Johnson, Johnson and Joar representing Bobcats on Blue Oval
Time to show up and show out.
The trio of state track and field qualifiers for the Marshalltown boys are pushing themselves this week to squeeze every last drop out of their training in preparation for the Iowa High School Co-Ed State Track and Field Meet, which begins on Thursday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.
James Johnson and Preston Johnson will compete in the Class 4A boys 3,200-meter run final at 3:50 p.m. on Thursday; Gatleel Joar will represent the Bobcats in the 4A boys 400-meter hurdle final at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Both Johnson distance runners are coming off a successful cross country season where they qualified as individuals alongside John Moellers.
“They’ve been training all winter,” MHS head coach Bob Gilbertson said. “Moellers, Parker Gooding, Ian Meyer, Carter Nunn and some others all running with them, they got hundreds of miles in. By the time we got to track season, they were so far ahead of where they’ve been in my first two years here that we had to change up our workouts for the distance guys. They changed the dynamic of what we could do.”
James Johnson, a senior, posted the eighth-best time out of districts in the two-mile run at 9:28.46. Preston, a freshman, had the 17th-best time in 9:40.07.
The runners had to empty the tank to put up a great time in a highly-competitive district at Cedar Rapids last Thursday — James and Preston were fourth and eighth at districts, respectively — so the challenge comes in finding that last bit of time to shave off.
The boys have been working on practicing regular 400s and then simulating the kicks they expect to see in the last few laps at state.
“It’ll depend on the day and if they’re feeling good when it’s time to drop that hammer,” Gilbertson said. “I know Preston was tired late [at districts] and hung on mentally really well, kudos to him as a freshman, he really exceeded expectations there.”
Joar had a breakthrough in the 400 hurdles at the Iowa Alliance meet, winning the conference title and rocketing up the statewide leaderboard in the event in the process.
“We had been waiting for that,” Gilbertson said. “He had a few races before that where he’d have a good race and then hit a bad hurdle, we were just waiting for that clean race where he could minimize distractions.”
With the eighth-fastest time out of districts at 55.30, Joar finds himself in the fast heat on Friday, even if it’s coming out of Lane 8.
“Everything’s a little different out of Lane 8 when you’re used to being in the middle of the track,” Gilbertson said. “He’s been able to have some really competitive open 400 splits and we’re looking to translate that to the hurdles.”
Joar’s in good hands with hurdle coach, 2007 state champ in the 400 hurdles and Mizzou track grad Kellyn Fogarty; Joar’s goal is to get under the 55 seconds mark at state.
“[Fogarty] did a great job of getting Gatleel ready to go last week and now we’re looking on holding that taper,” Gilbertson said. “He’s just a fierce competitor, hates losing, and pushes himself really hard.”