IKEGO FOREST NATURAL PARK, Japan – Allie Sims had yet to perfect the art of the late kick in previous cross country meets.

On Monday, she found the answer and won a Far East Division I title.

The Kadena senior found her highest gear in the closing meters, passed Robert D. Edgren freshman Emery Bedo around the final turn and sprinted to the finish first in 19 minutes, 58.5 seconds. Bedo, the pre-race favorite and Division II winner, was next in 20:03.6.

“My other kicks, I didn’t run as fast. This one, I did much better,” said Sims, who was running in her third Far East meet. Nerves bothered her in previous Far Easts, but not so on Monday, she said.

“My nerves calmed down and I just ran. I told myself to just run. Don’t race,” Sims said. She had been running third, behind Bedo and Guam High sophomore Ava Steele until the final right-hand curve.

“I kept (Bedo) in my sights and passed her right at the turn. She started slowing and I passed her with my kick.”

Panthers junior teammate Adriana Williams was second in D-I at 20:06.0 and senior Mia Rigg fifth in 20:58.0. That helped lead Kadena’s girls to the team title with 64 points, two ahead of Seisen.

As for Bedo, it was her first runner-up finish this season, though she did capture the D-II crown. “I was trying, but she ran way faster than me,” Bedo said of Sims.

“That was a great race. I’m super proud” of Bedo, Eagles coach Timothy Schwehr said.

The boys D-I winner was Noah Takato of St. Mary’s. He was nearly 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Ammon Allen, a Humphreys junior. Takato clocked 15:46.5 and Allen 16:04.8. The two broke away from the field and led throughout the race until Takato pulled away.

“My position was to just win,” said Takato, who finished 15 seconds behind the Far East record set by the Titans’ William Beardsley three years ago at Misawa.

Takato had Allen close to him, followed by a handful of American School In Japan runners 20 meters or so behind. “It was the surrounding competition that helped me get the personal best. It was such a joy,” Takato said.

Allen was the highest-placing DODEA-Pacific D-I boy runner. “I knew it was going to be stiff competition, it was going to be a very hard race,” Allen said. “But Noah and I pushed through the pain and we got a good result.”

ASIJ won the boys team title, with Kadena second and St. Mary’s third. Kadena put itself in good position to win the overall D-I school banner, depending on Tuesday’s team relay results.

In D-II boys, senior Nolan Grubb of E.J. King outpaced Christian Academy Japan junior JunGi Lee by less than a second, 16:45.4-16:46.3.

“I’ve been working hard every single year,” Grubb said. “This is my senior year. I really felt today was the day. I wanted to give my all in my last race.”

Edgren placed two brothers in the top 10, freshman Caleb Lehner (16:54.2) and senior Luke Lehner (17:33.3). Senior Aidan Lehner just missed, finishing 11th. CAJ finished first as a team, followed by Edgren in both the boys and girls team standings.