DES MOINES — Preston Johnson set out to race. There was no strategy.

And for the length of the backstretch, the Marshalltown High School junior appeared poised to win a state title.

The Bobcat distance standout got caught over the final 200 meters of the 1,600 and settled for fourth place in Class 4A with a school-record time of 4 minutes, 10.69 seconds on Saturday at the Iowa Co-Ed State Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium.

Two days after earning his first state meet medal by placing sixth in the 3,200, Johnson doubled up with another school record and another medal around his neck.

Johnson took his first lead on the fourth and final lap of Saturday’s finale, making the move on the second turn to start what would become a four-person pack at the front. The expected cast of contenders went with him, and the other three got him before the finish line.

It looked like a well-executed plan from an experienced distance runner. Turns out it was anything but.

“Going into today I was kind of like no plan at all, if I’m being 100 percent honest,” Johnson said after the race. “I was gonna go stick my nose in it and see what happens.

“I was happy to take the lead — that was super fun. They ended up getting me by a second or two, but that was a great confidence booster for me.”

The reigning Class 4A state cross country runner-up typically doesn’t run anything shorter than the 1,600, but he anchored the Bobcats’ state-qualifying distance medley relay to 17th place on Friday after having taken sixth in the 3,200 on Thursday.

Back in the 1,600 for the second year in a row, Johnson had plenty left to prove.

He nearly did it.

Johnson was in fifth place when the last-lap bell rang out, but he wasn’t content cruising at the back of the lead pack. Rounding the curve, he charged to the front and tried to open the gap between himself and the rest of the field.

He knew they’d come with him, though.

“If I’m being honest, I didn’t even really expect necessarily to have that in me, but it’s a very pleasant surprise that I did,” he said. “Even as I was taking the lead, I felt I wasn’t even in control. I was like ‘what am I doing?’

“But that’s something to work on too — being a bit more confident, because this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I didn’t do all that winter training, all that stuff for nothing, to not make that move.”

Sioux City North sophomore Kuma Gutema, who won the 800 and was third in the 3,200, claimed the 1,600 in 4:09.63. Slader Buckheister of Cedar Rapids Kennedy was second in 4:09.77, AJ Willey of Bettendorf was third in 4:09.78, and Johnson finished fourth.

“Going into it, I know I’ve beaten all these guys before,” Johnson said, “so it was like, if I have a day, I’m going to be right there.”

And over the final 200 meters, he was in fact right there.

“I’m trying to win it, you know? Obviously it would have been nice to get that top three to get on the stand, but I’m very happy to prove to myself that I am one of those guys in the mile, too,” Johnson said. “Because in the past, the 3,200 is my thing, the 5K is my thing … but the mile’s one of my things too, and I need to race that way.”

Johnson smashed his own school record in the process of pursuing the podium, running nearly four seconds faster than his time of 4:14.62 in the Elite Mile during the Drake Relays.

And he’s still got a year left.

“(The school record) is always a nice surprise,” he said. “I’m never really thinking about the school record. It’s more about putting myself in the race and go for the win. It’s less about the clock in meets like this, just race the race, and if the time comes it’ll be very fortunate and always a nice perk once I finish.

“This whole weekend was really good to prove myself. I’m really happy that I could close it with some confidence to go into this summer of training knowing I still have it, so let’s shoot for higher now. I’m trending in the right direction.”