Ledama Kisaisa scores double victory at Kanto Intercollegiate meet
Jun 05, 2018
Ledama Kisaisa (center)
From Thursday, May 24, to Sunday, May 27, the 97th Kanto Intercollegiate Track and Field meet was held at Gion Stadium in Sagamihara, and a member of J. F. Oberlin University’s track and field team stole the show: Ledama Kisaisa, a second-year student in the College of Global Communication, took first place in both the 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters.
In the early stages of the 10,000 meters, on the 24th, Kisaisa was part of a group of six runners leading the pack. By the middle of the race, he and one other runner were battling it out, and over the last seven laps, he took control of the race, winning in 28 minutes, 26.91 seconds, well ahead of the second-place finisher.
Leading the pack in the 5,000 meters
The 5,000 meters followed, on the 27th, and until the middle stages of the race, the runners were bunched tightly together, with Kisaisa at the front. A little before the 4,000 meter mark, he left everybody else behind, and he finished in 13 minutes 49.86 seconds.
On the victory stand
In both races, he scored overwhelming victories, showing everybody what a powerful competitor he is. On the victory stand afterward, he smiled shyly as he received congratulations.
Having realized his goal of winning two events at the Kanto Intercollegiate meet, Kisaisa will now concentrate on his next two challenges: September’s All-Japan Intercollegiate meet and the Hakone Ekiden qualifying race in October. If J. F. Oberlin’s ekiden team can finish within the top ten in the October race, it will qualify to compete in the 95th Hakone Ekiden next January, and there’s little doubt that Kisaisa will be leading the way.
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