Humphreys sophomore Cassandra Jarzabek crosses the finish line as the winner of the Far East Division I and the API girls race titles. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

NAGARA, Chiba Prefecture, Japan – Cassandra Jarzabek led comfortably through the first few hundred meters of Monday’s Far East cross country race, when she angled sharply around a goalpost – what she thought was the first major turn of the race.

“Wrong way! Go back!” her teammates and coaches yelled.

The Humphreys sophomore was, in fact, one of three runners who made a wrong turn. They each reversed field and Jarzabek went into a dash to catch up to Nile C. Kinnick’s Mia Bartram, who was then in front.

In the end, Jarzabek prevailed, capturing both the Far East Division I and Asia-Pacific Invitational girls titles in a first-of-a-kind meet featuring 332 runners from 37 DODEA and international schools.

“I said to myself, ‘I have to sprint to get back up there,’” Jarzabek said of going the wrong way. “When I run, I turn my mind off and that’s probably what happened.”

Jarzabek caught up to Bartram quickly and finished well ahead of the pack in the 3.12-mile individual Far East-API race. She was timed in 20 minutes, 9.6 seconds, well ahead of second-place finisher Lydia Ro of Yongsan International School of Seoul.

But it was well off her stated goal of breaking the Far East meet record of 19:13.3 set by Matthew C. Perry’s Jane Williams last Oct. 23 at Misawa Air Base, Japan. Jarzabek a week ago broke Williams’ Pacific record of 18:12.4, clocking 17:58.0 at her Camp Humphreys home course.

“I think so, definitely,” Jarzabek said of how making the wrong turn may have set her back from that goal. “But championships are made for winning” and not necessarily breaking records, she added.

And it was also a vast improvement from last year’s Far East, when Jarzabek finished 12th. “That’s good redemption for me, going from 12th to first,” she said.

CAJ's Simon Nakamura crosses the line No. 1 in the API race. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Matthew C. Perry’s Zion LaCount (529) and Samuel Williams (534) make their way along a fence line in the Far East-APi race. (Erick Chedd Ricardo/Special to Stripes)

API and Far East Division I boys winners Simon Nakamura of CAJ and Talan Farrington of Kinnick run past the crowds on the start of the third circuit. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Matthew C. Perry's Xavier Mitchell (533) is in the middle of the pack at the start of the boys Far East-API race. The meet featured nearly 400 runners from 37 schools around the Pacific. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Far East D-I winner Talan Farrington of Kinnick makes his way past one of the barriers. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

For the second straight year, a Perry runner captured the Division II girls race. Junior Hannah Jernigan took that honor, clocking 22:21.2 on a 1,500-meter course that featured 800 meters of wood trail, 630 meters on a soccer field and 70 on pavement.

Jernigan said that Williams was a major influence on her “in every single way.”

“I call her every day, she gives me advice on how to stay strong, how to stay calm,” Jernigan said. “She’s my inspiration, 100 percent.”

The boys Far East D-I title went to DODEA-Japan champion Talan Farrington of Nile C. Kinnick. The junior was timed in 17 minutes, 6.8 seconds – 2.9 seconds being API winner Simon Nakamura of Christian Academy Japan.

“He’s very competitive. He always pushes me,” Farrington said of Nakamura, who holds the Pacific’s fastest time this season of 15:47.7. Farrington’s personal best is 15:50.4.

“All the work my team and I put in. It’s the biggest race I’ve ever been in, and it’s great to have the work come together and I could win this race,” Farrington said.

Nakamura passed Farrington at about the halfway mark of the second of three circuits, something he said he kept in mind after a pre-meet practice run Sunday. “I visualized when I would do it and I did,” Nakamura said.

The coach of the Far East D-II boys winner, Matthew Rowland of Yokota, followed in his coach’s footsteps. Panthers coach Danny Galvin won the D-II and overall Far East meet in 2015.

“He’s an amazing coach,” Rowland said, adding that Galvin taught him “the race mindset. You have to come into every race thinking and believing that you can win.”

The Far East and API meets end Tuesday with the 6.24-mile team relay.

Junior Hannah Jernigan, left, chats with Matthew C. Perry teammates after the Far East-API girls race. Jernigan won the Far East D-II title in 22 minutes, 21.2 seconds. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Monday's Far East-API meet was the first of its kind, combiing elements of DODEA and international teams to the tune of nearly 400 athletes from 37 schools around the Pacific. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Nile C. Kinnick's Mia Bartram, Humphreys' Cassandra Jarzabek, Kadena's Allie Sims and Robert D. Edgren's Reagan Keller lead the way at the start of the girls Far East-API race. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Matthew Rowland of Yokota (557) runs with the pack along a trail portion of the race en route to the boys Far East D-II title. (Erick Chedd Ricardo/Special to Stripes)

Kinnick's Samuel Montgomery (481) makes his way with the pack through a wooded trail portion of the race. The Far East-API meet featured 800 meters of wood trail, 630 of soccer pitch and 70 of pavement. (Erick Chedd Ricardo/Special to Stripes)