The important thing play got here on the three.8 km Fourth Stage, the place Third-year Rina Kurogami ran aggressively after beginning 11 seconds behind Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. “I did not push too exhausting on the climbs and simply constructed up momentum on the downhills,” she mentioned. Simply previous 2 km into the stage she handed Ritsumeikan Uji for the lead, happening take 8 seconds off the CR she had set on the identical stage 2 years in the past.
2nd-year Rin Setoguchi had accountability for the longest stage of the race, the 5.9 km Fifth Stage. “I simply advised myself that I might make up the 21 seconds to the company division chief, and ran like that,” she mentioned. After a quick begin she closed regularly, transferring into 1st general simply earlier than the handoff to anchor Hina Ogura.
At December’s Nationwide Excessive College Ekiden Kamimura Gakuen completed solely fifth, falling wanting its try at taking the nationwide title 2 years in a row and lacking the highest 3 for the primary time in 7 years. A number of athletes who raced there weren’t feeling properly, and coach Arikawa referred to as for them to enhance their way of life habits and perspective towards the race. “We made certain that they had been listening to staple items like washing arms, gargling, and the way they greet individuals.”
All 6 crew members completed prime 5 on their stage, and out of these 4 had been 1st or 2nd-year college students who will type the core of a powerful crew subsequent 12 months. Named captain for subsequent season, Setoguchi is already aiming for higher. “Subsequent 12 months we’ll win once more and go for the highschool division CR of 1:27:54,” she mentioned.
Within the company league division, Kyocera received for the primary time in 22 years, making up for the frustration of getting misplaced the lead on the anchor stage and ending 2nd final 12 months. Kyocera anchor Mio Kuroda, 23, began 18 seconds behind chief Sekisui Kagaku. Kuroda was rapidly overtaken by Kamimura Gakuen’s Ogura and fell to Third general, however she used the excessive schooler’s momentum to shut the hole to Sekisui Kagaku.
Kuroda figured that the final downhill about 2 km earlier than the end can be the place the race was determined. Simply as she thought, that was precisely the place she ran down Sekisui Kagaku’s Yuna Arai, surging previous her and rolling on to interrupt the end tape. It was solely Kyocera’s 2nd win within the occasion’s 36-year historical past.
Heach coach Makoto Wakamatsu praised Kuroda’s efficiency, saying, “She confirmed the abilities that have brings.” Though Kyocera’s objective was to win, a lot of its athletes are nonetheless of their 1st or 2nd 12 months with the crew and nonetheless growing. They greater than lived as much as Wakamatsu’s expectations. “Profitable was an expertise they wanted,” he mentioned.
thirty sixth Kitakyushu Girls’s Invitational Ekiden
Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 19 Jan. 2025
highschool division: 18 groups, 6 levels, 27.2 km
company league division: 10 groups, 5 levels, 27.2 km
High Workforce Outcomes
1. Kamimura Gakuen H.S. – 1:28:15
2. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. – 1:28:51
3. Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. – 1:28:53
4. Kyocera – 1:28:54
5. Sysmex – 1:29:09
6. Sekisui Kagaku – 1:29:18
7. Higo Ginko – 1:29:57
8. Iwatani Sangyo – 1:30:31
9. Denso – 1:30:47
10. Kagoshima H.S. – 1:31:43
High Particular person Stage Outcomes
First Stage (5.3 km) – Mei Hakiyama (Yamada H.S.) – 16:59
Second Stage (3.8 km) – Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) – 11:22 – CR
Third Stage (3.9 km) – Nodoka Ashi (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) – 12:35 – CR
Fourth Stage (3.8 km) – Rina Sasaki (Sekisui Kagaku) – 11:33 – CR
Fifth Stage (5.9 km, H.S.) – Momoka Onishi (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) – 19:35
Fifth Stage (10.4 km, corp.) – Hikari Ozaki (Sysmex) – 34:31
Sixth Stage (4.5 km, H.S.) – Yuika Tsuzurabara (Osaka Ok.J.G. H.S.) – 14:38
translated by Brett Larner
