PB
13. Masaya Nishizawa (Rikkyo Univ.) - 1:02:25 - PB
14. Kenshiro Uenoyama (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:27 - debut
15. Kotaro Yamagiwa (Hosei Univ.) - 1:02:31 - PB
16. Nozomu Harada (Chuo Univ.) - 1:02:39 - PB
17. Koki Matsuo (Shiritsu Funabashi H.S.) - 1:02:47 - H.S. NR
18. Reiji Uesaka (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:50
19. Sora Enomoto (Kokushikan Univ.) - 1:02:54 - PB
20. Yuki Komatsu (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:02:58 - PB

Women's Half Marathon
1. Nichika Maeda (Miura Gakuen H.S.) - 1:16:30 - debut
2. Eri Suzuki - 1:18:32
3. Rieko Koshi - 1:18:44 - PB

Women's 10 km
1. Mina Numata (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) - 34:01 - debut
2. Mina Kushibuchi (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) - 34:38 - debut
3. Kii Nagaiwa (Hakuho Joshi H.S.) - 34:43 - debut

42nd Moriya Half Marathon

Moriya, Ibaraki, 1 Feb. 2026

Men
1. Kota Yoneda (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:15
2. Sho Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:23
3. Takayoshi Nomiyama (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:27
4. Kanto Nomiyama (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:31
5. Shion Nomura (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:41
6. Shun Inami (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:49
7. Ryu Tokuzen (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:53
8. Keisho Nakazaono (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:57
9. Sota Takeichi (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) - 1:04:58
10. Riku Inomoto (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:02

Women
1. Anna Szbrucek (Ushiku H.S.) - 1:13:23 - debut
2. Yume Kaneko - 1:20:35
3. Yu Goto - 1:22:31

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Comments

Anonymous said…
Great stuff by Matsuo though we know not to raise too much expectations after we saw how college careers are different and some talents don't fully bloom (see Yoshioka and Ishida). Great potential there though.

What is scary is the depth that once again AGU shows with depth runners running low 62s and with a few those of being first years too.
Encouraging for Komazawa as well since Muta is a debuting first year and Niitani will be there too next year. Chuo having a couple of guys in the mix too though I don't know what year they are.

Oh well, ekiden season won't come fast enough.
February 3, 2026 at 3:11 AM
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