Kadena sophomore Navoni Perry holds the Pacific's fastest 100-meter time entering Friday's Mike Petty Meet. (Hajime Reed/Special to Stripes)

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa – Athletes from Japan, Korea and Okinawa will take aim Friday at race victories and possible Pacific records – all the while, keeping an eye on the weather – during the 16th Alva W. “Mike” Petty Memorial Track and Field Meet.

The in-season inter-district meet has been sidelined for six years, partly because of the coronavirus pandemic. It was last held in April 2019 at Kubasaki’s Mike Petty Stadium.

Organizers say the meet will welcome athletes from Humphreys and Osan in Korea, Zama and Kinnick in Japan and Kadena and Kubasaki of Okinawa, along with a Japanese team, Okinawa’s Kyuyo Prefectural High School.

A handful of top athletes registered for the meet plan to continue their assault on the Pacific record book.

Carlos Cadet of Kubasaki last week broke the 13-year-old 110-meter hurdles record, clocking 14.61. Neil Kentish of Kadena and Kubasaki’s Ryan Hater each went under 10.70 in the 100 and Kentish’s teammate Carmelo Ward was timed in 10.73.

“I’m working for a sub-14; that’s the goal,” Cadet said during Tuesday’s practice for the Petty meet. Field events are slated to begin at 10 a.m. Friday, with running events a half-hour later.

“Whether I get it now or at Far East, I want to just get better every meet,” said Cadet, referring to the DODEA-Pacific Far East meet scheduled for May 21-23 at Yokota.

Mindful that Friday’s weather forecast isn’t good, Humphreys sophomore Cassandra Jarzabek said she plans to run, rain or shine. She holds the Pacific’s fastest times this season in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 entering Friday’s 16th Mike Petty Meet. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Kinnick junior Talan Farrington, the reigning Far East Division I cross country champion, holds the Pacific’s best times in the 1,600 and 3,200 this season. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Kubasaki senior Carlos Cadet broke the Pacific 110-meter hurdles record last Friday and is aiming to take down the time some more. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Kadena senior Neil Kentish holds the Pacific's fastest time in the 100 at 10.64, .11 seconds off the Pacific record. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)

Kentish, Hater and Ward ran side-by-side in the 100 last Friday, the former clocking 10.64, Hater 10.69 and Ward 10.73 in Okinawa’s first regular-season meet at Ryukyu Middle School.

Coming so close to the Pacific mark of 10.53 has Kentish, a Panther senior, “very motivated” to equal or better the record, he said. His time is currently the fastest in the Pacific. “But I can’t let anything distract me,” he said. “I just have to run my race.”

Hater, a Dragon junior, is second behind Kentish in the 100 so far and also leads the Pacific with a 21.99 in the 200. Hater said he thinks both the 100 and the 200-meter record of 21.23 can be surpassed.

“It’s just the start of the season. So much to do,” Hater said. “But I believe it can be done.”

A major factor could be the weather. Both Kadena’s 18th Wing Weather Flight and the Japanese forecasts appear grim, with scattered showers and possible thunderstorms throughout Friday.

“I’m not concerned about the weather,” said Cassandra Jarzabek, a Humphreys sophomore.

The reigning Far East Division I-Asia-Pacific Invitational cross country champion, Jarzabek is eyeing the Pacific track distance record book. She holds the Pacific’s fastest 800, 1,600 and 3,200 times this season.

“Rain or shine, I’m going to go out and run as hard as I can and put my best effort forth,” Jarzabek said.

She’ll be joined at Petty by the Pacific’s fastest boys runner in the 1,600 and 3,200: Talan Farrington of Nile C. Kinnick. He’s the reigning Far East D-I cross country champion.

Also entered in the meet sporting a Pacific-best time is Navoni Perry, a Kadena sophomore who clocked the 100 in 12.74 last Friday. That’s .48 seconds off the Pacific record set in 2015 by Guam’s Regine Tugade, a three-time Olympian who ran in the 2016 Petty Meet.