Goals, rain, going the distance, pool records and other things: What we learned in Week 2 of the spring sports season
Published: March 15, 2009
Musings and mutterings just hours before Selection Sunday breeds its usual No. 1-seed snubs, NCAA Tournament snubs and wall-to-wall collegehoops for three more weeks:
-- Sometimes, all it takes is getting into a playing rhythm for a boys soccer team to get its sea legs underneath 'em. Such was the case for Zama American and E.J. King this weekend. After going 0-2-1 March 6-7 at Matthew C. Perry, the Trojans ran off three straight wins, including 4-1 and 2-1 home triumphs over Robert D. Edgren. The Cobras, 0-1-1 against Nile C. Kinnick in Week 1, reeled off two victories over Matthew C. Perry by an 11-3 margin.
-- Doesn't seem to matter whether it's the 1,500 or the mile, the 3,000 or the two-mile. Is there any catching Zama senior All-American and two-time Far East cross-country championAndrew Quallio?
-- At least we know for sure that four new distance records will be set in the Kanto Plain Association of Secondary Schools track and field season.
-- The Okinawa Activities Council says you can't argue with tradition, sticking with the mile and two-mile. And Quallio's former teammate, Kadena sophomore Jacob Bishop, and Kubasaki freshman Jessica Powell staked their claim Friday as the new distance sheriffs in town.
-- Speaking of new sheriffs, Kadena's girls soccer team, thought to be rebuilding (five freshman starters) grew up a ton on Saturday. Leading just 2-0 at halftime over a Nago team that just won the island tournament championship, the Panthers broke out for seven second-half goals, mostly senior Cassie McDonald and freshman Kristie Kariban doing the damage with four goals each. Even junior Tyler Arrieta, with just two goals prior to this season, got into the act.
-- Those weren't the "real" Osan and Daegu American girls soccer teams playing to that 1-1 tie on Saturday at Camp Walker. Each team was nursing quite a few injuries. Check back on March 27 for the rematch; that should be vastly different.
-- Don't tell me for a second that Liz "The Levitator" Gleaves, who spends most of her time keeping soccer balls out of Seoul American's net, wasn't soaring on Cloud 9 after she scored a goal in Saturday's win at Seoul International.
-- And just who manufactures her soccer shoes, anyway -- General Electric or Pratt & Whitney? Talk about somebody who gets some serious air time.
-- FYI, that's four career goals for her.
-- That 100 individual medley portion of the Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference swim record book sure took a pounding Saturday at Camp Humphreys, thanks to Seoul American's John Graham and Seoul International's Seraphina Kim.
-- Congrats to David Kim of Yongsan International-Seoul for breaking the school's career goals record with 41 in the Guardians' 3-0 shutout Saturday of Korea International.
-- Speaking of the Guardians, any doubt that the defending Class A Tournament champs could be competitive at the large-school level this season?
-- Kim is tied for second among boys goal-scoring leaders withSeoul Foreign's Andrew Park and Ben Neumann and Osan American's Derek Becker withseven each. Kadena's Aaron Ahner leads the Pacific withnine.
-- The girls' leader has double that total -- Matthew C. Perry's Danielle Dobson has 18, teammate Karla Stroud has 17, Zama's Aubrey Ashliman 13, Mallarie Ashliman 11 and Yokota's Jennifer Black and Kinnick's Brittany Evans 10 each.
-- Early weather lookahead for Japan, Okinawa for baseball Friday and Saturday: Fine so far, fair in the Kanto Plain both days, partly cloudy on Okinawa with 30-percent chance of showers. That should come as a relief; Saturday's entire Kanto slate got washed out and Okinawa's softball openers suffered the same fate.
-- Only action thus far in either locale? Wednesday baseball, Kadena halting Kubasaki's nine-game winning streak 9-8, and Friday softball in Japan, Edgren thumping E.J. King 14-7 and Zama edging Edgren 5-4.
-- You think they've beengoing just a bit stir-crazy waiting out the rain?
-- War track season underway. Unwar lousy weather. 19 days until Petty, 62 until Kanto Invitational.
