Meijo Beats the Odds for Record-Breaking 7th-Straight National University Women’s Ekiden Title – Brett Larner – Japan Running News

Previous dynasty Ritsumeikan University came out hard with stage wins on the first two legs of the 38.0 km race, but a win on the 5.8 km Third Stage by Meijo 2nd-year Asuka Ishimatsu on her 20th birthday turned a 6-second deficit to Ritsumeikan into a 31-second lead. That closed to 15 seconds by the end of the Fifth Stage, but another stage win from anchor Nanase Tanimoto was enough to give Meijo the win by 52 seconds.

2nd eight times in the last 10 years, Daito Bunka University landed there again thanks to a stage win on the 9.2 km Fifth Stage by Sarah Wanjiru and a wicked kick over the last 100 m on the track from anchor Mariya Noda, who caught Ritsumeikan’s Asa Kobayashi steps before the line to put DBU into 2nd again and Ritsumeikan 3rd with both schools clocking the same time.

Josai University surprised with a 4th-place finish, anchor Hinata Kaneko running down Nittai University anchor Sakurako Yanai to do it. 3rd last year, Osaka Gakuin University was 6th this time, moving up steadily after a rocky 19th-place opening leg and bumping Kansai University down to 7th on the anchor stage. Tohoku Fukushi University made the Sendai locals happy with its first-ever podium finish at 8th, 1st-year Amisa Murayama moving them into that position and 1st-year anchor Hikari Kobayashi keeping them there. Tamagawa University was 9th and the first non-podium finisher, 29 seconds behind Tohoku Fukushi.

So if a weaker Meijo can still beat the best everyone else can bring, is there any hope of seeing someone else break them anytime soon? On the one hand, not really. Meijo used no 4th-years today, and with the exception of Tanimoto, a 3rd-year, the rest of the team was made up of all 1st and 2nd-years. They could run the same team next year, and even if lead runner Nanaka Yonezawa and Tanimoto are at less than 100% again they’d still have a margin of error to play with.

On the other hand, Daito Bunka, Ritsumeikan, Josai, Nittai and Osaka Gakuin all had one runner finish in a double-digit place, i.e. they were all one runner short of having a team that could compete with today’s Meijo. Daito Bunka in particular ran five 1st years and one 3rd year, and the 3rd year, Momona Yotsumoto, was the weak link at 12th on her stage. That’s a team that can come back stronger and stronger. Maybe not next year, but in two, or three, Daito Bunka has the basic material to finally take the step beyond 2nd.

The next major ekiden on the university women’s schedule will be the Dec. 30 Mt. Fuji Women’s Ekiden, the other national-level race on the collegiate calendar. Meijo has won the last 5 years there too, ending a Ritsumeikan dictatorship that saw Ritsumeikan win 11 of the event’s first 12 runnings. Mt. Fuji features 7 stages, so the bar will be even higher for fielding a team that can perform on all seven. It’s up to Daito Bunka, Ritsumeikan, and the other top 5 finishers today to come up with the people to take Meijo down.

41st Morinomiyako Ekiden