Humphreys senior Ethan Elliott holds the DODEA-Korea record in the shot put with a 15.71 mark set during the April 15 Korea finals. He's taking aim at the northwest Pacific record of 16.16 set in 1980 by Rene Delmar of Guam. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea – Rain began falling again as Ethan Elliott balanced the shot off his right shoulder and readied for his fifth throw of the day.
Korea’s track and field finals, on April 15, hadn’t been good to that point for the Humphreys senior. He had scratched twice and didn’t come close to matching his 15.31 meter throw the previous week.
Executing a spin move, Elliott let fly, staying inside the circle as the shot arced past the 15-meter line. “15.71,” the marker said after the measuring tape was stretched just so.
But it wasn’t good enough for Elliott. Or so he said afterward.
“Still not satisfied,” Elliott said as he ducked under a tent to shield himself from the droplets falling from the sky. “Gotta get that 16.17. Gotta get that Pacific record.”
Elliott spoke of the northwest Pacific record in the shot put, 16.16 set in 1980 by Rene Delmar of Guam. He gets his final chance at breaking that mark, and becoming only the second Pacific athlete to top 16 meters, at this week’s DODEA-Pacific Far East meet at Yokota.
He's already surpassed what still stands as the Far East meet record of 15.11, set in 2015 by David Davison of Seoul American.
Elliott is one of four athletes who’ve either broken a northwest Pacific record so far this season or closing in on one:
-- Kubasaki freshman sprinter Naiaja Sizemore became the first female Pacific athlete to sprint the 100 meters in under 12 seconds, clocking 11.72 on April 8 at Kadena, breaking the eight-year-old northwest Pacific mark of 12.26 set by Regine Tugade of Guam’s John F. Kennedy High School.
-- Junior William Beardsley of Tokyo’s St. Mary’s broke the 49-year-old record of 9:31 in the 3,200, running 9:21.54 on March 4 at Yokota, then breaking it twice more, 9:19.79 at Zama and 9:12.18 at Tokyo’s Ajinomoto Stadium.
-- Taking aim at the four-year-old boys 100 record is Nile C. Kinnick senior Jeremiah Hines. Humphreys’ Tevijon Williams ran it in 10.77 in the 2019 Far East meet; Hines, unbeaten so far this season in the 100, 200 and 400, posted a 10.86 in an April 8 meet at Yokota.
“Jeremiah is ultra-talented and he loves hard work,” Red Devils coach Luke Voth said. “As talented as he is, he has an even bigger work ethic. That’s always the golden recipe for success in sports or in life … 10.77 is certainly within his abilities.”
As for Sizemore, she had to hold off Sharday Baker of Okinawa Christian during her record-setting run (Baker was timed in 11.95). And while Sizemore said she was “in disbelief” after breaking the record, she, too, said she can do better.
“You have to keep your head. Don’t let the bells and whistles get in your head,” Sizemore said. She has already run faster than the Far East meet record of 12.33 set in 2016 by Kubasaki’s Kaelyn Francis.
“Anything below my (personal best) is what I’m going for. I feel motivated to accept all challengers and push myself to do the best I can do,” Sizemore said.
She already has rivals taking notice, such as fellow freshman Tristyn Payne of Osan. “I’m excited to run with her when I get there,” Payne said. “When I make up my mind to do something, I do it.”
Kubasaki freshman Naiaja Sizemore has already broken the northwest Pacific record in the 100 with a time of 11.72 seconds, and hopes to better that during this week's Far East meet at Yokota. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
St. Mary's junior William Beardsley has already broken the 49-year-old northwest Pacific record in the 3,200, and is aiming to rewrite his own record and the Far East meet record in both the 3,200 and 1,600. (Sandie Jones/Special to Stripes)
Senior Jeremiah Hines of Nile C. Kinnnick has run a personal best of 10.86 seconds in the 100 this season, just .09 seconds shy of the northwest Pacific record. (Photo courtesy of Nile C. Kinnick track)
Coaches and runners clearly took note of Beardsley’s record climb. Beardsley is also closing in on the northwest Pacific record in the 1,600, (4:18.22) set by Daniel Galvin of Yokota in 2016. Beardsley’s best in the 1,600, 4:20.16, is more than six seconds faster than the Far East meet mark of 4:26.73 set by Kubasaki’s Erik Armes in 2013.
“He’s in phenomenal shape,” Voth said of Beardsley. “He’s already such a great runner and they are so well coached at St. Mary’s that I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he gets the (1,600) record and/or breaks 9 minutes” in the 3,200.
Korea distance champion Drew Wahlgren of Humphreys called Beardsley’s feats “insane to me.”
“I keep looking at Athletic.net” to see Beardsley’s times. ”You can tell he's built to be a runner,” Wahlgren said.
As for the team banners, coaches surveyed said the Division I title chase is a wide-open one, between Humphreys, Kadena, Kubasaki and Kinnick, with American School In Japan in the wings.
“It’s a pretty level field,” Voth said. “Each of the DODEA school teams seem to have a strength that sets them apart from the others and gives them a chance at winning. And of course, there’s ASIJ and St. Mary’s with such great distance teams.”
Galvin’s father, Dan, who still coaches Yokota, also calls the Division II school banner chase wide open.
“It’s all about depth,” he said. “We’ll be competitive in just about everything. How that compares to everyone else, I haven’t really sat down to think about.”
The Far East meet is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, with Wednesday as a backup rain date.
