Skip to main content

World University Cross Country Championships - Results

by Brett Larner

Japan's contingent ran well at Saturday's World University Cross Country Championships in Cassino, Italy, scoring two individual and two team medals in a field made somewhat softer by the absence of South Africa, whose team management reportedly forgot to apply for visas, and the United States which elected not to send a team to compete internationally. 

In the women's 6.2 km, Moeno Shimizu (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) and Maki Izumida (Rikkyo Univ.) were part of a tight four-way battle for the podium, both outlasting Jennifer Louise Nesbitt (Great Britain) but unable to top winner Sevilay Eytemis (Turkey).  Eytemis scored gold in 21:57, Shimizu taking silver three seconds back and Izumida bronze a stride behind.  With women's team scoring based on the first three of six finishers Japan took the gold thanks to Shimizu, Izumida and Nanako Kanno (Ritsumeikan Univ.), 8th overall in 22:27.  Nesbitt's 4th-place finish led Great Britain to the team silver, with hosts Italy winning bronze.

In the men's 10.7 km, Morocco swept the first four places, Hicham Amghar scoring gold in 33:46.  Japan landed three men in the top ten led by first-year Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.) at 5th in 33:56, just five seconds out of an individual bronze.  With men's team results scored by the first four of six finishers Morocco earned a perfect gold, Japan taking silver with 5th, 6th, 8th and 12th-place finishes.  Turkey won bronze with two in the top ten.

20th World University Cross Country Championships
Cassino, Italy, 3/12/16
click here for complete results

Women's 6.2 km
1. Sevilay Eytemis (Turkey) - 21:57
2. Moeno Shimizu (Japan) - 22:00
3. Maki Izumida (Japan) - 22:01
4. Jennifer Louise Nesbitt (Great Britain) - 22:05
5. Laura Donegan (Australia) - 22:12
6. Philippa Ruth Woolven (Great Britain) - 22:20
7. Danielle Allen (Australia) - 22:26
8. Nanako Kanno (Japan) - 22:27
9. Ai Hosoda (Japan) - 22:32
10. Valeria Roffino (Italy) - 22:34
-----
13. Kanna Tamaki (Japan) - 22:37
14. Ayumi Uehara (Japan) - 22:41

Team Results
1. Japan - 13
2. Great Britain - 22
3. Italy - 41

Men's 10.7 km
1. Hicham Amghar (Morocco) - 33:46
2. Reda Jaafar (Morocco) - 33:49
3. Youssef Ben Had (Morocco) - 33:51
4. Mohamed Agourram (Morocco) - 33:53
5. Kazuya Shiojiri (Japan) - 33:56
6. Hideaki Sumiyoshi (Japan) - 33:58
7. Takieddine Hedeili (Algeria) - 34:08
8. Yusuke Nishiyama (Japan) - 34:08
9. Sabahattin Yildirimci (Turkey) - 34:13
10. Alper Demir (Turkey) - 34:19
-----
12. Kenta Ueda (Japan) - 34:26
20. Kai Takeshita (Japan) - 35:01
35. Hiroya Inoue (Japan) - 35:47

Team Results
1. Morocco - 10
2. Japan - 31
3. Turkey - 62

© 2016 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that  Sis

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

  In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el