On a hot (78F), humid, and windy day in Izumo, Japan, the Ivy Select team began their quest to improve upon last year’s fifth place finish.
Stage 1 saw a large lead group of runners staying in a pack with Ben Rosa (Harvard) in the mix. With about 1k to go, Chuo University runner Kaisei Okada blew the race open to take the lead. At the end of stage 1, Ben was in 9th but only 8 sec out of 4th.
Stage 2 had Acer Iverson (Harvard) run a fantastic leg with the 3rd fastest split of the stage. His 16:25 for 5.8k moved the team up to 6th. Meanwhile, Waseda’s Tomonori Yamaguchi blitzed a 15:57 to take the overall lead.
Stage 3 was an ultra-competitive leg with Kenyan Richard Etir (Tokyo Kokusai), the Japanese collegiate record holder at 5k & 10k, racing against fellow Kenyan Victor Kimutai (Josai U.) and Graham Blanks (Harvard). Graham went to the well and gained 2 spots to move the team to 4th while Kimutai moved his team to the lead by almost breaking the stage record and running an insane 23:40 for 8.5km.
On Stage 4, Tyler Berg (Columbia) kept the momentum going and rolled to the 4th fastest split. His surge at the handoff moved the Ivy team into 3rd overall. Out front, Hikaru Tsujihara of Koku Gakuin broke the CR to move into first.
The 6.2km Stage 5 saw Derek Amicon (Cornell) run an outstanding leg. Derek had the 5th fastest split for the leg and raced exceptionally well. A well-timed sprint at the finish had Derek pass several runners to handoff in second overall!
With first place an almost certain lock for defending champs Koku Gakuin University, James Lawrence (Dartmouth) battled against the anchor runners who started with him on Stage 6. Waseda anchor (and 1:00:06 half marathoner) Shinksaku Kudo had the fastest split and moved his team to second. James ran well to stay with the other leaders and brought the team home for 4th place and their best finish ever! The Ivy team’s time was 2:10:12 and was over two minutes faster than last year and only a minute out of first and 22 seconds out of second.
1st stage 8.0km - Ben Rosa (Harvard) 23:49
2nd stage 5.8km - Acer Iverson (Harvard) 16:25
3rd stage 8.5km - Graham Blanks (Harvard) 23:59
4th stage 6.2km - Tyler Berg (Columbia) 17:35
5th stage 6.4km - Derek Amicon (Cornell) 18:10
6th stage 10.2km - James Lawrence (Dartmouth) 30:14
In the alternates’ 5000m race, Talha Syed (Columbia) ran 14:29 and William Laird (Yale) ran 14:51.
Tempo put together a great video about the team:
2025 Izumo Ekiden Handoffs:
