Mutterings and musings from Okinawa, as Ornauer can't contain his excitement at the prospect of a Mike Petty Track and Field Meet just days away:

-- Try this on: The top 10 finishers in the boys 100 meters at last Friday's Okinawa Activities Council triangular were separated by .82 seconds. The girls top six? By .63 seconds.

-- Shun Bowens' 11.15 was .03 seconds faster than the Mike Petty record of 11.18 set in 2006. He was part of a Kadena 400 relay team that clocked a 45.43 (!!!) last Friday. That's .15 seconds shy of the Petty record set last year.

-- The 3,200 boys record is 10:20.0. Zama American's Andrew Quallio has already timed a 10:05 this season; Kadena's Steven Heath ran a 10:07 last Saturday at Yokota. So much for that four-year-old Petty record.

-- Anya Brown, Yokota. 13.36 in the 100, 27.58 in the 200 and 1:05.5 in the 400 in Saturday's meet. Oh, how the Petty Meet could use the Panthers as another entry.

-- Cliff Collins, Nile C. Kinnick. Has dominated the discus and shot put and has put title deed on the 800 in three meets this season. Oh, how the Petty Meet would also welcome the Red Devils.

-- Zama American's soccer teams have gone a combined 10-1 thus far this season. And Jon Kimball, with a hat trick last Saturday against Matthew C. Perry, may just be heating up.

-- In fact, the top three DODDS-Japan Class AA programs, Yokota, Nile C. Kinnick and Zama, went 29-5-4 in the first month of the season. The best those three have done since the inception of Class AA tournaments 10 years ago.

-- Memo to Kubasaki and Kadena: Don't look now, but DODDS-Japan and Seoul American may, in fact, be gaining on you.

-- Memo to the rest of the Pacific: Kadena's girls must not have gotten the message that they no longer have a player named Abel in the lineup. They've gone 7-2-1 thus far, and former defensive stars, ex-goalkeeper Helen Schrock (7 goals, 5 assists) and ex-sweeper Stephanie Eik (4 goals) are proving very adept on offense. And newcomer Samantha Canty is proving an able sweeper replacement.

-- Another memo to the rest of the Pacific: Don't let Kadena's and Kubasaki's boys records fool you. That combined 3-11 has come against mainly adult opposition. It's about preparation. The better prepared, the better you'll do at Far East.

-- Memo to Class AA girls team coaches: Mark Kubasaki's Bridget Ramirez. At all times. 10 goals and the most dangerous left foot I've seen since Kadena's Katie LaGrave graduated in 2004. Leave Ramirez alone and she'll smoke you. FC Unai found that out last Saturday, as did FC Ryuho on March 22, to the tune of two goals in each match.

-- And be very, very careful when pitching to Kubasaki senior middle infielder Mike Fulwiler. His last three games: 10-for-15, 3 home runs, 6 RBIs, 3 stolen bases.