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2010 Chiba International Cross-Country - Results

by Brett Larner

Together with the Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet at the end of the month, the Chiba International Cross Country Meet makes up part of the selection process for the Japanese national teams for March's World Cross Country Championships in Poland. Cross country has never been a significant part of Japanese distance running, and this year many of the biggest names on the entry lists gave the meet a miss.

In the senior men's race, high schooler Bitan Karoki (Kenya/Sera H.S.) returned to take the win over a field of university and pro runners. Defending women's champion Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku) likewise returned but finished only 17th.

Below are the top finishers in each of the meet's main divisions. The top two domestic runners in each category stand a good chance of being selected for the Worlds team, while those in 3rd and below will have to wait to see what happens in Fukuoka.

2010 Chiba International Cross Country Meet - Top Finishers
click here for complete results
Senior Men - 12 km
1. Bitan Karoki (Kenya/Sera H.S.) - 34:51
2. Martin Mukule (Kenya/Team Toyota) - 35:22
3. Charles Dirango (Kenya/Sera H.S.) - 35:23
4. Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Meiji Univ.) - 35:31
5. Takuya Noguchi (Nittai Univ.) - 35:34
6. Kazuya Deguchi (Nittai Univ.) - 35:36
-----
12. Hiroyuki Ono (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 36:04
18. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 36:14

Senior Men 4 km
1. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Team Suzuki) - 11:14
2. Yasunori Murakami (Team Fujitsu) - 11:42
3. Ryotaro Nitta (Team Konica Minolta) - 11:42
4. Aoi Matsumoto (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 11:46
5. Hidehito Takamine (Team JAL Ground Service) - 11:47

Junior Men 8 km
1. Kazuto Nishiike (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 23:29
2. Sugeru Osako (Saku Chosei H.S.) - 23:34
3. Steven Karno (Kenya/Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 23:36
4. Shun Morozumi (Saku Chosei H.S.) - 23:39
5. Takumi Honda (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 23:41

Senior Women 6 km
1. Misaki Katsumata (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 19:39
2. Hitomi Niiya (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 19:42
3. Risa Takenaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 19:50
4. Nanako Hayashi (Team Yamada Denki) - 19:58
5. Kazue Kojima (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 19:59
-----
17. Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 20:22
34. Seika Nishikawa (Meijo Univ.) - 20:49

Junior Women 5 km
1. Nanaka Izawa (Toyokawa H.S.) - 16:24
2. Chihiro Tanabe (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 16:31
3. Akane Sueyoshi (Isahaya H.S.) - 16:32
4. Yuki Hidaka (Kitakyushu Civic H.S.) - 16:34
5. Yuka Ando (Toyokawa H.S.) - 16:34

Update: For more detailed coverage of the Chiba results check Ken Nakamura's report for the IAAF.

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
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Comments

yuza said…
It is a shame Japan does not take cross country seriously, because I think it would be fascinating to see some of the corporate/university teams race against each other in a domestic cross country season. Just not enough time in the year.

Glad to see Hitomi Niiya running well. Surprised Kojima finished 5th.

I hope they show a repeat of the races on BS this week, so I can have a better idea of how everybody ran.
February 15, 2010 at 3:29 PM
Brett Larner said…
Yes, you don't get much more than a few people from a given team in either Chiba or Fukuoka although it is a mix of all levels. In the senior men's race, for example, Karoki and Dirango are both high schoolers, Mukule et al. are jitsugyodan and the top three Japanese guys are all univ. runners.

Check the 'Upcoming Race Broadcasts' panel to the right for the TV broadcast schedule.
February 15, 2010 at 4:58 PM
yuza said…
Thanks for that Brett.
February 15, 2010 at 11:54 PM
Simon Phillips said…
It's a shame that some of the bigger names didn't turn out to race. Noticed in the the IAAF preview that Yuki Sato and Ryuji Kashiwabara were down to run. Now that would have been good to see.
February 16, 2010 at 2:08 AM
Brett Larner said…
Sato ran, not very well, but Kashiwabara pulled out with a knee injury, apparently. Murasawa was scheduled for the junior race but was sick and didn't run.
February 16, 2010 at 2:33 PM
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