Dulce track star hopes to end prep career with a bang

Posted by Quentin Jodie | May 8, 2025 | Sports |

REHOBOTH, N.M.

Dulce’s Jaren Johnson has some big shoes to fill for the upcoming New Mexico Class 2A state meet, which starts on Friday at the UNM Soccer-Track Complex in Albuquerque.

The Dulce senior is looking to podium at least four times to match what his older brother, James, did at last year’s state meet.

In his final prep track meet, James, podiumed four times last year. His biggest accomplishment included setting a new state record in the javelin throw as he threw the spear 183 feet, 10 inches.

“People always think of him when they see me,” said Jaren, who is half-Navajo and half-African American. “They know that we’re brothers, so I’ve always had that expectations to be just as good as him if not better.”

Jaren, who has roots in the Newcomb, N.M., area, has eclipsed the 2A state qualifying standards in the long jump, triple jump, 200, 400, and 110 hurdles.

“For the long jump and the 400, I qualified for state at my first meet of the season,” Jaren said. “I got those two events out of the way.”

At last week’s District 1-2A meet, Jaren earned four first-place finishes in the 110 hurdles (16.14), 400 (53.26), long jump (18-09) and triple jump (50-05.5).

The multifaceted track athlete also helped the sprint medley team earn a state qualification as the team took second during last Friday’s district meet. The top two finishers in each event makes state regardless if they don’t meet the state qualification standards.

Jaren admitted the district meet was taxing on all the athletes who competed in multiple events as he was gassed running the sprint medley race.

“The most brutal thing about this district is that our district is so small, so all the events are back-to-back,” Johnson said. “That is what did me in today.”

In the medley race, Jaren stayed behind Hózhó’s Elias Longhat and Rehoboth Christian’s Jonah Jones for the first lap of his 800 leg. But in the last 150 meters, Jaren made his move as he managed to outkick Jones for the second-place finish.

Hózhó won the race with a time of 4:03.47 while Dulce came in close second at 4:04.75 and Rehoboth at 4:07.04.

“I didn’t want to run too hard because I was super tired,” Jaren said. “My goal was to get second and that’s why I stayed behind the Rehoboth runner (Jones) for half of the race. Toward the end, I could have caught the Hózhó runner (Longhat), too. That’s the mistake I made on my part, but I definitely have a really strong kick.

“It’s more of a sprint and I feel like a lot of people don’t kick as hard as I do,” he added.

For the state meet, Jaren is going to forgo the sprint medley race and concentrate on his individual events.

“My expectations are simply to win as many events as I can,” Jaren said. “I just hope that I do better than everyone else.”