Sometimes, a soccer player’s impact doesn’t show up on a stat sheet.

Taejon Christian International’s Andrew Wiese, Pusan American’s Brieanna Carroll and Erin Foote of Okinawa’s Kubasaki High School were on-field leaders, at times acting as surrogate coaches for their teams. They also turned the soccer pitch into their personal playground, scoring a combined 82 goals.

As a bonus, the trio led their teams to the Far East tournament finals.

For their efforts, the three share Stars and Stripes’ Pacific spring Athlete of the Quarter honors, part of Ornauer’s Recognition for a Nice Year (ORNY) Awards, now in their 17th year.

Coming off a 38-goal season in which she collected MVP honors in the 2002 Class AA Far East Girls Tournament, Foote scored 26 this spring for Kubasaki, which won back-to-back titles.

The sophomore scored 16 goals as Kubasaki (11-1) outscored its foes 30-2 in six matches, powering the Lady Dragons past Guam High 2-0 with two first-half scores in the Class AA championship on May 2 at Camp Zama, Japan.

“Erin is a high school athlete that you can build a program around,” Kubasaki athletic director Fred Bales said about Foote, who boasts a 3.8 grade-point average. “Championships come when an athlete like Erin, who has the talent and the work ethic, show up. Then you have something to build on. When that athlete is a great student and super human being, you have the entire package.”

While Kubasaki celebrated a championship, Carroll and Pusan finished a step short of their first Class A crown, falling 5-1 to two-time champion Osan American in the title match April 30 at Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station, Japan.

Still, the Lady Panthers fashioned a school-best 14-3-1 record, and Carroll matched her 2002 school record with 26 goals. Despite being just a sophomore, she became a mentor to the team’s younger players, coach Gary Canner said.

“And she was very unselfish,” Canner said of Carroll, also a 3.8 GPA student. “She could have had more goals than she had, but once we had a lead in a game, she would pass the ball to teammates in a position to score.”

Carroll battled a pulled quadriceps muscle throughout the season.

“It was really frustrating for her,” Canner said, citing two Class A losses to Osan. “It might have made a difference if she was 100 percent. But she kept going. She’s really something special.”

That could also describe Wiese, a missionary transfer from Toccoa Falls, Ga., who scored 14 of his 30 goals in the Far East tournament as TCIS claimed its first championship with a 6-1 victory over Osan in the Class A boys final on April 30, at Iwakuni.

“He’s one of the most knowledgeable and skilled players I have ever coached,” said Brent Frazier, who guided TCIS to a school-best 15-5 record, thanks in no small part to Wiese, a 4.0 GPA student.

“He was a major contributor to this team’s success by his scoring, but more importantly by his work ethic, his aggressiveness and his ability to encourage his teammates. He made a very good team even better.”

And now, the rest of the spring ORNYs:

• Team of the quarter: The Kadena boys soccer team (8-2-2) made a 5-0-1 run through the Far East tournament, capturing its second Class AA title.

• Program of the quarter: Kadena got a fourth-place finish in the Class AA girls soccer tournament, while the school’s inaugural baseball and girls softball teams took Okinawa High School Athletic Association titles. In track and field, Kadena’s boys beat Kubasaki for only the second time in the league’s 14-year history.

• Most improved team: Aside from the TCIS and Pusan soccer teams going from .500 to a combined 29-8-1 and reaching the Class A finals, Guam High’s girls won a league title for the first time in school history, going 14-0 with a whopping 66-3 goal differential. Special mention to Zama American baseball. The Trojans won their first Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools regular-season title in 30 years. And the Nile C. Kinnick girls soccer team of Japan became the first team other than the American School In Japan to win a Japan Soccer League or Kanto Plain title since girls soccer became a sanctioned sport in 1989.

• Most improved program: The Yokota girls soccer team (10-2-1) took second place in the Japan Soccer League, its strongest finish ever, while the school’s track and field teams earned Kanto Plain runner-up status. The Panthers baseball team crawled back from a slow start to capture the Kanto Plain invitational tournament.

• Coach of the quarter: In a field of many worthy candidates, Guam High girls soccer coach Santiago Ortiz molded a roster of experienced front and back players with a handful of freshmen in the middle, and coaxed it to the league title and a Class AA runner-up finish.

• Soccer teams of the quarter: While Far East titles went to the TCIS and Kadena boys, as well as Kubasaki’s girls, let’s not forget the Osan girls. Led by super sophomore Sharon Kroening (23 goals, five assists), the Lady Cougars made it back-to-back Class A championships.

• Baseball teams of the quarter: While Zama enjoyed its finest regular-season campaign in three decades, Kadena and Seoul American finished unbeaten against American high school competition in their first full seasons (see Best New Programs).

• Track and field teams of the quarter: Distance runners Eric Shimoda and Lindsay Rutter powered the St. Mary’s boys and American School In Japan girls to Kanto league titles yet again.

• Girls softball teams of the quarter: Led by outfielder Jenny Lozano, pitcher Sara Jo Ambs and team MVP Amy Ware, Kadena stands out with its unbeaten Okinawa season. Yokota also deserves mention for winning its second straight Japan League title. Ditto for Zama American, which galloped to the JSL tournament title May 17 (see James Brown Award).

• Soccer players of the quarter: Foote credits senior center-midfield teammate Mary Ann Ulrich for many of her goals. “Without her setting me up, a lot of my goals would not have happened,” Foote said. Likewise, Wiese and Frazier both point to the Dragons’ Jessie Park (10 assists) for his work behind the scenes. And few goalkeepers showed their mettle as well as Guam High’s Jessica Charles, the Class AA girls MVP, and Shawna Melin of Nile C. Kinnick, who recorded 13 shutouts.

• Baseball players of the quarter: Yokota sophomore right-hander Shawn Novak had a 6-4 record with a 3.14 ERA, 95 strikeouts and 11 walks in 57 1/3 innings. He beat Zama 2-1 in the Kanto tournament semifinals. At the plate, he was 36-for-72 with 22 RBIs, 45 stolen bases and no strikeouts in 88 plate appearances. Kubasaki freshmen Mike Goodman (.485) and Justin Daugherty (.432) are also solid prospects.

• Track and field athletes of the quarter: Kadena junior Cliff Johnson is unbeaten in distance events on Okinawa the past two seasons, while Kubasaki sprint and field events specialist Lorianne Roxas only lost twice this spring.

• Softball players of the quarter: Kadena’s Ware, Yokota’s Sarah Boeder and Zama’s Hannah Seki spearheaded title runs for their teams.

• Best new event: The Mike Petty Memorial Invitational Track and Field Meet, held April 17-18 at Kubasaki, could lay the foundation for a full-fledged Far East meet in the future.

• Best new programs: The OHSAA, in cooperation with 18th Services and Kadena and MCCS at Camp Foster, launched a successful pilot program for baseball and girls softball. In Korea, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools district followed suit with baseball. Girls softball is expected to surface next year, and football in the fall.

• Trivia question: Since Far East soccer tournaments began in 1998, a non-Okinawa team has reached the finals of a Class AA event just four times. Name the teams, years and final scores of those matches.

• Most unusual moment: In the second inning of a May 6 matchup at St. Mary’s International, Zama’s Anthony Salas hit a grand slam to the deepest part of Titans Field. Two innings later, he stepped into a pitch, took a mighty swing and the aluminum bat shattered into three parts. Zama won the doubleheader 16-10 and 17-13 to lock up the Kanto regular-season title, but the bat episode put an unforgettable stamp on the day.

• James Brown Award, team: For the hardest-working team in the Pacific. On May 17, Zama won five games in a seven-hour stretch, dodging raindrops all the way, to capture the DODDS-Japan girls softball tournament title at Yokosuka Naval Base. The Lady Trojans edged the Misawa Diamonds 8-7 and 5-4 in the final two, emerging from the loser’s bracket for the crown.

• James Brown Award, individual: Freshman Kaili Rowland of Japan’s Matthew C. Perry worked a bit of overtime, playing for the school’s girls soccer team and taking a gold and silver in the shot put and discus during the Petty meet at Kubasaki.

• Trivia answer: Yokota’s boys lost 2-1 in the 2002 and 2003 finals, falling to Kadena this year and Kubasaki last spring on Okinawa. Nile C. Kinnick was beaten 1-0 by Kadena’s girls in the 2000 final at Misawa Air Base, Japan, and the Christian Academy In Japan boys lost a shootout to Kadena in the 1999 final at Yokosuka.

Next week: The 2002-03 Athletes of the Year.

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