CAJ Knights

The HS girls’ and boys’ volleyball teams hosted CAJ alumni for two friendly matches today! The HS girls defeated the alumni 2-0, while the HS boys defeated the alumni 3-2.



Photo credit: Jamie Matsuoka

Erica was voted as CAJ’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2023-24! As a junior, she played on the varsity volleyball, basketball, and soccer teams, earning Kanto League All-Star recognition in all three sports. She was also a Yujo All-Star for volleyball, Far East All-Star for basketball, and team MVP in volleyball and basketball.

Congratulations!

CAJ’s 2023-24 Male Athlete of the Year award is awarded to J! As a senior, he won team MVP for the volleyball, basketball, and track and field teams and also was a Kanto League All-Star in each sport. He won Far East All-Star awards for both basketball and track and field and was the Division II Male Athlete of the Meet at the Far East Track and Field Championships.

This year, J broke the CAJ track and field record in the long jump (6.67 meters) and tied another school record in the 100 meter dash (11.01 seconds).

Congratulations on a great career!



Photo credit: Victor Eby

Today at ISSH the MS girls’ basketball A Team participated in the A Team Finals! CAJ began with a 28-18 win over Aoba in the first round, but unfortunately the Knights lost 31-17 against Seisen in the semifinals.

The team finished the day tied for 3rd place, and its overall record during the season was 8-4.

Congratulations, ladies!



Photo credit: Bethany Hettinger

J earned three silver medals for placing second among all divisions in 100m, long jump, and high jump. He was also the Division II Male Athlete of the Meet for scoring the most points in the meet, and he extended his own CAJ record in the long jump from 6.45 to 6.67 meters.

Congratulations on a great meet, and a great track and field career!



Photo credit: Victor Eby

Friday’s Day 2 of the Far East Track and Field Championship wrapped up the season for CAJ’s HS track and field team!

The Knights have a smaller team than most of their competition, but they came away with many strong performances. These were all of their point-scoring performances from the meet:

J- 2nd overall (1st for Division II) in 100m, long jump, and high jump
Daniel- 8th overall (3rd for Division II) in long jump
Chaitra- 7th overall (3rd for Division II) in 1600m, 5th overall (3rd for Division II) in 3200m
Isabelle- 3rd in Division II in 300m hurdles
Kalista- 5th in Division II in 400m
Miki- 8th in Division II in 100m, 6th in Division II in 200m
Elina- 8th in Division II in 800m
Misaki- 7th overall in shot put (3rd in Division II), 7th in Division II in shot put
Avenly- 8th overall in discus (3rd in Division II)
Joanna- 4th in Division II in long jump
Women’s 4x100m relay (Kira, Ayme, Riyo, Isabelle)- 4th in Division II
Women’s sprint medley relay (Aimi, Isabelle, Miki, Kalista)- 3rd in Division II
Women’s 4x400m relay (Miki, Kalista, Elina, Chaitra)- 7th overall (1st for Division II)
Women’s 4x800m relay (Chaitra, Elina, Joanna, Nikki)- 3rd in Division II

Full results are available at Athletic.net.



Photo credit: Victor Eby

The HS track and field team competed in the first day of the Far East Championships today at Yokota!

Many of the events were just preliminaries, but some of the events did have final results. These were some of CAJ’s top performances from the day:

J- 2nd overall in high jump (1st in Division II), earned No. 1 overall seed time after 100m prelims
Miki- 8th in Division II from 100m prelims, 7th in Division II from 200m prelims
Kalista- 4th in Division II from 400m prelims
Chaitra- 7th overall in 1600m (3rd in Division II)
Isabelle- 4th in Division II from 300m hurdle prelims
Misaki- 7th overall in shot put (3rd in Division II)
Women’s 4x100m relay (Kira, Ayme, Riyo, Isabelle)- 4th in Division II
Women’s sprint medley relay (Aimi, Isabelle, Miki, Kalista)- 3rd in Division II
Women’s 4x800m relay (Chaitra, Elina, Joanna, Nikki)- 3rd in Division II

Tomorrow will be final day of the Far East meet. Live results for the rest of the meet can be found by accessing the Christian Academy in Japan page on Athletic.net!



Photo credit: Victor Eby

From the HS boys’ soccer team, William, Ray, and Eastin were chosen as CAJ’s Far East All-Stars for their play. William also received the Golden Boot award for being the top goal-scorer in the tournament.

Congratulations!



Photo credit: Tamara Hershberger

From the HS girls’ soccer team, Sakurako was selected as a Far East All-Star for her strong play at the tournament.

Congratulations!



Photo credit: Lisa Cummings

FIVE IN A ROW!

The HS boys’ soccer team took down Yokota 5-0 in the Far East Division II Championship game this afternoon, avenging a 1-0 pool play loss to the Panthers.

The win gave CAJ its fifth championship in a row (2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024) since moving to the Division II Tournament.

Congratulations, Knights!



Photo credit: Tamara Hershberger

The HS girls’ soccer team had a strong finish to its tournament and season today with two thrilling victories! The Knights beat both Edgren and Zama in penalty kicks to earn fifth place in their Division II Far East Tournament.

Congratulations, Knights!



Photo credit: Lisa Cummings

The HS boys’ soccer team is in the Far East Finals! The Knights won 6-1 against OCSI in the first round before beating MC Perry 3-0 in the semifinals. They will be playing against Yokota at 4:30 p.m.!

You can catch the livestream by going to the Matthew C Perry High School YouTube account!



Photo credit: Yukari Nakamura

The HS boys’ soccer team had two more pool play games today at its Far East Tournament in Iwakuni. The Knights beat Zama 8-1 to start the day before losing 1-0 to Yokota.

Despite suffering a loss in pool play, the Knights still enter bracket play tomorrow as the No. 1 overall seed due to a tiebreaker. CAJ will face the winner of OCSI and Osan at 10:30 a.m. in the first round. If the Knights win that game, they will need two more wins at 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to claim its fifth straight Far East Division II championship title.



Photo credit: Tamara Hershberger

The HS girls’ soccer team played three games at its Far East Tournament today at Misawa.

The Knights wrapped up pool play by beating Edgren 3-0 and losing 2-0 against EJ King, placing them as the fourth overall seed out of nine teams in bracket play. Unfortunately, CAJ lost 1-0 against ISSH to open bracket play, placing the team in the consolation bracket.

The Knights can finish as high as fifth on the last day of the tournament tomorrow by winning two games. They will first play Edgren at 9 a.m., and with a win they would then face either Zama or Daegu for fifth place.

The HS boys’ soccer team was dominant in its two wins today at the Far East Tournament in Iwakuni. Despite rainy conditions, CAJ beat Osan 12-0 first before defeating Edgren 11-0 later in the afternoon!

The Knights will play Zama at 11 a.m. and Yokota at 2 p.m. tomorrow to continue the tournament.



Photo credit: Tamara Hershberger

On Day 1 of the Far East Tournament on Monday, the HS girls’ soccer team lost 1-0 against MC Perry before tying Zama 0-0.

The Knights will have three games on Tuesday — two more pool play games against Edgren (9:30 a.m.) and EJ King (11 a.m.). The results of those games will determine who CAJ plays in the afternoon.



Photo/video credit: Caleb and Lisa Cummings

Big week ahead to wrap up the spring sports season!

On the final day of the VEX World Championship, the HS robotics team won its first two matches and was the final pick to enter the knockout rounds.

Unfortunately, CAJ was then knocked out after losing a close match to an alliance of two undefeated teams.



Photo credit: Renee Van Druff

Today was the final regular season match of the MS girls’ basketball season, and CAJ came away with two wins in three games at ISSH!

A Team unfortunately lost 37-35, but C Team won 26-20 and B Team won 29-26 in overtime! C Team ended with an undefeated 4-0 record this season, while B Team ended with a 6-3 record.

A Team will finish its season with Kanto Plains Finals at ISSH next Saturday.



Photo credit: Jamie Matsuoka/Bethany Hettinger

The MS boys’ volleyball A Team wrapped up its season with a strong third-place finish at the Kanto Plains Finals. Playing at YIS, CAJ started the day with a 2-0 loss against BST.

However, the Knights then beat TIS 2-0 and beat KIST 2-1 to take third!



Photo credit: Caleb Cummings

On Friday at the VEX World Championship, the robotics team played seven more qualifier matches and finished the day with an overall record of 4-4 in the qualifying matches (including one win from Thursday).

CAJ will have a couple more qualifier matches on Saturday morning. The results of those matches will determine whether the team will advance to the next round.



Photo credit: Renee Van Druff

On Thursday morning at the VEX World Championship, CAJ’s robotics team participated in setup, inspection, and the opening ceremonies. Then, in the afternoon, the Knights had a practice round and a qualifier round, winning both matchups!

Friday will be a lot busier for the team.



Photo credit: Renee Van Druff

The robotics team is ready to compete starting today (Thursday in the United States) at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas.

Stay tuned for updates on their results in the next few days!



Photo credit: Renee Van Druff

At home today, the HS girls’ soccer team wrapped up regular season play with a 4-0 loss against BST. The Knights will be heading to Misawa for their Far East Tournament next week.

Before the game, there was a celebration to honor all the seniors who have participated in spring sports this season. The following seniors were honored:

Girls’ soccer- Maddie and Ashlie
Boys’ soccer- Eastin, Ryosei, Chris, and Joe
Track and field- Spencer, Sunwoo, Isabelle, and J

Thanks for your many contributions to CAJ sports, seniors!



Photo credit: Caleb Cummings

The HS boys’ soccer team also beat Yokota while away this evening, winning 7-2!

The Knights don’t have any games left until Far East next week, but Ryosei, Chris, Eastin, and Joe will be honored this Thursday at CAJ’s spring sports senior night starting at 4 p.m.



Photo credit: Caleb Cummings

The HS girls’ soccer team beat Yokota 1-0 for its second win in three games! Moana had CAJ’s goal.

The Knights will play BST this Thursday at home at 4:45 p.m. Maddie and Ashlie will be honored as part of spring sports senior night which starts before the game at 4 p.m.



Photo credit: Caleb Cummings

The MS track and field team finished its season today at Yokota with Kanto Plains Finals. Despite missing some athletes, the boys placed fifth out of seven schools, while the girls were eighth out of nine schools.

CAJ’s athletes who earned points were as follows:
Nathan V- 1st in long jump, 2nd in 800m, 5th in 1600m, 7th in 3200m
Tessa- 2nd in high jump
Kai- 3rd in high jump
Samuel- 5th in long jump
JunGi- 6th in high jump
SeungWon- 7th in high jump, 8th in 200m
Boys’ sprint medley relay (JunGi, Kai, SeungWon, Samuel)- 3rd
Girls’ 4x400 meter relay (Leia, Allie, Tessa, Ibuki)- 4th

At ASIJ today, the MS boys’ volleyball A and B Teams both lost to ASIJ. However, the A Team later beat BST 2-0!

Next week will the MS boys’ volleyball finals at ASIJ.



Photo credit: Caleb Cummings

The HS boys’ soccer team beat YIS 2-1 this morning at home! The Knights now have a 5-1-1 record in their last seven games, and a 7-3-1 record overall.

CAJ only has one matchup at Yokota remaining before it travels to Iwakuni for the Division II Far East Tournament.



Photo credit: Yukari Nakamura