Noah Takato anchors St. Mary's 3,200 relay team to a Far East meet record performance. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan – No sooner did the Far East meet begin that a sprinter from host Matthew C. Perry just missed topping the 7-year-old meet record in the sports’ premier speed event.
Jeremiah Wardrobe, a Samurai senior, charged through the preliminary round of the 100-meter dash in 10.78 seconds – just .01 seconds off the meet record set seven years ago by Tevijon Williams of Humphreys.
That performance came just minutes after St. Mary’s foursome broke the boys 3,200 relay record, also set in 2019.
Wardrobe said he believes the best might be yet to come in Tuesday’s final. “I’ll be ready for the moment,” he said. Wardrobe also posted the top time in the 200 prelims (22.36) and leaped to a first-place finish in the long jump (6.31 meters).
Wardrobe’s sprint times topped those of the pre-meet favorites in the sprint categories, Kubasaki’s Ryan Hater and Pacific 100 record-holder Jeremiah Tucker of Okinawa Christian. Hater and Tucker finished 2-3 in the 200 and 3-4 in the 100 prelims.
“He’s a great teammate,” Samurai senior distance runner Xavier Mitchell said of Wardrobe. “He’s very supportive, he cheers everybody on, he’s a great guy. And a great athlete.”
Does Wardrobe have a chance to become the Far East meet’s new king of speed Tuesday?
“I think he’s got it tomorrow,” Mitchell said. “He’ll do it when he needs to.”
Perry’s Jeremiah Wardrobe goes side-by-side with Yokota’s Baron Reed in the 100 preliminaries. Wardrobe clocked 10.78 – .01 a second off the meet record set seven years ago. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Justice Owens anchors Kinnick's 3,200-meter relay team to victory. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Humphreys' Jahydan Johnson and Kinnick's Erica Norman dash side-by-side in their 100 preliminary heat. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki freshman Savannah Stewart heads for the finish in posting the top 400 preliminary time. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kinnick's Robert Parker III navigates the 300 hurdles en route to posting the top preliminary time. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kinnick's Erica Norman, Humphreys' Jahydan Johnson and ASIJ's Yume Rinon go side-by-side in their 200 preliminary heat. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
One record did fall, courtesy of St. Mary’s distance relay team. Noah Takato anchored the Titans to victory in the event, the first of the Far East meet. St. Mary’s clocked 8 minutes, 10.86 seconds, besting the 2019 standard of 8:11.28 set by Nile C. Kinnick.
“We were just trying to go for first place (and) for the school record” of 8:24, Takato said. “I’m so happy about that. That is so good.”
Monday was the first of two days of the Far East meet, held at Perry for the first time after a run of 14 years at Yokota.
Most of the events run Monday were preliminaries. Tuesday will be filled with finals, with Wardrobe trying to chase the 100 record and senior Ren Dick of Robert D. Edgren aiming to become the second athlete in meet history to high jump 2 meters, a record set 15 years ago.
