Musings and mutterings from Okinawa as Ornauer prepares to turn the page on the final competitive calendar of the 2007-08 school year:

-- Talk about your playing games of "Can You Top This?" First, Kadena's 400-meter relay teams shatter the Okinawa Activities Council district records, the boys at 43.83 seconds and the girls at 51.9. So the next day, Yokota's Phillip Williams tracks the 400 hurdles in 57.7, a tenth better than the 13-year-old record, and Zama American beats St. Mary's International for the first time in 20 years. Is that Kanto Invitational on May 17 gonna be off the chart or what?

-- Speaking of tight races, Guam High's victory two weeks ago at Father Duenas Memorial was far more than a fluke. The Panthers have become players in the Independent Interscholastic Athletic Association of Guam boys volleyball league chase. Entering the weekend, they were tied with George Washington and preseason Shieh Tournament champion Simon Sanchez at 6-1. Sei Tajima, Mikel Nelson and the Panthers will certainly figure in next month's playoffs.

-- Every measure of congratulations to the Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference Division I Soccer Tournament champions. Seoul Foreign's boys, seven straight titles to go with six straight KAIAC regular-season crowns. And farewell, Remco Rademaker, he who set Pacific single-season (61) and career (183) goal-scoring records that will take a monumental leap to catch. And behind MVP Sarah Eades, Seoul American's girls (17-0-1) earned their first KAIAC tournament title since 2005.

-- Not since 2003 had Kubasaki's girls won an OAC season series over Kadena. They accomplished that in a shootout on Friday at Kadena. Now, it's the boys' season series that needs to be settled. That'll happen May 9 at Kubasaki. The series is even 2-2 and the goal margin is also dead even.

-- On the diamond, the first DODDS-Japan girls fastpitch softball season came to an end with a five-team, three-day tournament at Naval Air Facility Atsugi. Nile C. Kinnick came away as champions, beating host Zama American 16-10 in the championship. So concludes DODDS-Japan's transition season from slowpitch to fastpitch; next spring, the sport goes competitive in Japan, bringing all competitive leagues in line.

-- No, a Far East tournament is still a few years down the road. But at least everybody will be playing fastpitch. That's a start.