by Mac Paquette | Sports Writer

The Johnson cross country team competed at the NEISD meet this past weekend. The varsity girls’ swept the top five spots in the race and clinching first overall. The varsity boys’ team also ran well, finishing third at the meet.  The JV teams also competed, with the boys finishing second overall, and the girls first overall.

Johnson scored a total of 15 points, blowing away the competition and finishing first in the meet overall.  Senior Natalie Langan came in first overall, freshman Dara Niemi, sophomore Emily Bandy, and junior Shelby McNeel all finished right behind each other. Junior Nia Stallings helped the team complete the perfect score for Johnson, finishing fifth.

“We were very happy and in shock at the finish,” freshman Dara Niemi said.

Johnson’s varsity boys took third overall in the team rankings and finished two runners in the top-10.   The JV girls ran after and, like the varsity girls, also took home the team title in the 3-mile with a score of 26.  All of the JV girls runners finished in the top 25.  The JV boys finished second overall at the meet which gave Johnson top-3 team finishes in all races.

“We felt like we tried our best and our teammates were very helpful with encouraging everyone, which helped all of the teams finish as high as we did,” sophomore William Baca said.

With the great finish this past weekend, the team hopes to make the state tournament, and be the best cross country team in Johnson history.

“I think we can be the best team in history because our teammates are very supportive and we all work hard together and cheer each other on,” freshman Dara Niemi said.