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Although she was defeated in the 1600-meter run earlier in the meet, Johnson came back to win the 3200-meter event as the Trojans scored 39 points for seventh place overall at the Great Lakes Invitational hosted by Beal City on Friday, May 4.

Beal City took the trophy with 124.5 points, and Marion finished second with 97.

Johnson is obviously a contender to compete at the state championships in just under two weeks, but coach Joe Shay figures she still has improvements to make before then.

Still, her performance in the Great Lakes meet left few doubters among the throng that watched the festivities. And that naturally included her coach.

Understandably, he'd rather she keep working to get better, and get her times down, and not become overly confident that the state meet is her destiny this spring.

In the 3200-meter run, Johnson bucked a headwind that at times gusted to 20 miles an hour to finish in a time of 13:01.92 and beat her nearest challenger by 25 seconds.

Earlier in the meet, Johnson had finished second by the slimmest of margins, clocking a time of 5:38.85. The first place time was 5:38.55. She also had a first place in the 800-meter run, finishing in a time of 2:37.50. Jacquie Smith also picked up an eighth place for the Trojans in the 3200 meters, finishing the race in 15:23.06.

Rachel Eklund contributed a fifth place finish in the 300-meter low hurdles with a time of 53.25 seconds.

Central Lake was third in the 3200-meter relay with Smith, Danielle Haydell, Jessica Douglas and Rachel Eklund turning in a combined time of 11:26.

The boys finished 15th. Marion took first place overall with 102 points. Bellaire was second with 93, and Fairview third with 92. Bellaire took eighth place in the 3200-meter relay with a time of 12:28.10. Mike Barnett, Jeremiah Betz, Robert Hoogerhyde and Jarred Reed ran for the Trojans.

Central Lake's girls finished ninth at the Fairview Invitational on Tuesday, May 1 with 30 points. Harbor Springs won the meet, scoring 122 points, and Fairview was second with 99.5.

Johnson chewed up the competition again in the 1600 meters, taking first in a time of 5:40.10. She made it a clean sweep with a win in the 3200 meters with a time of 12:26.67.

Rachel Eklund had a fifth place in the 300-meter low hurdles with a time of 52.69 seconds, and she was also fifth in the pole vault at 6 feet, 6.10 inches. Jillian Hines finished seventh in the shot put with a throw of 28 feet, 4 inches.

Sarah Eklund was 21st in the long jump with a leap of 11 feet, 6. 5 inches. Alisha Youmans finished 23rd in the long jump with a jump of 10 feet, 9 inches.

Youmans finished the 100-meter high hurdles in a time of 23.82 seconds for 20th place and she was 25th in the 200 meters with a time of 36.06 seconds, Jessica Douglas was 17th in the 400-meter run with a time of 1:17.17 with Sarah Eklund finishing 22nd in 1:22.94.

The boys scored 12 points to finish 12th overall, with Harbor Springs first with 151.5 and Mio second with 121.

Mike Haydell had the highest finish for the Trojans with a third place in the 800meter run with a time of 2:15.20. He also finished seventh in the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 8 inches.

Andrew Foss finished 13th in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:28.10), while Levi Antoine was 20th in a time of 5:56.80. Jarred Reed placed 12th in the 400meter run in 1:13.60.

Hoogerhyde was 20th in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 1:02.33. Foss finished 11th in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:25.70.

Jeremiah Betz had the 26th place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 31.17 seconds. Kevin Dick was 20th in the shot put (31 feet, 5.5 inches) with Hoogerhyde 32nd with a throw of 25 feet, 7.5 inches.

Betz was 26th in the long jump with a leap of 12 feet, 7 inches.