Johnson Shows Elbows and Heels

Alysia Johnson of Canyon High had her coach and a competitor shaking their heads in amazement after winning the girls’ 800 meters in the Southern Section Masters Meet at Cerritos College in Norwalk on Friday night.

Dave Delong, a co-coach at Canyon, was ecstatic that Johnson, a freshman, had beaten a heavyweight field while setting a school record of 2:10.63. Earlier in the season, she set school marks of 25.02 in the 200 and a hand-held time of 56.2 in the 400.

Sophomore Treani Swain of Oakwood, who finished third in the 800, was miffed at the manner in which Johnson elbowed her way past she and Ashley Freeman of Long Beach Wilson with 160 meters left in the race.

“I couldn’t do anything after she forced her way past us,” Swain said. “I felt like she ran a way in which no one else runs.”

Freeman, a sophomore who won her second consecutive Division I title in the Southern Section divisional championships last Saturday, led the field through the 400 in 66.3 and the 600 in 1:40.8.

Swain, another sophomore, pulled alongside Freeman shortly thereafter, but there was a small gap between them which Johnson bulled through.

“I didn’t want to swing around them because that would have taken a lot of energy,” Johnson said. “I just saw that there was a little space between the two of them and I went for it.”

Johnson’s time lowered her career best of 2:12.98 set in winning the Southern Section Division II title, broke the school record of 2:11.05 set by Lauren Fleshman in 1999 and moved her to seventh on the all-time region list.

Freeman finished second in a career-best 2:10.92, with Swain third in a school-record 2:10.96 that moved her to ninth on the all-time region list.

Johnson ran a 53.8-second anchor leg on Canyon’s 1,600 relay team that finished seventh in a school-record 3:53.25.

The top five finishers in each event advanced to the state championships at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento on June 1-2, as did competitors who met at-large qualifying standards.

Senior Anita Siraki of Hoover, defending state champion in the 3,200, won that event in 10:16.95 and placed second in the 1,600 in 4:44.75.

Her 1,600 clocking was the second-fastest in the nation this year behind the winning 4:43.75 by Amber Steen of Newport Harbor and moved her to fourth on the all-time region list.

Sophomore Allyson Felix of Valencia won the 100 in a career-best 11.53 and placed second in the 200 in 23.40.

The 100 time cut .15 seconds off her previous best and moved her to third on the all-time region list.