Kubasaki's Ryan Hater and Perry's Jeremiah Wardrobe go side-by-side in the 200. Wardrobe won by .03 seconds. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan — Jeremiah Wardrobe came within 0.01 seconds of breaking the seven-year-old Far East meet 100-meter record on Monday. He left nothing to chance on Tuesday.
The Matthew C. Perry senior sprinter beat the old mark of 10.77 by 0.05 seconds in the 100 final at Samurai Field. It was one of four titles earned by Wardrobe, who certainly proved he was dressed for success.
“Let’s go!” Wardrobe shouted, leaping down the field and flexing before the meet’s host crowd.
“I was absolutely sure” he was going to break the meet record, Wardrobe said after edging Jeremiah Tucker — the Pacific’s record-holder in the event — by 0.05 seconds in Tuesday’s final. “I came here ready to win, and that’s what I did.”
Wardrobe said he could have broken the meet mark in Monday’s preliminaries. “But I was saving myself for the big stage, doing it in front of the home crowd, try to give them a good show.”
Wardrobe still had two more events to go, the 200 and a relay. “My job’s not done yet; I’m going for four golds,” Wardrobe said.
And win them, he did, in addition to capturing the long jump with a leap of 6.31 Monday.
Wardrobe’s record-breaking feat highlighted the second day of a Far East track and field meet held at Perry for the first time, after a run of 14 years at Yokota High School.
He had another close call in the 200, edging Kubasaki’s Ryan Hater 21.90-21.93. Earlier in the 400, Hater clocked 49.16, and said he wanted to make up for finishing third in the 100.
“I got a taste of losing; I didn’t want that to happen again,” said Hater, who missed last year’s meet with a torn hamstring.
Kadena's Jeremiah Williams heads for the finish of his victorious 3,200 run. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Adriana Williams heads down the home stretch in the 3,200. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki's Ryan Hater outdistances Yokota's Baron Reed to the finish of the 400. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki freshman Savannah Stewart made up for a false start in the 100, running to victory in the 400. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Yokota's Camielle Dixon rallied past Humphreys' Jahydan Johnson to win the 100. Dixon came up just .02 seconds short of the Far East meet record and .09 behind the Pacific record. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Yokota's Landon Wright took the top spot in the high jump. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
After stumbling to a fourth-place finish in last year's Far East, Yokota's Bethany Sobieralski took top spot in the 100 hurdles. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kinnick's Justice Owens captured the 800 and top girls performance honors in the Far East meet. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Among Tuesday’s other boys winners, Guam High brought home the 300 hurdles (Christian Polite), 800 (Caleb Steele) and the 1,600 relay — two weeks after the island took a pounding from Super Typhoon Sinlaku. “This was for Guam,” Steele said. On Monday, Guam High’s Kaleb Guerrero took the discus throw.
No other records fell Tuesday, but on the girls side, Yokota’s Camielle Dixon came close in the girls 100, clocking 12.35, rallying past Humphreys’ Jahydan Johnson (12.48). Dixon was 0.02 seconds short of the meet mark of 12.33 set by Kubasaki’s Kaelin Francis in 2016, and the Pacific standard of 12.26 set in 2015 by future Guam Olympian Regine Tugade.
“I’m not a good starter, but I stuck with the plan,” said Dixon, a senior. “I knew I was going to be doing a little chasing, but it’s all good.”
Her Yokota sophomore teammate Bethany Sobieralski enjoyed some redemption in the 100 hurdles. She stumbled in last year’s final en route to a fourth-place finish but led from the start Tuesday to win the event in 15.95 seconds.
“I was really nervous,” she said. “This was humongous. I didn’t think I would win a race, let alone Far East. That race (in 2025) was on my mind, even when I practiced.”
Kadena made the 3,200 boys and girls races a family affair, as senior Jeremiah Williams and his freshman sister Adriana each took top spots.
“That was amazing,” Panthers assistant coach Jermaine Baker said. “That’s what it takes. All these kids competing together in one place to bring out the best in everybody.”
The team standings are starting to resemble a broken record, as Nile C. Kinnick took top honors in Division I, winning both the boys and girls team banners, while Yokota did the same in Division II.
Erica Norman and Robert Parker III each won the 300 hurdles, Kinnick took the girls 1,600 relay, Mya Bobbitt won the triple jump and the meet’s top girls performer Justice Owens took the 800. Besides Dixon and Sobieralski, Landon Wright won the high jump for Yokota.
