Kinnick’s Lauren Cabradilla crosses the finish line first to win the Far East girls D-I cross country title. (Jeunei Bodnar/Special to Stripes)

IKEGO HEIGHTS NAVAL HOUSING FACILITY, Japan — Lauren Cabradilla wasn’t even on Nile C. Kinnick’s 2023 cross country team as a sophomore and said she felt as though she was spinning her wheels trying to get somewhere in the sport.

She arrived Friday.

The Red Devils senior achieved two goals in one race, capturing the girls Division I title in the 3.12-mile Far East individual race and breaking the 20-minute barrier for the first time in her career, clocking 19 minutes, 57.3 seconds.

“This was the hardest I ever pushed,” Cabradilla said after leading the girls race the entire way, finishing a comfortable 22.3 seconds ahead of teammate Mya Shah. “Being this is my senior year, this was a big thing for me and my family.”

The victory also erased the memory of not making the cut for the Red Devils in the Far East meet last year. From then on, Cabradilla said she worked hard with encouragement and guidance from coaches and her family.

“This is an amazing thing for me,” Cabradilla said. “I worked so hard the last two years. I felt like I was going nowhere. I’m proud of myself and I’m so thankful and grateful to my coaches, teammates and family for supporting me.”

Shah was timed in 20:19.6. Finishing third was Humphreys’ Annelise Parker (20:44.6), with Kinnick teammate Justice Owens fourth (20:45.7) and Kadena’s Mia Clark next in 20:50.0. Kinnick also won the girls team title, outscoring Guam High 33-67.

ASIJ’s Kyle Durkee breaches the finish line to win the Far East boys D-I cross country race title. (Erick Chedd Ricardo/Special to Stripes)

Humphreys' Ammon Allen leads the pack early in the Far East boys cross country race, followed by Yokota's Matthew Rowland and Kadena's William Rhoades. (Erick Chedd Ricardo/Special to Stripes)

CAJ’s Chaitra Konda heads toward the finish en route to winning the Far East girls Division II cross country title. (Erick Chedd Ricardo/Special to Stripes)

Winning the boys Division II race for the second straight year was Matthew Rowland of Yokota, which also repeated as boys D-II team champion.

Rowland was timed in 16:58.1, comfortably ahead of E.J. King’s Nolan Grubb (17:16.8). King’s Jude Cutler was next (17:22.3), followed by Osan’s Branden Ferguson (17:22.6).

“He’s just a workhorse,” Panthers coach Danny Galvin – a former Far East cross country champion – said of Rowland. “He takes a two-week break after the season, but the rest of the year, he’s running, he’s in the weight room; he just works hard.”

The boys D-I title went to one of the latest rising stars in an American School In Japan program that has produced many.

Junior Kyle Durkee sprinted the last half-mile to outdistance Noah Takato of St. Mary’s, William Rhoades of Kadena and Guam High’s Caleb Steele.

“We all feel responsible to be running for each other,” Durkee said of a Mustangs stable that includes sophomores Kai Terada and Toji Hattori and junior Ben Cox, among others. The Mustangs won the boys D-I team title.

Durkee runs the 800 in track season and said that experience helped him in the end. “That kick at the end, that’s what won it for me,” he said. Rhoades, Takato and Steele “were all in a pack and I kicked it and won it.”

The girls D-II race title went to Chiatra Konda of Christian Academy Japan, which barely got nosed out by Sacred Heart for the team crown. Konda was timed in 20:08.2, 19.1 seconds ahead of the Symbas’ Yuki Konomi.

The two-day Far East meet concludes Saturday with the team relay.