(See cross country results at end of story.)

His father had wanted Jon Turner always to do his best at cross country.

So when Bill Turner passed away last summer, the Kadena Panthers senior decided to run in his memory — and said it helped lead his team to the greatest haul of gold medals by one team in the 27-year history of Far East high school cross country meets.

Kadena swept every title — boys, girls and overall team championship, boys and girls individual 3.1-mile races and Tuesday’s team relay, which the Panthers won Tuesday at the Gosser Memorial Golf Course, Misawa Air Base, Japan.

“I wanted to dedicate my season to him,” Turner said. “I promised myself that I would do my best for him. He was the inspiration, a little extra push from above.”

“It was always in the back of his mind,” Kadena coach Tom McKinney said. “I’m sure it had something to do with it. I think it helped drive him.”

The elder Turner, who repaired computers out of his home on Kadena Air Base, died on Aug. 8 after a long battle with lung cancer.

His wife, Wendy, a Kadena Middle School instructor, said she kept telling her son that “he had some help from above.”

The results column indicates Kadena had plenty of help in the tournament, including in Tuesday’s relay, in which each team with a full complement of 10 runners took turns running two legs of 3.1 miles each, first a girl followed by a boy.

The Panthers placed their five pairs in the top six. Seoul American would have put four of its pairs in the top 10, but one of the pairs was disqualified for missing a baton exchange.

Nile C. Kinnick took second in the team relay, with three pairs in the top 10, and the overall team standings, followed by Yokota.

That McKinney’s team garnered all six gold medals and eight of his 10 runners were named All-Far East still appeared to be sinking in Tuesday.

“Holy cow, they took everything,” the coach said.

Zama American making best of bad situation

(See volleyball results at end of story.)

Writing off the Zama American girls volleyball team in the Far East Class AA Tournament on Okinawa would have been easy. The Trojans went 0-17 before a roster shakeup for disciplinary reasons left them with two regular varsity players and eight from the JV team.

So why is coach Dennis Decker smiling?

Zama won four regular season matches after the changes, and then took a set from Korea champion Seoul American in pool-play on Monday. They followed that with a victory over last year’s third-place Far East finisher Kadena in division-play on Tuesday.

“I’ve been coaching in DODDS for eight years and this is the best team I’ve ever had,” he said. “They are all heart. They do everything you ask them to do. No arguing. No fighting. Their motto is what’s best for the team, and they mean it. … They want to try to do well now. They want to be a Cinderella story.”

Zama has its work cut out for it in the first game of the championship bracket on Wednesday, taking on Guam powerhouse and No. 2 seed Academy of our Lord.

Class A volleyball no longer a chase for second place

After two days of play in the Class A Girls Volleyball Tournament at Sasebo Naval Base, Japan, the championship picture was as clear as mud, coaches said — a far cry from the past few years, when predicting who might be playing for the gold was easy.

DODDS schools Osan American and Taegu American were among the five teams with double-digit set victories.

“It’s anybody’s game. There are five teams that can compete and a couple of spoilers,” Osan coach Brian Swenty said of a group that includes the two Korea schools, Notre Dame of Guam, 2002 champion Morrison Christian Academy of Taiwan and defending champion Faith Academy of the Philippines.

Every team in the tournament, coaches said, lost their share of graduates and transfers. As a result, “everybody’s rebuilding,” said coach Michael Seitz of host E.J. King.

“It’s one of those years,” Swenty said. “Graduation, transfers, the next thing you know you’re competitive. It’s nice to see. It’s not going to be a runaway.”

Cross country

At Misawa Air Base, Japan

Final overall team standings

1, Kadena, Okinawa, 3; 2, Nile C. Kinnick, Japan, 8; 3, x-Yokota, Japan, 13; 4, Kubasaki, Okinawa, 13; 5, Taegu American, South Korea, 15; 6, Osan American, South Korea, 21; 7, Guam High, 22.

x-won tiebreaker based on higher finish in Tuesday’s team relay.

Tuesday’s results

Team relay

Five pairs of runners with complete teams taking turns running two legs of 3.1 miles each, boy and girl.

1, Kadena 1 (Aaron Zendejas, Niki Kauzlarich), 40 minutes, 29 seconds; 2, Kadena 2, 41:04; 3, Kadena 3, 41:40; 4, Kinnick 1, 42:27; 5, Kadena 4, 42:41; 6, Kadena 5, 42:48; 7, Taegu 1, 43:35; 8, Kinnick 2, 43:40; 9, Kinnick 3, 43:56; 10, Yokota 1, 44:47.

Boys All-Far East team

Jon Turner, Kadena; Justin Biskup, Matthew C. Perry; Chris Cerrillo, Zama American; Tim Nabonne, Kadena; Aaron Zendejas, Kadena; Matthew Duncan, Nile C. Kinnick; Devon Copeland, Kadena; Matthew Evans, Guam High; Peter Kamau, Robert D. Edgren; Daniel Sanchez, Robert D. Edgren.

Girls All-Far East team

Niki Kauzlarich, Kadena; Cathryn Furner, Seoul American; Dianne Abel, Kadena; Sarah Yance, Seoul American; Beth Nielsen, Kubasaki; Victoria Lyle, Kadena; Oksana Petrichenko, Seoul American; Katelin Kennedy, Kadena; Carl-Meisha Wourman, Nile C. Kinnick; Candace Sandness, Kubasaki.

Asia-Pacific Invitational

At Yigo, Guam

Monday’s results

Boys 3.1-mile individual race

1, J.M. Kwak, St. Mary’s International, Tokyo, 17 minutes, 1 second; 2, Elliot Kim, Seoul Foreign, 17:35; 3, Randy Espinoza, George Washington, Guam, 17:39; 4, Joni Yosypiw, Christian Academy In Japan, Tokyo, 17:46; 5, Daisuke Kasagawa, St. Mary’s International, Tokyo, 17:49

Girls 3.1-mile individual race

1, Alanna Bennett, Seoul Foreign, 20 minutes, 23 seconds; 2, Amy Atkinson, George Washington, Guam, 20:57; 3, Nicole Layson, George Washington, Guam, 21:38; 4, Grace Lien, Hong Kong International, 22:06; 5, Nako Nakatsuka, International School of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, 22:12

Volleyball

Class AA girls volleyball

At Kadena Air Base and Camp Foster, Okinawa

Tuesday’s results

Division Play

Gold Division (at Kadena High School)

Christian Academy In Japan, Tokyo, 3-0; Academy of Our Lady, Guam, 2-1; Seisen International, Tokyo, 1-2; American School In Japan, Tokyo, 0-3

Tuesday’s scores

Christian Acad. In Japan def. Seisen Int’l 25-18, 25-18

Acad. of Our Lady def. ASIJ 21-25, 25-16, 15-4

Seisen Int’l def. ASIJ 25-14, 25-19

Christian Acad. In Japan def. Acad. of Our Lady 18-25, 25-17, 15-9

Acad. of Our Lady def. Seisen Int’l 25-14, 25-22

Christian Acad. In Japan def. ASIJ 25-14, 25-18

Silver Division

(at Kubasaki High School, Camp Foster)

George Washington, Guam, 3-0; Seoul American, 2-1; Yokota, Japan, 1-2; Nile C. Kinnick, Japan, 0-3

Tuesday’s scores

Seoul Amer. def. Yokota 25-22, 23-25, 15-10

Geo. Washington def. Kinnick 25-17, 25-22

Geo. Washington def. Yokota 25-17, 25-18

Seoul Amer. def. Kinnick 25-15, 25-22

Yokota def. Kinnick 26-24, 25-13

George Washington def. Seoul American 23-25, 25-23, 15-10

Bronze Division

(at Kubasaki High School, Camp Foster)

Southern, Guam, 3-0; Kubasaki, Okinawa, 2-1; Guam High, 1-2; John F. Kennedy, Guam, 0-3

Tuesday’s scores

Kubasaki def. Guam High 25-9, 25-12

Southern def. JFK 25-17, 25-18

Southern def. Kubasaki 25-14, 25-15

Guam High def. JFK 26-24, 25-18

Kubasaki def. JFK 25-21, 25-16

Southern def. Guam High 25-9, 20-25, 15-3

Copper Division

(at O’Connor Gym, Kadena Air Base)

Robert D. Edgren, 3-0; Simon Sanchez, Guam, 2-1; Zama American, Japan, 1-2; Kadena, Okinawa, 0-3

Tuesday’s scores

Edgren def. Simon Sanchez 25-12, 25-16

Zama def. Kadena 25-22, 14-25, 17-15

Edgren def. Zama 25-10, 25-4

Simon Sanchez def. Kadena 25-14, 25-16

Edgren def. Kadena 25-7, 25-19

Simon Sanchez def. Zama 25-18, 25-18

Single-elimination playoffs

Wednesday’s matches

Match 1-Southern, Guam, vs. Kinnick, Japan

Match 2-Yokota, Japan, vs Kubasaki, Okinawa

Match 3-George Washington, Guam, vs. John F. Kennedy, Guam

Match 4-Seoul American vs. Guam High

Match 5-American School In Japan, Tokyo, vs. Robert D. Edgren, Japan

Match 6-Seisen International, Tokyo, vs. Simon Sanchez, Guam

Match 7-Christian Academy In Japan, Tokyo, vs. Kadena, Okinawa

Match 8-Academy of Our Lady, Guam, vs. Zama American, Japan

Match 9-Match 3 loser vs. Match 5 loser

Match 10-Match 4 loser vs. Match 6 loser

Match 11-Match 1 loser vs. Match 7 loser

Match 12-Match 2 loser vs. Match 8 loser

Class A girls volleyball

At Sasebo Naval Base, Japan

Day 1 Round-Robin Standings

(listed in order of tiebreakers)

Faith Academy, Philippines, 11-5; Morrison Christian Academy, Taiwan, 11-5; Notre Dame, Guam, 10-4; Osan American, South Korea, 10-4; Taegu American, South Korea, 10-4; Pusan American, South Korea, 7-9; Fukuoka International, Japan, 6-10; E.J. King, Japan, 3-13; Matthew C. Perry, Japan, 0-14

Tuesday’s scores

Pusan American def. E.J. King 25-19, 25-18

Taegu American def. Morrison Christian Academy 25-22, 25-17

Osan American def. Fukuoka Int’l 25-23; Fukuoka Int’l def. Osan American 25-16

Faith Acad. def. M.C. Perry 25-7, 25-9

Morrison Christian Academy def. Pusan American 25-15, 25-13

Notre Dame def. E.J. King 25-8, 25-17

Taegu Amer. def. Fukuoka Int’l 25-19, 25-21

Faith Acad. def. Osan American 25-14, 25-20

Morrison Christian Academy def. Matthew C. Perry 25-14, 25-16

Notre Dame def. Pusan American 25-14; Pusan American def. Notre Dame 26-24

Osan American def. E.J. King 25-13, 25-19

Taegu American def. Faith Academy 25-21; Faith Academy def. Taegu American 25-22

E.J. King def. Matthew C. Perry 25-19, 25-17

Fukuoka Int’l def. Pusan American 25-15; Pusan American def. Fukuoka Int’l 25-20

Osan American def. Morrison Christian Academy 25-20; Morrison Christian Academy def. Osan American 25-15

Taegu American def. Notre Dame 25-23; Notre Dame def. Taegu American 25-17

Migrated