Dulce senior shatters javelin 2A state record

ALBUQUERQUE – A 13-year state record in the 2A boys javelin was shattered Saturday at the UNM Track & Field and Soccer Complex.

Dulce senior James Johnson authored that remarkable feat with a throw of 183 feet, 10 inches, eclipsing a mark that had stood for 13 years by nearly seven feet.

“I don’t know how I got it out there,” said Johnson, who is half-Diné and half-African American.

“But for me, I had a reputation to uphold since I was the state champion last year,” Johnson said. “I had to throw farther than my own personal record, so I had to keep pushing myself.

“But I’m not going to lie to you, I can’t tell you how I got 183 feet.”

The previous 2A state record of 176-11 was set by Junior Hernandez of Cliff High School in 2011.

Johnson beat that mark twice on Saturday.

Going into the state meet, Johnson was seeded first with a season-best of 160 feet. He surpassed that mark in five of his six throws.

The Dulce senior started out the competition with a pedestrian throw of 157-07 but he got progressively better after that.

His next few throws were 171-05, 172-07 and 177-06, which bettered Hernandez’s 2011 state record.

Johnson continued his upward trend as his fifth throw went two inches shy of reaching 184 feet.

“Honestly, it felt smooth and effortless,” Johnson said of his fifth attempt. “But in that throw, I didn’t think I put enough muscle into it.”

In his final attempt, Johnson chose to put “more muscle” into his throw but he only got the spear to fly 167 feet.

Following his podium appearance, Johnson wasn’t sure what to think about setting a new standard for future javelin throwers.

“I haven’t really thought too much into that yet,” Johnson said. “But I hope my record stands up there for a while. I set the bar high for the next couple of throwers down the line.

“I hope the (future) athletes at my school will want to break that record, too,” he added. “We don’t have that many throwers at our school so I hope it’ll inspire them to try it out. I hope in a couple of years down the road they’ll be like, ‘Who’s James Johnson? Who’s that?’

“You know, my coaches will be able to tell them who I am and what I did for the school and the state.”

The multi-faceted track athlete podiumed three other times at the 2A state meet. He ran the third leg on the sprint medley team that placed second behind Pecos High.

The Dulce team consisted of senior Alijae Dixon, junior Antonio Herrera, James Johnson and Jaren Johnson, who is James’ younger sibling.

Pecos edged Dulce for the state title with the former posting a 3:48.62 and the latter 3:49.10.

James also placed third in the 400 with a time of 52.17 and fourth in the 200 at 23.43.

Due to several lightning delays on Saturday, the 400-meter race was postponed more than three hours.

“All the delays we had kind of threw me off,” James said. “I could have done better in the 200, too, but I put a lot of my energy in the medley race before that.”

James finished tied for fifth in the individual scorers race with 16 points at the 2A level. He could have finished much higher had he competed in the high jump.

In that event, James was seeded second at 6-02 but he had to withdraw.

“I couldn’t perform because I either lost my shoes or someone stole them at the district meet,” James said. “I didn’t have any shoes to jump in.”

James plans to enroll at UNM this fall and he’s hoping to walk onto the track team.

As a team Dulce placed sixth overall with 35 points. The Hawks also received first-place finishes from Jaren Johnson in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.54. The younger Johnson also placed fifth in the triple jump with a 39-03.75 effort.

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