Johnson breaks school record at state (06/04/07)

BLOOMINGTON - In the days leading up to the state track meet, Amanda Johnson and her coaches focused on the mental aspect of competing at the state level. Little did they know how much it would come into play.

She and the rest of the field in the 800-meter run had to wait until nearly 11 p.m. for their race Saturday because of a couple of lengthy lightning delays, but she still ran the fastest race of her career.

Johnson responded by finishing 11th in the 800 at the IHSAA Girls Track and Field State Finals at Indiana University in Bloomington, breaking her own school record by nearly a half second in 2-minutes, 17.43 seconds.

"I'm very proud of Amanda," said JCHS assistant coach Les Bantz. "She ran pretty smart. ... Under the circumstances with all the delays to still run a (personal record) ... I know she was more psyched to run at 7:45. What's amazing is coming back here two years in a row ... the 800 is such a grueling race. She did a great job."

Johnson said the delays weren't necesarily a bad thing because they switched her focus to the if and when rather than worrying about the race itself.

"I think it was more of a help that I was distracted," Johnson said before crediting the family and friends who came to cheer her on. "I had a lot of people here distracting me, which was nice. I really just enjoyed myself today."

Johnson was just beginning to warm up for her race, which was scheduled for 7:45 p.m., when the first lightning delay came at 6:41 p.m. Action did not resume again until 9:10 p.m., and it only included one heat of the 4x100 relay before more lightning halted the meet again.

After another hour and five minutes of wait time, events finally resumed as Sunday morning neared.

When the 800 finally began around the 11 o'clock hour, Johnson got off to a solid start and made a clean break after the first 100 meters. She was 12th among the 14 runners in her heat a quarter of the way through the race, then made a move on the front stretch to pick up another position.

"At the break my main goal was to not get boxed in, and I didn't really. It was probably the best I've broke in for a long time," said Johnson, the No. 14 seed, who also noted it was much better to be ahead of a few runners this season instead of at the back of the pack like she was a year ago. "It was kind of a confidence booster that I was beating some people. And then on that stretch I was trying to get some people like I did at regional."

The race finished just like the regional, with Johnson barely trailing Christine Kirby (10th place) of Bishop Chatard. The JCHS junior's time of 2:17.43 was just three tenths behind Kirby while Valparaiso's Lauren Hardesty took ninth and earned the final state medal at 2:16.98.

Mishawaka Marian's Mary Catherine Quiett ran away from the field, including defending champion Katherine Klump of South Dearborn, to win in 2:11.31.

"I think the pace of it was about what we thought it would be," said Jay County coach Brian McEvoy. "With the rain and all the distractions and all the delays ... it was a really tough thing for an athlete to do. She really performed well. That's the best of the best out there and she fit in.

"I'm very proud of her effort, very proud of the way she represented Jay County."

Her time was easily the best of her career, bettering the school record of 2:17.89 she set at the 2006 regional meet. She has shattered the previous JCHS records, which was 2:22.4 set by Sharon Donnally in 1982.

The new school mark was also nearly six seconds faster than her effort at the state finals a year ago. So while Johnson had hoped for a state medal, she still walked off the track happy after pouring herself into her final race of the season.

"I had really high goals, but I still put out everything I could," she said. "I can't really leave regretting how I did. I gave it everything I had."[[In-content Ad]]