http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/82664 translated by Brett Larner Major Tokyo-based electronics manufacturer Canon announced that its subsidiary Oita Canon Materials Inc. will begin sponsoring a new women's running team in April. The team will be based in Oita and will be coached by former Oita Nishi High School head coach Michio Ito. Oita Canon has already hired four professional and high school athletes from Oita, Nagasaki and Kagoshima Prefectures who will be employed at the company's Oita facility. It is searching for two more runners to bring the team's starting lineup to six. Among the runners already chosen for the team are Oita Nishi graduate Rina Abe (19), who runs for Team Oki but will lose that position when the team disbands at the end of March, and Yuka Yano (22), another Oita Nishi graduate who currently runs for Team Sysmex. Under Coach Ito, Oita Nishi was a regular at the National High School Ekiden Championships. In his days at Tsurusaki Kogyo High Sc...
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