Lessons learned for Seiya in Universiade

CNMI’s rising long distance runner Seiya Eda tried his best against older and seasoned runners when he competed in the XXVIII Summer World University Games last week in Gwangju City in South Korea.

Seiya Eda makes a turn in of the laps of the 1,500-meter run during the XXVIII Summer World University Games last week in at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium in Gwangju City’s Seo-gu District in South Korea. (Contributed Photo)

Eda, who will return to Saipan today, saw action in of the three qualifying heats in the 1,500-meter run last week under a cool rainy weather at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium in Gwangju’s Seo-gu District.

The protégé of veteran long distance runner Jack Kabiriel finished 11th out of 12 runners in his heat with a time of 4:54.34.

This was eight seconds short of his 4:46.00 time he recorded in last year’s Micronesian Games in Pohnpei where he missed a podium finish after coming in at fourth. He also placed fourth in the half marathon event.

Eda’s time at the Universiade, however, was much better than the 5:29.62 time he had in this year’s Public School System/McDonald’s All-Schools Athletics Championship. He clocked 5:04.89 in the 2014 edition of the annual athletics event.

CNMI head of delegation Kurt Barnes, who is also Eda’s coach, said that despite all the odds that his ward faced he gave his best in order to represent the Commonwealth.

“It was raining in Gwangju during the Games. Seiya needed two days to acclimatize himself and for his lungs to adjust to the cool weather. We often experience a cool weather on Saipan but it wasn’t the same in Korea,” said Barnes, who came back to Saipan yesterday.

Temperatures in Gwangju reached 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) with scattered rain showers. It was cloudy in Gwangju during the day of the competition.

“It took Seiya a couple of days of slow and long distance running to get used to Gwangju’s climate and the temperature change. He has adjusted now and is ready to go for a personal record,” said Barnes, who left with Eda last July 2.

“Some of Seiya’s opponents where older than him. Maybe they are already in college but he gave his best and this experience will help him become a better runner,” added Barnes, a former Northern Marianas Athletics president and the current vice president of the Northern Marianas Sports Association.

Barnes said that Eda has learned a lot in this one chance of competing in a top level running event like the World University Games.

A total of 13,000 athletes competed in 18 sports, spread out in 273 events, in the biennial Universiade Games.

Moroccan Said Aouita’s Universiade record of 3:38:43 in the 1,500m run remains unbroken for more than three decades now. The former four-time Mediterranean Games champion and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics gold medalist made the feat during the 1981 edition in Bucharest, Romania.

Compatriot Hicham El Guerrouj, on the other hand, is the World Record holder as the two-time Olympic champion set the best time of 3:26:00 during the Rome Grand Prix on July 14, 1998.