Mombasa WXC logo 2007 (© c)
Twentysix runners eight for the men’s 12Km team, six for women’s 8Km team, six for men’s junior team and six for women’s junior team - have been selected for the Japanese team for the 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, Mombasa, Kenya (24 March).
The team was selected from the top finishers from two cross country races – Chiba International Cross Country and Fukuoka International Cross Country.
SENIOR squads
The men’s 12Km team consists of four college students and four corporate team runners. The best of the college runners is Hidekazu Sato, national high school record holder at 5000m. Although Sato had a troubled freshman year at college, he is running well again. He recorded a stage best in the Hakone Ekiden in January. Hiroyuki Ono, the first Japanese in the Fukuoka Cross Country, was sixth at 10,000m in the 2006 Inter-Collegiate Championships, while Takuya Fukatsu, sixth in the Fukuoka Cross Country, was fourth at 5000m in the Asian Junior Championships and Yuta Takahashi, second at Chiba Cross Country, was 9th at 10000m in the World Junior Championships. The team also includes Yoshitaka Iwamizu, national record holder at 3000mSC, and Koichi Nagata, who has the 10,000m best of 27:53.19.
The Japanese women’s long course team won a team bronze medal last year, but such a feat may be hard to match this year. This year’s team consists of mostly young (early to mid-20’s) promising runners - Tomomi Yuda, who was fourth at 3000m in the 2004 World Junior Championships, Yuka Kakimi, who recorded the 5000m best of 15:25.95 last year, and Kumi Akashi, who recorded 15:27.30 for the 5000m last year. Furthermore, Miho Notagashira has the 5000m best of 15:31.27 and the 10,000m best of 32:23.61, and Aimi Horikoshi was on the junior team at the 2006 World Cross Country Championships finishing 23rd.
JUNIOR squads
The best junior men’s runner is Yuki Yagi, who won the junior races at both Chiba Cross Country and Fukuoka Cross Country. Yagi excels on track also, for he was the first Japanese home at 5000m in the national inter-high school championships. In fact Yagi was the only Japanese in the 5000m to challenge the Kenyan supremacy at the championships. Takuya Noguchi, who finished second in Chiba and fifth in Fukuoka, was the second Japanese at 5000m behind yagi at those school champs, while Takuro Nakanishi, who finished third in Chiba and fourth in Fukuoka, was the third Japanese. Keisuke Tanaka, who finished fourth Chiba and second in Fukuoka, was second Japanese to finish at 1500m in the inter-high school champs.
Historically the women’s junior team has the best record. The junior women’s team has finished out of medal only three times since 1989, the year the junior race was inaugurated. Although the best juniors in Japan, Yuriko Kobayashi and Megumi Kinukawa, are notin the squad it remains quite strong - Atsuko Matsumura was first in both Chiba and Fukuoka Cross Country. Misato Tomoeda, who was third in Chiba and fourth in Fukuoka, was 8th at 3000m in the national inter-high school championships. Yoshie Maeda, who finished sixth in both Chiba and Fukuoka, recorded the fastest leg of stage five in the national high school ekiden championships. Aya Nagata, who finished second in Fukuoka, recorded fifth fastest leg in the first stage in the national high school ekiden championships.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
Men’s 12Km
Hiroyuki Ono
Yuta Takahashi
Hidekazu Sato
Yoshitaka Iwamizu
Naoki Shibata
Takuya Fukatsu
Hiroki Matsumura
Koichiro Nagata
Women’s 8Km
Yuka Kakimi
Yui Nakadai
Miho Notagashira
Kumi Akaishi
Tomomi Yuda
Aimi Horikoshi
Men’s Junior 8Km
Yuki Yagi
Keisuke Tanaka
Takuro Nakanishi
Takuya Noguchi
Shun Kurihara
Takuya Nakayama
Women’s Junior 6Km
Atsuko Matsumura
Misato Tomoeda
Marie Imada
Aya Nagata
Yoshie Maeda
Yukari Sahaku
