Freshman Heidi Johnson competes in the long jump at the SacTown Races on May 7.
Track and field member freshman Heidi Johnson landed a personal best in the long jump while facing a stiff competitor on a cold, rainy day at the SacTown Races on May 7.
With a second-place jump of 16 feet, ½ inches, Johnson made it into the long jump finals, which requires placing in the top nine.
Going into the finals, “the leader (Megan Tatum of El Dorado High School) had 16’-4”, and I heard her coach saying to just skip finals unless someone jumped further than (she did),” Johnson said.
In her first jump of finals, Johnson jumped 16’-2”; in her second, she passed Tatum with a jump of 16’-6”.
“She joined in and passed me again with 16’-8 ½”,” Johnson said.
Johnson then landed a personal best of 17’-½”.
“I thought I had gotten the lead, the other girl having only one jump left, but she pulled through and also landed a personal best of 17’-5”,” Johnson said.
“Even though I got second, it was really fun to have competition and push each other.”
Johnson also competed in the high jump, placing last of six.
She jumped 4’-6” in the high jump, felt her injured foot, and decided to play it safe and stop.
“(Because of the rain), there were puddles in front of the bar which you had to avoid,” Johnson said.
Sophomore Steven Wang ran the 400-meter and placed 22nd of 30 with a time of 59.47 seconds.
“(It was) a freshman/sophomore meet, but there were lots of good athletes,” Wang said.
Wang said that he did worse than usual and isn’t sure why.
“My time was slow,” he said.
Johnson placed 11th of 32 in the 100-meter with a time of 14.21 seconds.
“I didn’t do very well, but that’s OK,” she said.
The next meet is the League Championship on Tuesday, May 10, at Placer High School in Auburn.
—By Mohini Rye
