Perry's Hannah Jernigan, the eventual Far East D-II relay race winner, navigates one of the course's straightaways. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Guam High accomplished something no other cross country team ever did last season – winning the Guam All-Island boys and girls titles, plus the DODEA-Pacific Far East and Asia-Pacific Invitational crowns.

On the heels of capturing their sixth straight All-Island boys team title and the girls’ fifth in six years on Monday, the question is, can the Panthers make it two straight Far East Division I team championships?

Coach Joe Taitano seems to think so.

“This team is probably better than the team we had last year,” said Taitano, 73, a 1970 John F. Kennedy graduate who has coached on island since the mid-1970s.

“We had a lot of kids in the top 10, four boys in the top eight, and for the girls, five in the top 10. I just hope we’re ready to compete with the DODEA teams (from elsewhere in the Pacific) this week.”

Junior Eldon Egbert and the Panthers boys and sophomore Naomi Spuler and Guam High’s girls showed they were more than ready at least for Guam. But Far East, as always, is a different ball of wax.

The Far East meet includes all DODEA-Pacific schools as well as a handful of international schools from the Tokyo area.

Nile C. Kinnick of Japan won the D-I girls team title last October, while Yokota took the D-II boys and girls team crowns.

Returning DODEA individual champions from last year include Matthew C. Perry’s Hannah Jernigan in D-II girls and Yokota’s Matthew Rowland in D-II boys.

Coaches and runners throughout the Pacific said they don’t take a single thing for granted heading into a state-championship meet, no matter how well they did during the season.

“There is that voice inside each of us that beckons to slow down, to ease back, to give up,” said Ammon Allen, a Humphreys sophomore who holds Korea’s fastest time this season. “We have to find the will within us to look that resistance in the face and say ‘no.’”

“Those are things we talk about,” Taitano said. “The importance of nutrition, certain workouts, sleep – of course, that’s a big thing. Balancing all of those is tough.”

Matthew Rowland of Yokota won the Far East Division II cross country title. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Kadena's William Rhoades rounds a curve en route to race victory in Saturday's opening Okinawa cross-country meet. (Samy M. Fineman/Special to Stripes)

Humphreys’ Annelise Parker races toward the finish line of Saturday’s Korea girls cross country race. She finished first. (Humphreys cross country)

When a coach has been in charge for a number of years, like Taitano and Kinnick’s Luke Voth, consistency and continuity play a part in the development of team.

Voth’s star pupils include sophomore Lauren Cabradilla, one of the Kanto Plain’s top girls runners, and sophomores Emmett McNamara and Caleb Mintling on the boys side.

Diet involves meal planning for the week, eating healthy options for every meal and limiting sodium and sugar, one runner said.

“My legs are prone to injury, so I do treadmill and elliptical and I did weight training over the summer,” said senior William Rhoades of Kadena, who holds the Pacific’s fastest boys time this season.

“I do schoolwork at school, so I don’t stress during training. And I get a lot of support from my parents.”

“Balance is all about priorities,” Allen said. “I set the priority and then build a routine around it.”

It does mean missing out on some of the things that are part and parcel to most teens’ lives.

“Balancing sports and (advanced placement) classes, many days it feels like there’s just not enough time for everything,” said Branden Ferguson, an Osan sophomore. “I haven’t had candy or fast food in nearly a year, which is crazy to think about, but it’s just the process of staying focused and performing well.”

Sometimes, the process includes battling nerves.

“I always get anxious” before races, Kadena senior Allie Sims said. “I try to visualize me during the race, so I can calm myself. Shake out my legs so I can get ready for it.”

One face familiar from last year’s Far East is no longer in the Pacific – Cassandra Jarzabek transferred to SHAPE in Belgium, taking her Pacific record time of 17:58 and her Far East and API titles with her.

“It has been a fun season, but different without someone like Cassie to keep in my sights,” Blackhawks junior and former teammate Annelise Parker said. “I’m looking forward to Far East and am ready to run hard and fast.”

Taitano says he hopes Guam High can hit a trifecta of winning the island, Far East and API. But they can’t get too far ahead of themselves – this year, the Far East and API are in separate weeks, Far East Friday and Saturday and API the following weekend on Guam.

“I like our chances of really doing well, just like last year,” Taitano said.