Pacific
Prep roundupOkinawa track season off to a quick start
Stars and Stripes
March 21, 2015
Zama's Keiyl Sasano turns on a pitch in front of Robert D. Edgren catcher Jackson Edmonds during Saturday's DODDS Japan baseball game. The Eagles won 7-0 to avert a three-game sweep. (Kayla Bodwin/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Zama's Keiyl Sasano turns on a pitch in front of Robert D. Edgren catcher Jackson Edmonds during Saturday's DODDS Japan baseball game. The Eagles won 7-0 to avert a three-game sweep. (Kayla Bodwin/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Robert D. Edgren's Isaac Victorino slides in safely at third base ahead of the tag of Zama's Dakota Lyles during Saturday's DODDS Japan baseball game. The Eagles won 7-0 to avert a three-game sweep. (Kayla Bodwin/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Matthew C. Perry's Naomi Ziola battles Yokota's Jamia Bailey for the ball during Saturday's Perry Cup tournament match. The Panthers downed the Samurai 5-1 to sweep both girls matches. (Austin Livengood/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Matthew C. Perry's Bobbi Hill looks for operating room against Yokota's Alicia Trask during Saturday's Perry Cup tournament match. The Panthers downed the Samurai 5-1 to sweep both girls matches. (Austin Livengood/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Johann Wright runs the anchor leg of the 400-meter relay during Okinawa's season-opening track and field meet. Kubasaki won in 45.48 seconds. (Miranda Fino/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick's Charla Johnson and Robert D. Edgren's Madeline Mattingly battle for the ball during Saturday's DODDS Japan girls soccer match. The Red Devils won 5-0 to sweep the weekend series. (Sheila Suckart/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick's Chon Dareing and Robert D. Edgren's Bradley Juntenen chase the ball during Saturday's DODDS Japan girls soccer match. The Red Devils won 5-3 to sweep the weekend series. (Sheila Suckart/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick's Kaito Kobielusz and Robert D. Edgren's Jojo Njorge battle for the ball during Saturday's DODDS Japan girls soccer match. The Red Devils won 5-3 to sweep the weekend series. (Sheila Suckart/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick's Alyssa Leal and Robert D. Edgren's Jaymee Ronquillo and Emma Mattingly scrum for the ball during Saturday's DODDS Japan girls soccer match. The Red Devils won 5-0 to sweep the weekend series. (Michael Dobson/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Robert D. Edgren's Isabella Garza and Nile C. Kinnick's Maggie Arnold chase the ball during Saturday's DODDS Japan girls soccer match. The Red Devils won 5-0 to sweep the weekend series. (Michael Dobson/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Hunter Ficenec holds a sizeable lead in the 1,600 in Saturday's Okinawa season-opening track and field meet, an event which he won along with the 800. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Michael Clayton lets the discus fly, an event he won with a throw of 113 feet, 6 inches in Saturday's Okinawa season-opening track and field meet. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Kaelyn Francis pounds for the finish, flanked by Kadena's Monet Baker and Apryl-Len Cabase during the girls 100-meter dash in Saturday's Okinawa season-opening track and field meet. Francis clocked 12.02 seconds on the stopwatch, the second-fastest time in Pacific history by any timing method. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Humphreys' Ryo Elliot and Osan's Cory Harding pursue the ball during Saturday's DODDS Korea soccer jamboree at Seoul American. The Blackhawks won 1-0. (Courtney Taylor/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Daegu's Celso Ruiz and Osan's David Solak chase the ball during Saturday's DODDS Korea soccer jamboree at Seoul American. The Cougars won 1-0. (Courtney Taylor/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Daegu's Dennis Cowins and Osan's Nicholas White chase the ball during Saturday's DODDS Korea soccer jamboree at Seoul American. The Cougars won 1-0. (Courtney Taylor/Special to Stars and Stripes)
Track and field season opened on Okinawa with a strong performance in the 100-meter dash by Kubasaki junior sprinter Kaelyn Francis. She clocked 12.02 seconds on the stopwatch, the second-fastest time ever recorded in the event in the Pacific be it hand or electronically timed.
The hand-held record is 11.5 set in 2001 by Kubasaki’s Jackie Richards, while the record under fully-automated time is listed as 12.41 set in 2013 by Nile C. Kinnick’s Valerie James.
Francis says she wants to settle that debate once and for all by matching or beating 11.5 under FAT timing.
“My goal was 12 flat today,” Francis said, but after learning about Richards’ time, she said: “By midseason, I want that.”
“I know it’s going to be lower, no doubt in my mind,” Kubasaki first-year head coach Kenneth Gipson said. “I’m confident in that.”
Officially, Francis’ time will be listed at 12.34. Hand-held times are adjusted upward to the next decimal, from 12.02 to 12.1 with .24 seconds hand-reaction time added. The Okinawa district’s new FAT timing system malfunctioned Saturday, forcing officials to time by hand.
Kadena won in both the boys and girls team standings, over Kubasaki - 215-198 in boys and 242-193 in girls.
On the soccer fields, freshman Malik Wilkes who just transferred to Zama three weeks ago from Savannah, Ga., scored four times Saturday after four goals Friday in 8-1 and 5-1 victories over E.J. King.
“He’s phenomenal,” coach Marc Norton said of Wilkes, who learned the craft of soccer in Belgium, where the sport is something of a big deal.
Zama’s girls are also getting generous amounts of goals from Megan Hurley, who has 11 following the Trojans’ 4-0 and 6-1 wins over the Cobras, in which Hurley scored a combined six goals.
Elsewhere in DODDS Japan, Brady Yoder scored three goals and Nile C. Kinnick survived a pair of close matches at Robert D. Edgren. Kiralyn Kawachi scored four time to power the Red Devils girls to a like sweep of the Eagles.
DODDS Korea teams held Saturday jamborees, boys at Seoul American and girls at Osan, with international schools on their spring break. Andrea Carandang scored four times as Osan’s girls won both their matches, while Seoul American won each of its games.
The boys jamboree was much tighter, with Seoul American and Humphreys each winning and tying; the Falcons had to come from behind 3-0 to eke out a 3-3 draw with the Blackhawks. Seoul American hurt itself with an own goal and the third Humphreys’ goal went through the keeper’s hands.
“I’d never seen anything like that in all my years of soccer,” Falcons coach Steve Boyd said. “At least we fought back. I’m proud of that.”
On the diamonds at Zama, the Trojans baseball team took two of three from Edgren, while the Eagles did likewise in softball to Zama.
Korea’s baseball and softball seasons got under way in Daegu on Saturday, with Osan having a red-letter day.
The defending Far East Division II softball champion Cougars won 16-8 and 12-10 over Humphreys and Daegu. Aaron Misner got the win in relief and had two hits as Cougars baseball completed its own sweep, 10-8 over Daegu after a 15-6 win over Humphreys.