SEATTLE – On July 3, a plane returning to Ohio from Seattle sat two of the area’s best track athletes with accolades too long to list.
Mount Vernon’s Erich Rhodeback sat behind Mount Gilead’s Allison Johnson. Both state champions were returning from competing at the Brooks PR Invitational, which took place the previous day.
“We got to talking (at the event) and then when I got to the airport, he was on the same flight as me, just in the seat behind me,” Johnson said. “He’s super-nice and he did really well, too.
“I’ve never met her before this,” Rhodeback said.
While neither shared what was talked about on the flight, the two were on their way home from a competition of the country’s best. Two kids from Small Town Ohio going against the nation’s best track and field athletes.
The plane ride home paled in comparison to the days that preceded it. Games were played, pools were taken over and there was even time for a boat cruise.
“It was a really good experience,” Johnson said. “They provided us with airfare and our lodging, our food and a whole bunch of gear. So, that was a lot of fun.”
“Everyone there was good,” Rhodeback said. “And everyone there was cool about it, too. Everyone was OK with everyone. Everyone was friends at the end of the day, so it was a really good atmosphere to be in.”
Oh, yeah, there was a track meet, too. Rhodeback finished seventh in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.23 seconds. Jerry Phillipe of Fort Lauderdale (FL) Dillard (13.45) took first.
“There were some crazy times ran for everything,” Rhodeback said. “A lot of records were broken. My race wasn’t great by any means. I just haven’t been training consistently for it. I’ve been busy; I’ve been working. But I went out there for the experience.”
Conversely, Johnson had been training in the leadup to Brooks.
“I’ve been training (with) my coach (Jake Hayes) for about a month after the state meet,” she said. “We went to Running Lane in Alabama and I raced the mile there and got third. It was hard finding meets later in the season. So we did time trials and stuff like (that), just trying to stay fresh.”
She ran the 800M in 2:05.2 to finish third behind Allison Ince, a freshman from Normal (IL) Community (2:03.98).
“My goal was to podium,” Johnson said. “I would have loved to win, but I can’t be too mad with a lifetime PR in my first time (on the) podium at a national meet.”
This was the last high school-related event for Rhodeback and Johnson. Both were Mount Vernon News’ Runners of the Year. Rhodeback won a state title and was SpecTRACKular’s Most Valuable Competitor, among many other accolades. Johnson won state titles in three events, setting a meet record in the 800M.
But when both look back on their high school careers, they’ll remember roughly the same things.
“(I’ll remember) the bus rides with some of my teammates,” he said. “That’s what’s going to stick out to me. Those were so much fun. The relay team I ran with – we all sat on the back of the bus and we had a speaker. On the way back (from a meet), we’d just listen to music and sing along. It was a party back there; it was just so much fun.”
“I was just thinking about that,” Johnson said. “There’s so much that happens in four years; really in just a season. I’ll (remember) the time with my teammates and coaches and being to compete at the level I did with the support of those people. (It was) so much more enjoyable when you have a team culture that really is just fostering everyone achieving their goals and having fun along the way.”
Rhodeback is headed off to Purdue and Johnson to Penn State with hopes of meeting up again at the Big Ten championship meet.
