Girls track and field: Huntley's Johnson breaks FVC long jump record
Huntley junior Alex Johnson was not about to let the nicest day of the track and field season go to waste.
Johnson sped down the long jump runway, hit the board perfectly and soared through the air. She jumped almost as high again after hearing her result.
Johnson went 20 feet, 1/4 inch, breaking her own record by a foot at the Fox Valley Conference track and field meet Monday at Red Raider Stadium. She set the mark at 19-0 last year.
"The last few weeks I've been trying to work on speed and stuff and being more comfortable on the board, get the best takeoff and the most height," said Johnson, the defending Class 3A long jump state champion. "It's hard to do your best when it's cold and windy. Today I felt good, I felt ready, it's warm, I put all that together."
The field events portion of the meet was postponed from Friday at Hampshire until Monday because of wet runways. Although wind gusts of more than 25 mph forced the high jump and pole vault inside Monday, the other athletes enjoyed their warmest day of the season.
With the Class 3A Huntley sectional on Wednesday, Johnson planned on taking only two jumps Monday. Her second one landed the record.
"That's huge. We've been telling her as soon as this weather gets better and your muscles are loose, 20s coming," Redf Raiders coach Jason Monson said. "That's a big goal for her. That's awesome for her to be able to do that going into sectionals when we're going to get some similar weather. She's going to have a big day at the state meet too."
Monday's other champions were Huntley's Melissa Aninagyei-Bonsu (triple jump), Prairie Ridge's Rylee Lydon (high jump), Dundee-Crown's Tealyn Kamp (shot put), and Burlington Central's Tia Brennan (pole vault) and Tiana Foreman (discus).
Monson had planned all along to let Aninagyei-Bonsu compete in triple jump at the FVC meet while Alex Johnson and her freshman sister Dominique, who have the two longest jumps in the state, sat it out. At sectional, where only two entries are allowed per school, the Johnsons will both do long and triple jumps.
Aninagyei-Bonsu did not miss in her chance to shine. Her 37-8 jump was only a few inches from the meet record of Huntley's Daryn Davis (38-1).
"I think it's my progression over the entire year. I've always been working on it, especially with my coaches," Aninagyei-Bonsu said. "Today was really about keeping myself straight and positioned well. Getting up and into the pit. Everything I've done over the season into my last jump of the season.
"They're my teammates, I'm proud of that. They're probably going to get one and two at state. I'm real proud of them. I have to put my team first. I'm going to be running a lot at sectional."
Aninagyei-Bonsu will be a valuable piece for the Raiders in the 100, 4x100 and 4x200 on Wednesday. Aninagyei-Bonsu could not compete on Friday because she felt sick.
"It's awesome we could have her end her jump season with a conference championship," Monson said. "That was special for us and something we were really glad we could do. Not having her on Friday, we were really nervous if she would be here. We were really excited she was able to jump."
Kamp threw a personal best of 36-0 to win the shot put, surprising herself with that effort. She also took third in discus.
"In shot, that (improvement) is crazy," Kamp said. "I was just super-relaxed, kept my legs low and I hit my spot where I needed my foot to be and I just let it rip and it went where I needed it to.
"In the shot, when you let go and it feels like nothing, that's when you know it's good. It felt very light and like everything was working well together. That's when I knew it was going to be a good one."
Lydon cleared 5-5 in the high jump and attempted one jump at 5-7 before retiring. She repeated as champion in three individual events (high jump, 200 and 400).
"It wasn't a great jump (at 5-7) and I'm trying to save myself for sectionals," Lydon said. "I didn't want to risk anything."
Johnson repeated as 100 and long jump champion. Huntley's Breanna Burak (1,600), McHenry's Alyssa Moore (800) and Brennan (pole vault) were other individual winners who repeated.
With the meet divided into different days, the final team results and field event results were not posted at press time. Huntley, however, had an insurmountable lead in team points and substantially added to it in the field events.