Even after, as he put it, he “smoked one of the last hurdles.”

The senior East Marshall hurdler unexpectedly but happily qualified for the finals Friday and placed fifth in a time of 15.74 seconds during Saturday’s finals.

“I missed state last year by 0.1 [seconds] and it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth,” Johnson said. “This year, coming out and getting fifth, all the bad tastes are out now.”

Johnson qualified as the sixth-fastest time, and was positioned in Lane 7 this time, just inside of the leading 110 hurdler Sam Joerger from Denver, who finished behind Johnson in sixth (16.08).

T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KALB-KOENIGSFELD • West Marshall’s Beau Coberley, right, hands off the baton to Cameron Bannister going into the final leg of the Class 1A sprint medley relay Saturday morning at the Iowa Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. The Trojans earned two points with a seventh-place finish in 1 minute, 35.88 seconds.

The race was off to a shaky start, as Johnson clipped his first hurdle. Over the second barrier, he was far too high, overcompensating for the previous snag. After that, he said he finally found his groove.

“I wasn’t really nervous until I was down there lining up, and I took a peak around the crowd,” Johnson said. “It’s crazy … it’s just the best. I love coming down here.”

It was impossible and left Johnson a bit speechless when reflecting on his time as a Mustang and his favorite aspects of it all. He said when he looked at the state graduates from last year’s field, he figured he could at least get down to Drake Stadium for one last go at his event. But qualifying for finals and finishing fifth was more than he could ask for.

“It was great to cap off a great season that way, and it’s great to be a Mustang,” Johnson said.

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T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KALB-KOENIGSFELD

Isabelle Gradwell’s turbulent times came to a bumpy conclusion during the 100 hurdles Saturday. Gradwell finished eighth in a time of 16.52 — which she said was one of the season’s slowest times.

“I just felt really slow,” Gradwell said. “It’s been really rough. It’s over now and I had a decent high school career. I’m kind of mad at myself because I got last place in the finals. It’s kind of embarrassing. But I ran a really slow time.”

The senior multi-event qualifier was left searching for answers she wasn’t going to find as to why her career concluded in such a stale way.

“I thought I warmed up really well, but I don’t know,” Gradwell said. “I started out slow, but I couldn’t keep up my speed very well. Nothing I can do about it now.”

Gradwell was a three-time state qualifier and managed four different events at this year’s meet. On Friday, Gradwell ran in the 400 hurdles, jumped in the high jump and contributed to the Trojans’ 4×400 relay team by running the second leg.

“I was excited to get here all three years,” Gradwell said. “And I’m glad my team had a lot of events come this year and last year.”

The Trojans’ boys’ sprint medley team grabbed a pair of points in the first event of the day, seeing Josh Larsen, Jake Tollefson, Beau Coberley and Cameron Bannister race off to a seventh-place finish in 1:35.88.

The East Marshall squad of Austin Elliot, Gage Hulin, Johnson and Logan Nicholson took 11th in the sprint medley as well, with a time of 1:36.43, turning out to be a season best for the Mustangs.

The girls’ sprint medley team helped open up 2A competition as well, with Lexi Keigan, Avril Sinning, Emma Meyer and Kayla Cripps taking 19th in a time of 1:56.57.

Joe Halverson, a junior from West Marshall, took 19th in the open 800. His time of 2:02.61 was a personal best, beating his previous by nearly a second.

Justin Meints also paired up with Halverson in the open 800, first heat, where the South Hardin sophomore clocked a 2:03.94, taking 23rd overall. His time bested a previous season mark of 2:06.96.