Seymour junior Johnson finishes in 27th place, 2 spots away from distinction

TERRE HAUTE

For Zoey Johnson, it was a bittersweet trip to the cross-country state finals.

The Seymour junior finished 27th, two spots out of the final All-State spot. Her 5K time of 18 minutes, 56.5 seconds on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course was 2.1 seconds out of 25th.

“I had an OK race,” Johnson said. “I knew my time was going to be slow on this course.”

Mishawaka sophomore Anna Rohrer won the girls race in a state-record 17:13.2. Defending champion Ashley Erba of Warsaw finished second in 17:29.2, followed by West Lafayette’s Bobbie Burgess in 17:51.6, Columbus North’s Mackenzie Caldwell in 17:55.8 and Eastern (Greentown)’s Bethany Neeley in 18:04.2.

Carmel swept the boys and girls team championships, winning the girls title for the third-consecutive year. West Lafayette finished second in the girls meet, while Columbus North took third.

Johnson was competing in a state meet for the first time.

“I had nerves, but I was relaxed, and I tried to stay confident,” Johnson said. “It was a hard race. I got a K-by-K guide on how to run the course, and I just tried to use that strategy the whole way through.”

Johnson was running as an individual after Seymour’s team finished 10th in this past week’s Brown County Semistate.

“I definitely want to get back here next year,” Johnson said. “That’s going to be our goal next year — to get here as a team.”

In this year’s postseason, Johnson finished second in the sectional, third in the regional and fifth in the semistate, all at Brown County. She closed the regular season by setting a course record in winning the Hoosier Hills Conference meet.

“I had a good season,” Johnson said. “I feel very accomplished, and I’m very happy with how it ended.”