GULF SHORES – Cherokee County High School junior Whit Johnson knows a little something about battling back.
At the end of last football season, he tore his MCL and had surgery. Three months later, he was back out on the track running.
“I wasn’t doing well my first two track meets, and then literally right after that, the tables turned,” he said. “I started improving on everything. It’s all been fun from there. It’s been amazing. It surprised me. I didn’t think I’d be back like this.”
What Johnson means by “like this” is coming in second in both the 100 meter (11.23) and 200 meter (22.47) dashes at last weekend’s Class 4A sectional meet at James Clemens High School in Madison. He and the rest of the other Warrior track and field members are seeking to end their season on a high note at the state meet in Gulf Shores this weekend.
The rabbit Johnson’s been chasing all season long is Etowah’s Martavious (NyNy) Davis.
“We’ve raced literally every single race of the year. He’s like two steps ahead of me every single race. We’re neck and neck, so close,” Johnson said. “I’m just looking forward to doing that one last time with him. He’s the one who makes me faster, and I push him to go faster too. It’s pretty fun.”
Whit isn’t the only Johnson who will be going for gold in Gulf Shores. Several of his family members will be also. His sister Mary Hayes Johnson is also a runner, as are cousins Sidney and Alex Johnson.
Mary Hayes Johnson claimed third in the 100 meter (13.20) and fifth in the 400 meter (1:02.77) at last weekend’s sectional meet. Sidney Johnson took second place in the 400 meter (1:01.41) and fourth in the 200 meter (27.32). Alex Johnson took third in the 100 meter (11.65) and fifth in the 200 meter (23.57).
The Lady Warrior 4×400 meter relay team finished first at sectionals after breaking a school record by running 4:16. The Lady Warrior 4×100 meter relay team finished second and the girls 4×800 meter relay team finished fourth. The Warrior boys 4×400 meter relay team finished fifth after breaking a school record. Their time was 3:38.
“It’s been real fun running with the family,” Mary Hayes Johnson said. “Laney Kate, my older sister who already graduated, me and her always went back and forth with each other, but now it’s me and Sidney. She’s gotten me on a few of them.”
“It’s awesome to share something we all love to do,” Sidney Johnson said. “We’ve been running (against each other) forever.”
Katherine Johnson, who coaches the Lady Warrior track team and is the mother of Whit and Mary Hayes, joked the Johnsons learned how to compete from their dads, Marc and Blake.
“We can’t just have a friendly game at the Johnson household. It all turns into a competition, but it’s good because it spurs them on to try and be better,” she said. “They do it in love, which is the best thing. They never get upset with one another if they get beat. One will beat the other this meet and the next time the other beats that one. They push each other.”
Warrior boys track coach Shawn Turner is glad to see them pushing each other too.
“Peer competition is beautiful, especially when it’s family,” he said. “I was that way with my brothers and my kids were that way. I’m that way with my kids. I always tell the story of I was so competitive at our house. We used to have a Wii (game system). We played that so much we’d get angry and we broke Wii remotes. One day my wife came home and my son and I were going to play it and she was like ‘I hid it.’ That was probably 12 years ago and I still don’t know where the Wii is. I have no clue. I think she sold it.
“Competitive spirit is good when it starts at home. You’re conditioned to have good competitive spirit. That’s what’s missing a lot of times, especially this day and age. Track is one of those things where sometimes you’re a little better than everybody else, depending on what meet you go to. Now, it becomes who are you against now? You’re against your last time.”
The Warriors are hoping their last time this season ends with a bang at the state meet, which begins Thursday and continues through Saturday.
Other Warriors competing at state include Kaylee Green, Jack Sammitt and Isaac Hunter (shot put), Audrey Green (800 meter) and Lamycal Mitchell (300 meter hurdles). Sammitt also qualified in the 100 meter and 200 meter ambulatory events.
“Your first meet is probably the hardest because you’re getting back into things, but all of meets we’ve been to I’ve noticed I’ve gotten better throughout the year,” Hunter said. “Now I’m headed to state.”
“Sectionals are when the hard work begins to pay off,” Coach Jonna Betterton said. “We, as coaches, tell them what to run and push them as much as we can, but they have to do the work.”
Speaking of working, it’s easy to get distracted from the task at hand when you’re competing so close to the beach. But make no mistake, the Warriors are there to take care of business. The fun will come afterward.
“You don’t want to get to where the fun or the moment or where you are is bigger than the goal we have,” Turner said. “We want to get on the podiums at state. We want to have some kids bring back some gold medals, some silver medals and some bronze medals. We’re here to do a job. Fun is going to be involved in it, but fun is not the reason we’re going.”
“I’m there to get the gold medal,” Whit Johnson said. “I’m going to try and beat Martavious Davis. That’s my main goal. I’m straight focused on winning and getting on top of the podium. That’s one of my dreams.”
