Skip to main content

Tokai University Head Coach Morozumi Goes Heavy on First-Years in Hakone Ekiden Lineup

translated and edited by Brett Larner
source articles at bottom


Powered by its formidable lineup of talented first-years, Tokai University is shooting for top three in Japan's biggest race.  On Dec. 16 the Tokai University men's ekiden team held a public practice session in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa ahead of the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden.  Of its sixteen-man Hakone entry roster, eight are first-years.  Four of those have run 13 minutes for 5000 m, four have run 28 minutes for 10000 m, and two have run 62 minutes for the half marathon.  Head coach Hayashi Morozumi, 50, told reporters, "I think you'll probably see a lot of the first-years on the final start list too.  It's jump or die.  If we take an interesting approach, we can make it a good race.  We have to take it to the champs Aoyama Gakuin University and not be afraid of failing.  Our goal is 3rd place.  I hope that we can go into it with every team member bringing the best of his abilities."

Morozumi plans a strong start.  On the First Stage he intends to put Shota Onizuka, who ran an all-time Asian junior #2 time of 1:02:03 at November's Ageo City Half Marathon, following on the Second Stage with Hayato Seki, winner of the Third Stage at October's Izumo Ekiden.  Both are first-years. "I'm excited to see what this kind of fresh blood can bring to those stages," Morozumi commented.  Onizuka promised to get things started fast, saying, "I want to get us into a good flow, whether that's running with Aoyama Gakuin or ahead of them."  Seki added, "I want to keep the team's momentum up on the most competitive stage.  I think we can take 1st as a team."

Morozumi also intends to use first-years on Hakone's two most important stages, the uphill Fifth Stage and the downhill Sixth Stage.  Conducting trial runs in training to identify potential candidates, Morozumi identified first-years Ryoji Tatezawa and Junnosuke Matsuo as possibilities for the Fifth Stage.  "Neither of them is affected by the demands of the climb," he said. "Tatezawa sits low down on his solid legs, an old-school style.  Matsuo has a lighter style like [former Aoyama Gakuin uphill star] Daichi Kamino. Both are well-suited.  They're not going to be called 'God of the Mountain' like Kamino but they are better on tough courses."  For the downhill he also identified a first-year.  "I am thinking of Reiri Nakashima," Morozumi said. "He showed something special during the trial run."

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/1752780.html
http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/1752798.html
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20161217/ath16121705020001-n2.html
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2016/12/17/kiji/20161217s00063000088000c.html

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

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
Post a Comment
Read more

The Ivy League at the Izumo Ekiden in Review

Last week I was contacted by Will Geiken , who I'd met years ago when he was a part of the Ivy League Select Team at the Izumo Ekiden . He was looking for historical results from Izumo and lists of past team members, and I was able to put together a pretty much complete history, only missing the alternates from 1998 to 2010 and a little shaky on the reverse transliterations of some of the names from katakana back into the Western alphabet for the same years. Feel free to send corrections or additions to alternate lists. It's interesting to go back and see some names that went on to be familiar, to see the people who made an impact like Princeton's Paul Morrison , Cornell's Max King , Stanford's Brendan Gregg in one of the years the team opened up beyond the Ivy League, Cornell's Ben de Haan , Princeton's Matt McDonald , and Harvard's Hugo Milner last year, and some of the people who struggled with the format. 1998 Team: 15th of 21 overall, 2:14:10 (43
Post a Comment
Read more

Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes - Weekend Road Roundup

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was back to running performances consistent with his other PBs with a 1:02:30 for 8th. His AGU teammate Kyosuke Hiramatsu was 10th in 1:04:00. Women's winner Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) also set a new CR in 1:09:57. Aoyama Gakuin runners took the top four spots in the men's half marathon at the Aomori Sakura Marathon , with Hakone alternate Kosei Shiraishi getting the win in 1:04:32 and B-team members Shunto Hamakawa and Kei Kitamura 2nd and 3rd in 1:04:45 and 1:04:48. Club runners took the other division titles, Hina Shinozaki winning the women's half
Post a Comment
Read more