Pacific
Island champs Armes, Robles boost Kubasaki to historic FE title
Stars and Stripes
November 8, 2011
Nile C. Kinnick Red Devils middle blocker Emily Stith tries to stop American School In Japan Mustangs' Elena Wadden (3) during the division play match in the 2011 Far East High School Girls Division I (large schools) Volleyball Tournament at Falcon Gym, Seoul American High School, South Post, Yongsan Garrison, South Korea on Nov. 8, 2011. ASIJ won in straight sets. (Luke Travis/special to Stars and Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick Red Devils middle blocker Emily Stith tries to stop American School In Japan Mustangs' Elena Wadden (3) during the division play match in the 2011 Far East High School Girls Division I (large schools) Volleyball Tournament at Falcon Gym, Seoul American High School, South Post, Yongsan Garrison, South Korea on Nov. 8, 2011. ASIJ won in straight sets. (Luke Travis/special to Stars and Stripes)
Nile C. Kinnick Red Devils outside hitter Val James tries to spike past American School In Japan Mustangs' Ali Klemenic during the division play match in the 2011 Far East High School Girls Division I (large schools) Volleyball Tournament at Falcon Gym, Seoul American High School, South Post, Yongsan Garrison, South Korea on Nov. 8, 2011. ASIJ won in straight sets. (Luke Travis/special to Stars and Stripes)
Daegu High's Sarah Wright slaps the ball over the net against Yongsan International-Seoul during the pool-play match in the 2011 Far East High School Girls Division II (small schools) Volleyball Tournament at Kelly Fitness & Sports Center, Camp Walker, South Korea on Nov. 8, 2011. Daegu survived the Guardians in four sets and earned one of two top seeds entering the double-elimination playoffs. (Hana Noguchi/special to Stars and Stripes)
Daegu High's Rachel Wyche bangs the ball over the net through a double block by Yongsan International-Seoul's Sarah Waldrop and SuYoung Yang during the pool-play match in the 2011 Far East High School Girls Division II (small schools) Volleyball Tournament at Kelly Fitness & Sports Center, Camp Walker, South Korea on Nov. 8, 2011. Daegu survived the Guardians in four sets and earned one of two top seeds entering the double-elimination playoffs. (Hana Noguchi/special to Stars and Stripes)
Kristin Howard of Kadena serves against Guam High's doubles pair during the girls doubles quarterfinal match in the 2011 Far East High School Tennis Tournament at Risner Tennis Complex, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on Nov. 8, 2011. Howard and teammate Erika Youngdahl won 9-7 over Guam High's Chloe Gadsden and Caroline Loynd. (Lucas Board/special to Stars and Stripes)
Alle Robles of Kubasaki, right, passes the baton to teammate Erik Armes during the 6.2-mile team-relay portion of the 2011 Far East High School Cross-Country Meet at Tama Hills Recreation Center, Tokyo on Nov. 8, 2011. Armes and Robles, the Okinawa Activities Council island champions, crossed in 34 minutes, 24.9 seconds and Kubasaki won the team relay and overall team titles for the first time in school history. (Photo by Lilly Crown/special to Stars and Stripes)
Kubasaki Dragons freshman Erik Armes, the Okinawa Activities Council island champion, and Amanda Henderson of Seoul American, the senior two-time Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Council champion, display their Far East Cross-Country Meet 3.1-mile individual race championship hardware after the 6.2-mile team-relay portion of the 2011 Far East High School Cross-Country Meet at Tama Hills Recreation Center, Tokyo on Nov. 8, 2011. They won their respective gold medals on Monday in the 3.1-mile individual race portion of the meet. (Lilly Crown/special to Stars and Stripes)
Seoul American's Russell Midomaru slams a forehand volley against Taishi Misumi of St. Mary's International during the boys singles quarterfinal in the 2011 Far East High School Tennis Tournament at Risner Tennis Complex, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on Nov. 8, 2011. Midomaru won 8-4. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Kadena's Erika Youngdahl smacks a backhand return against Yokota's Emily Beemsterboer during the girls singles quarterfinal in the 2011 Far East High School Tennis Tournament at Risner Tennis Complex, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on Nov. 8, 2011. Youngdahl won 8-3. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Seoul American's Jay Han slaps a forehand return against Daegu High's Matthew Hwang during the boys singles second-round match in the 2011 Far East High School Tennis Tournament at Risner Tennis Complex, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on Nov. 8, 2011. Han won 8-1, but later lost to defending (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Guam High's Chloe Gadsden smacks a backhand return to Robert D. Edgren's Kelli Braun during the girls singles quarterfinal in the 2011 Far East High School Tennis Tournament at Risner Tennis Complex, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa on Nov. 8, 2011. Gadsden won 8-0,then later beat Zama American's Natalie Burke 8-2 to reach the semifinals. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Ilona Heiskanos of Morrison Academy tries to push a shot through the double block of Yongsan International-Seoul's Sarah Waldrop and Sarah Kim during Tuesday's pool-play match in the 2011 Far East High School Girls Division II Volleyball Tournament at Camp Walker, South Korea. Morrison beat YIS-Seoul in straight sets. (Danella Golden/Special to Stars and Stripes)
TAMA HILLS RECREATION CENTER, Japan – Less than two weeks ago, Erik Armes and Alle Robles were celebrating their dual Okinawa Activities Council island championships and Kubasaki’s first island team title in a decade.
But Tuesday, the Dragons freshman and sophomore stars did one better - winning the team relay in 34 minutes, 24.9 seconds and helping the Dragons become just the third DODDS Pacific school in history to win the Far East Cross Country Meet overall Division I team title.
“We’re making a new home for it,” Dragons coach Paul Campbell said of joining Kadena (1984, 2002, '04, ’06, ’07 and ’10) and Seoul American (2005, ’08 and ’09) as the only DODDS teams to win the team gold.
“I love this team. They’re so united, they work so well together. It’s been a great season.”
Campbell said he’d talked the night before the team relay to the Dragons, saying what would make the difference was having a pair of Kubasaki runners come in first in the 6.2-mile team relay, then have the rest come in as a pack, no more than 30 seconds apart.
“And they did it,” Campbell said. “We have a really solid team that comes together.”
On the Division II side, Robert D. Edgren became the first small school to repeat its team title; the Eagles also won gold in the inaugural year the D-II title was awarded, 2008.
“I’m very proud,” longtime Eagles coach Andre Thibert said, adding that “accountability” was the team’s motto this season.
“Hold yourself accountable to your team and your teammates, when you practice, when you race, in and out of school.”
One example was when the Eagles lost the lead girls runner, Madeline Cotton, to dehydration just 800 meters before the finish of Monday’s 3.1-mile individual race. “And still, the team came back and won the relay and the title,” Thibert said. “They were awesome. That’s why I coach kids.”
While not the overall D-II champion, E.J. King made school history on Monday, winning the girls team crown – the first Far East girls championship of any kind since the girls basketball team won its third D-II tournament in 1997.
“Pretty cool, huh?” coach Thomas Heitstuman said.
Rain barges in on Far East tennis tournament
Two boys doubles and four mixed doubles quarterfinals matches were suspended Tuesday by rain that began falling in the late afternoon. Weather forecasts called for more of the same Wednesday. Only the semifinals and championship matches remained in all other categories.
DODDS teams, E.J. King and two-time defending champion and host Daegu High, grabbed the top seeds into the double-elimination playoffs in the Far East D-II Girls Volleyball Tournament. They each went 4-0 in pool play.
Two DODDS hopefuls in the Girls D-I Volleyball Tournament, host Seoul American and Nile C. Kinnick of Japan, lost American School In Japan in straight sets. Kinnick’s loss was the second in 11 days to its Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools arch-rival.