Streetsboro Rockets’ sophomore Olivia Johnson-Wilson is no stranger to competing on some of the biggest stages of high school sports. She demonstrated her poise when she placed seventh the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 45.99 seconds at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II state meet last Saturday at the University of Dayton’s Welcome Stadium.
“I think I did well. This shows I can do anything although track is not my main sport,” Johnson-Wilson said. “I can do anything that I put my mind to.”
On Friday, Johnson-Wilson was not even sure if she would race one more day after she finished in fourth place in the first preliminary heat with a time of 45.74 seconds. She did not cleanly jump over her final hurdle and actually hit it pretty hard so after she crossed the finish line, she collapsed to the ground in pain.
According to her, the pain subsided but she was more upset thinking her track season had ended.
“I thought I got last,” she acknowledged. “I started crying but it was happy and sad tears because I made it to the finish line.”
Although she finished in fourth place in her heat, it was still a fast enough time to qualify her for the finals and extend her track season by one more day. The Streetsboro sophomore said that even though she left it all out on the track during the preliminaries, she could still dig deeper to gut one more race out.
“I had to dig really deep,” she said. “Coming from lane one and trying to push through, I dug really deep.”
On Saturday, Johnson-Wilson started from the back of the pack but kept pushing throughout the race and never slowed down even in the final meters while some of her competitors let up. Her persistence paid off as she passed Bellefontaine sophomore Callie Shumaker right before the finish line to take seventh place.
“I took advantage of them slowing down,” she said. “When she slowed down I took advantage and pushed to the finish line.”
Coach Robert Kidd said that the final race perfectly represented the type of competitor that Johnson-Wilson is.
“She’s a competitive kid,” he added. “She has a tremendous amount of guts and I think it shows every time she steps on the track. She is getting better every time and she is learning and I think she is a coachable kid and she is just gutsy.”
Despite having competed in the regional championship of the OHSAA Division II girls’ basketball tournament this winter, Johnson-Wilson acknowledged that she faced a different type of pressure competing in the state track meet.
As astounding as the moment may have been in the regional final, Johnson-Wilson said that she had her teammates on the court with her for support at all times while she had to experience being at the state meet more as an individual than a team member. As far as she was concerned, it was much more daunting at a state track meet than playing in a regional championship.
Johnson-Wilson still achieved several milestones during her sophomore season of track, including breaking the school record previously held by Peyton Julian at the regional meet. After being a member of the first regional finalist team in Rocket girls’ basketball history and the first female hurdler to become a state qualifier since both Destiny King and Payton Julian did so in 2013, Johnson-Wilson said that the sky is truly the limit for her.
“I never really thought about going to or being at the state meet for track,” she said. “It made me think that I can do anything that I put my mind too.”
As unforgettable as her sophomore season of high school sports was, she noted that being at the state meet for the first time left her yearning for more.
“It makes me very hungry,” she said. “I am coming back next year even hungrier. This year it has been all about track and just trying to make it here and be successful, achieve goals and break records.”
