DES MOINES — After finishing ninth in Thursday’s 3,200-meter run, Marshalltown High School junior Preston Johnson returned to the Blue Oval with an invitation to the “Elite High School Mile”.

Though the event was different, the result was not as Quentin Nauman of Western Dubuque took home the victory in a time of 4 minutes, 5.18 seconds. Johnson finished in eighth place, running a new school-record time of 4:14.62.

It was a personal-record time by four and a half seconds for Johnson, who got in under the school mark established a season ago by John Moellers (4:15.30).

In returning from Thursday’s effort, Johnson emphasised recovery.

“Getting ready for today I got a ton of carbs in, plenty of water, and having a normal day at school was important,” he said. “It’s easy to psych yourself out for these kind of races.”

From the gun, Johnson settled into the back of the pack, traversing the first of four laps in eighth place. In the second lap, Johnson jostled for position with competitors bunched up tight.

After making a strong push around halfway, Johnson remained in eighth for the rest of the race.

Johnshon admitted the mile hasn’t always been his strong suit but the opportunity to compete with the best of the best was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

“I think just having the opportunity to compete in a stacked field like this is something you can’t take for granted,” he said.

Nauman, an Oregon recruit, was chased across the finish line by Sioux City North’s Kuma Gutema (4:07.12), Caanan Dunham of Pella (4:08.74) and Logan Bleich of Gilbert (4:09.62) in the 10-person race.

Johnson’s next stop is the state track and field meet on May 21-23 held back inside Drake Stadium.