Alex Johnson and Ekene Chukwu each earned all-state medals for Republic at the Class 5 state meet. Johnson placed seventh in the boys 100 meters and Chukwu took sixth in the discus.
Johnson ran 10.77 in the 100. With the race scored across heats and no final to follow, he ran the first head and waited to see whether his time would hold. “It was a little nerve-wracking because I was hoping to go out and win my heat,” Johnson said. “Didn’t pan out that way, so I was a little bit more nervous.”
He landed in seventh once the remaining times posted. “They skipped seventh place and I was like, I think that’s when I slide in there, and I was really excited at that point,” Johnson said.
The 100 was the first of three events for Johnson on the day. “I was feeling good yesterday,” he said. “I just had a really good start and I was able to finish out, so it was really awesome.”
Johnson also placed 14th in the 200 at 21.99 and anchored the 4×100 relay, which finished 12th in 42.72 with Jacob Duran, Gavin Lawhon and Treyton Gray.
Chukwu threw 48.11 meters for sixth in the discus, a mark he reached on one throw after fouling on his other three attempts. He had looked as good as ever during warm-ups, tossing several at 50 meters or more. “My warm-ups were really good … but I got halted in the ring for like five minutes because they weren’t ready. So it kind of messed my rhythm up,” Chukwu said. “But it’s also my fault because I shouldn’t have let that distract me at all. There’s always next year.”
Chukwu set the school discus record as a sophomore but did not qualify for state. He broke it again as a junior, and this year finished with a medal. He is aiming higher next season. “I’m hoping I could hit 60 [meters] next year. That would be amazing,” Chukwu said.
Kaleb Norman (47.25 meters) and Izaiah Hull (46.69 meters) competed in the javelin, finishing 13th and 14th in their final high school meets. Freshman Maura Lander placed 12th in the girls triple jump at 10.62 meters.
Get every story delivered.
Tiger Wire — Republic sports news, free every morning.