Sophomore Heidi Johnson stands on the winners’ platforms after placing third in the varsity girls’ long jump.
Finishing third and sixth, sophomore Heidi Johnson was the star of the track and field team’s long jump and triple jump categories – but also the only team member competing on March 4.
The track and field team had its first meet of the season at Sacramento State University.
Other schools in attendance included El Dorado High School, Placer High School and Oak Ridge High School.
The other 10 team members were absent, many because of the Golden Empire music festival.
Even Johnson, who is part of the jazz band, was inconvenienced by the festival.
“I was late (to the meet) because of the festival, so I wasn’t able to do any run through for the long jump and get my mark,” Johnson said.
According to Johnson, this caused her to end up on the wrong side of the board in the varsity girls’ long jump, meaning she had to jump off her left foot instead of her right
Johnson finished at 16 feet 5 inches and placed third of 41 athletes.
She also competed in the varsity girls’ triple jump, finishing at 32 feet 3 inches and placing sixth of 39 athletes.
Johnson was encouraged by her performance.
“I haven’t practiced much yet, so I was happy with my results, especially because the meet was just a warmup for the season,” Johnson said.
Coach Nick Domich said that he usually doesn’t look for improvement during the first meet. However, Johnson did have a change in attitude this season compared to last year.
“Last year Heidi wasn’t happy unless she won every event,” Domich said.
“This year she’s already happy if she avoids injury during the meet.”
The next meet will be at Foothill High School on Wednesday, March 8, at 1 p.m.
—By Héloïse Schep
