Waseda University won the Izumo Ekiden on October 12, ending a 16-year wait for the title at the opening race of Japan's three major university ekiden events, according to reporting by Number Web via Yahoo!ニュース.
The result itself was a clear victory, but the reporting focuses on how head coach Katsuhiko Hanada built the team — and on which runner he singled out afterward. His choice of MVP was neither the runner nicknamed the "mountain detective" nor the one called the "speed star," but the athlete who filled the sixth spot in the lineup.
Why it matters
The Izumo Ekiden is the first of the three major university relays each season, and it sets the tone for what follows. Waseda's win is the program's first in 16 years, which makes the team's selection process worth examining: the roster decisions that produced this result will shape how the squad approaches the rest of the season.
According to the reporting, Hanada's confidence going into Izumo was built weeks earlier, at a five-kilometer race called The Road of WASEDA, held on September 27 at the university's Tokorozawa campus. That race served as an audition, and the position under competition was the sixth and final slot in the Izumo lineup.
A two-man race for the last spot
Two runners contested that slot. The first was Ryoki Niizuma, a first-year student from Nishiwaki Technical High School. The second was Nayabu Naoki Yoshikura, a third-year student from Waseda Jitsugyo.
In the race, Niizuma ran aggressively. He joined the lead group early and even moved to the front at one point. Yoshikura, by contrast, held back and watched how the race developed from behind the pack.
Hanada watched the race while providing commentary, according to the report. He praised Niizuma's drive and forward momentum, saying the performance made him want to use the first-year at Izumo. But he also predicted that Yoshikura would make a move in the second half, and he noted that he had told both runners the winner would get the Izumo spot.
That made it a direct, high-stakes selection race.
Hanada's read proved correct. With roughly 1,000 meters left, Yoshikura changed gears, moved up through the field, passed Niizuma and finished ahead of him. On the day, the decision went to Yoshikura. The report suggests Yoshikura had been picturing exactly this kind of late surge when he imagined running the first leg at Izumo.
Hanada laughed and said the outcome matched his expectations. But the result also left him with what the report describes as a welcome problem.
Depth instead of a single answer
The coach said the race had been designed to give him a reason to choose one runner over the other, yet both had performed well enough that he could no longer find a reason to cut either of them.
That mattered beyond the sixth slot. With a credible group of runners beyond the five he already intended to use, Hanada said the team could still field a competitive lineup even if someone among the planned five fell ill or was otherwise unavailable.
In other words, the September race did more than settle one position. It showed the coach he had enough reliable runners to absorb a setback — a useful thing to know before a relay that demands six healthy legs on the day.
The reporting is the first of two parts from Number Web. A separate piece in the same outlet, by Jun Ikushima, examined whether Waseda can carry this form into the All-Japan University Ekiden and the Hakone Ekiden, noting that the team's coach has acknowledged there are areas of concern despite the convincing win at Izumo.
Coverage of the Izumo result has also looked at the wider picture. Nikkan Sports noted that across the past decade, only two schools have won both the Izumo Ekiden and the Hakone Ekiden in the same season, and both of those teams went on to complete a three-title sweep. Soka University, which finished ninth at Izumo, is separately hoping for the return of both of its top runners in time for the All-Japan race, according to web Sportiva via d Menu News.
For Waseda, the immediate question is whether the depth Hanada identified in late September translates into results at the longer relays ahead. The All-Japan University Ekiden is the next major test on the calendar.
