The Shonan-based Tokai’s 2019 Hakone title was its first-ever win at Japan’s largest race. Since then it has completed as excessive as 2nd and fifth, however within the final three years it was eleventh, fifteenth and eleventh and missed out on high 10 and a assured place on the following 12 months’s Hakone. To attempt to get again to its successful methods the crew is coaching this summer time in Nagano at Lake Shirakaba and at altitude in Sugadaira.
“This season our purpose is to make high 5 at each the Nationwide College Ekiden and the Hakone Ekiden,” mentioned Kajitani. Everybody on the crew is working actively to make that purpose a actuality. We have an awesome vibe this 12 months.” At a crew assembly through the coaching camp, Kajitani careworn to the opposite athletes the significance of preparation and consistency. “When you put together correctly earlier than observe begins you possibly can maximize the effectiveness of the exercise and scale back the possibility of getting injured,” he mentioned. “Doing that persistently is important.”
Final 12 months Kajitani’s teammate Haruta Koshi was captain as a Third-year, however in the beginning of this 12 months Kajitani was elected to exchange Koshi as captain. “I assumed that Koshi could be higher off concentrating on the operating facet of issues, and that to guide the crew to changing into higher I ought to take over as captain,” he defined.
Though core member Shotaro Ishihara graduated final 12 months and moved on to the SGH company crew, this 12 months’s lineup nonetheless options Judah Hyodo, fifth on the First Stage at Hakone this 12 months, and Hisaya Hanaoka, thirteenth on the Second Stage. In June Tokai was the highest crew on the Nationwide College Ekiden qualifier with that lineup.
“We’re aiming to be the highest crew on the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai too,” mentioned head coach Hayashi Morozumi. “The ten groups that made the rostrum at Hakone are nonetheless ranked above that, so if we’re not the highest crew on the Yosenkai are at the very least within the high 3 then it is going to be arduous to be aggressive at Hakone itself.” Final 12 months Morozumi did not prioritize what place Tokai completed on the qualifier they usually simply scraped by means of to Hakone in tenth. However this season is completely different, and success this fall depends upon doing what must be achieved this summer time.
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translated by Brett Larner
