Okinawa Christian’s Jeremiah Tucker, flanked by Kubasaki’s Neil Kentish and Kadena’s Ryan Hater, holds the Pacific record in the 100 at 10.45 seconds. (Thomas Mahaffie/Special to Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – Three Okinawa sprinters have waged a pitched battle to earn the title “Pacific’s fastest high school human,” chasing region supremacy in the 100-meter dash.
Sadly, one of those three won’t be in the hunt at next week’s Far East track and field meet at Yokota: Ryan Hater, a Kubasaki junior, tore his hamstring during practice Monday and is out for the rest of the season.
“It’s very unfortunate,” said Neil Kentish, a Kadena senior who’s among that sprinting threesome. “He put so much work in. To get hurt like that, he didn’t deserve it.”
Junior Jeremiah Tucker of Okinawa Christian set the Pacific record with a time of 10.45 seconds on May 2. Kentish ran a wind-aided 10.52 on March 28 in the Mike Petty Memorial Meet, and Hater clocked 10.59 in that same May 2 meet at Kubasaki.
“It will still be fire,” Kentish said of the 100, considered the showcase race in many track meets.
Joining Kentish and Tucker will be Nile C. Kinnick’s KaVaughn Woodson (wind-aided 10.77), Carmelo Ward of Kadena (10.60) and Humphreys’ D’Jhontae Douglas – who used to hold the Pacific record at 10.53, set last March 16. The Far East meet record is 10.77, set in 2019.
“It will be competitive. It will still be a fight to the end,” Kentish said. “It’s a great thing to race against the best.”
Hater was also expected to be competitive in the 200, 400 and 800, holding the top Pacific times in those events this season.
“We would have been contending for team points in the boys,” Dragons coach Joshua McCall said. “But we’ll fill in those spots and see what we can do.”
The two-day Far East meet is being held May 21-22 at its customary Yokota home, with 11 of the 12 DODEA-Pacific teams attending along with OCSI and five Tokyo-area international schools.
While the team scoring is segregated by Divisions I and II, athletes compete together as one in each event, regardless of division.
It’s already been a season of record breaking for Pacific-area athletes.
Among them, Kentish and three Panthers teammates set a record in the 400-meter relay, 42.49 seconds, breaking a nine-year-old Pacific mark. The Far East meet record is 43.61, set nine years ago, and a mark that Kentish and his teammates said is reachable.
“Just beating the man in front of me,” Kentish said, adding that they’ve worked hard in practice on ensuring the handoffs are smooth. “I feel we’re all prepared.”
Kubasaki senior Carlos Cadet is hoping to break the Far East meet records in the 110 and 300 hurdles, long jump and triple jump. (David Shepherd/Special to Stripes)
Another athlete who beat a Pacific record this season is Carlos Cadet, a senior who clocked 14.61 in the 110 hurdles on March 21. He says he has committed the Pacific records in the 300 hurdles (39.25), long jump (7.05 meters) and triple jump (13.85) to memory.
“I’ve put in so much work,” Cadet said, adding that setting records in all those events “absolutely won’t be easy. I’ve had a lot of trials and tribulations, but the only way to succeed is to push through them.”
Humphreys sophomore Cassandra Jarzabek is eyeing a sweep of the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 in record fashion. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
One distance runner has etched her mark in the Pacific record book as well. Cassandra Jarzabek, a Humphreys sophomore and reigning Far East cross country champion, ran the 1,600 in 5:03.27 in the Korea championship meet on April 26.
She says she’s aiming to break the region records in the 800 (2:17.98) and 3,200 (11:00.89), each set by Matthew C. Perry’s Jane Williams, as well as topping the Far East meet marks in the 800, 1,600 (5:05.97, set by Williams) and 3,200 (11:04.56, set by Seisen’s Brittani Shappell).
“I’m very confident that I can break the remaining Pacific distance records and hopefully set some new Far East meet records with the right conditions,” Jarzabek said. “I know what I’m capable of and can’t wait to show everyone what I have in store.”
“She’s really good. I have a lot of respect for her,” Kubasaki sophomore Adriana Parra said of Jarzabek, adding that the presumed chase for placements behind her “will be interesting to see what happens in those last laps.”
That would include runners such as freshman Madeline Frost of Yokota and senior Mia Bartram of Kinnick. Red Devils junior Talan Farrington appears to be the favorite in the boys distance events.
Kinnick junior Talan Farrington is one of the favorites in the 1,600 and 3,200. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Then, there’s the chase for team banners, which Kinnick and Yokota won last year in Divisions I and II.
While it’s always nice to have star athletes in the fold, balance is the key to capturing team banners, Kinnick coach Luke Voth said.
“Balance in any team setting is the most important thing,” Voth said. “Many hands make for a light load. Some years, you might not have those ringer-type athletes who can get 40 points on their own and your opponent might have several. But … if your team is balanced, you always have a chance.”
Yokota coach Danny Galvin, a former Far East champion and record holder in the 2010s, agrees with Voth.
“It does appear we have a balanced attack. That being said, the athletes need to actually go out and perform,” Galvin said, adding that Zama’s boys and Christian Academy Japan’s girls appear to be the pre-meet favorites in D-II.
“They’re going to give us their best fight,” Galvin said. “While I think we’re in a good spot heading into the meet, we all understand it’s on us to get the results now.”
