Senior Brant Casteel of Kadena made it two straight OAC island titles by beating teammate Patrick Edwards 17:13-17:27. (Dave Ornauer / S&S)
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — While Brant Casteel and Chasity Cordova continued their reigns as king and queen of Okinawa Activities Council cross country, they said they have more team-oriented goals in mind.
Now that they have defended their OAC team championships, the two have their sights set on helping their Kadena Panthers three-peat as the Far East meet team champions Nov. 3-4 at Misawa Air Base, Japan.
"We’re more of a team than we have been the last couple of years," said Casteel, who ran Kadena’s Jack’s Place 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes, 13 seconds in Wednesday’s OAC district meet. "We motivate each other. We’re all good friends."
Casteel stayed unbeaten in 14 OAC races dating back to last season. On Wednesday, he finished 14 seconds ahead of teammate Patrick Edwards.
Cordova matched Casteel race-for-race by demolishing the girls field, clocking a 20:42, a minute ahead of Kubasaki’s Amanda Henderson.
"It feels great," Cordova said of repeating her OAC title. "It’s a great honor to have."
The only races the two have lost the last two seasons were when it really counted — the Far East meet at Kadena last November.
Casteel lost by a minute to Zama American’s Andrew Quallio, while Cordova went around a course border cone the wrong way and was edged out for the gold by Nile C. Kinnick’s Gee Mi Jorde.
But while they’d like the individual gold, the two say trying to help Kadena to its third straight Far East team banner and fifth since 2002 is more important.
"Definitely, the team title is everything," Casteel said. "You’re remembered for what the team achieves."
Cordova feels the Panthers are "really prepared" for the challenge of winning another Far East. "We’re motivated to win. We’re all of the mindset that we’re going to do well this year and win."