In winning second straight race, Ocean City junior repeats as Shootout winner

By Kevin Cranston
Runningco.com Writer

DEPTFORD

Brett Johnson didn’t need to throw in a bunch of surges.

The Ocean City High School junior also didn’t need to make any big moves in the woods.

And he didn’t need to turn to his devastating kick to close out the race.

Still, the result of Saturday’s 1-2 race at the Fourth Annual South Jersey Cross Country Shootout was something Johnson is very used to.

Opening up a three-second lead after the first mile, Johnson gradually increased his advantage over the next two miles as he covered Gloucester County College’s 3.1-mile layout in 16:20 to win the 1-2 race – coined the “Stud Race” by meet director Ringo Adamson – by 11 seconds.

It was Johnson’s second consecutive win at the Shootout. Johnson also ran 16:20 in the 2006 1-2 race. In total, Saturday was Johnson’s third Shootout title, for he also won the middle school race in 2004.

Johnson’s senior teammate Ryan Birchmeier held off Cherry Hill West senior Andrew Sturner over the final 100 meters to take second, 16:31 to 16:33. Clearview senior Zachariah Rocco (16:47) and Pennsville senior Mark Kearney (16:50) followed.

“This is my third title here, so it feels awesome,” said Johnson, who last Saturday won the Cherokee Challenge junior race. “And for me and Ryan to go 1-2 is just amazing.”

For Johnson, the field never forced him to leave his comfort zone. He took the race out in 4:55 for the opening mile and second place was already a few strides behind.

“Around 4:55 was where I wanted to be,” Johnson said. “I wanted to get out in the lead and go from there.”

During the second mile, Johnson didn’t blow away the field. But then again, he didn’t have to. Throughout the woods, no one made a move to really press him. As Johnson hit the second mile in 10:18, he held a six-second advantage over Birchmeier.

“I just didn’t want to give up any ground on that second mile,” Johnson said. “I just wanted to stay with what I was doing up until that point.”
Over the final mile, Johnson put four more seconds on his teammate to take the win.

After the race, Johnson admitted that his fitness level still isn’t where he wants it to be. Due to a stress fracture in his foot that ended his sophomore track season, Johnson had a slow start to his summer training schedule and didn’t get to put in a ton of miles.

“I think the low mileage I put in over the summer hurt me a little bit today,” Johnson said. “I had enough to win the race, but I didn’t feel that strong. I felt dead at the end of the race.”

Nonetheless, what Johnson did have in the tank on Saturday was good enough.

3-4 Race

After running with teammate Connor Martin for the first two miles, Ocean City senior Stephen Hoffman took control of the race at beginning of the third mile and won the 3-4 race by six seconds in 17:06 over Eastern’s Alex Bruno (17:12) and Cherry Hill West’s Rafael Bravo (17:14)

Martin went through the first mile in 5:12 and hit two miles at 10:52.

“Things are coming together for me,” said Martin, who’s in his first year of running cross country after spending the last three fall seasons playing roller hockey and soccer. “I feel the hard work I put in over the summer is starting to pay off.

“Some of this is a surprise, though. I thought I would run well, but I didn’t expect to be winning races like this.”

5-6-7 Race

In the closest race of the day, Eastern senior Michael Ali pulled ahead of Cherry Hill West’s Yoel Almonte in the final five meters and outleaned him for the victory as both were clocked at 17:29. Third-place went to Moorestown’s Alex Matteson.

“I knew I had a good kick in me, so I wasn’t going to let him take it from me,” Ali said. “When (Almonte) came up on me, I just told myself ‘let’s do it.’”

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