With one jump left to go, senior Kelsey Johnson who was in third place, jumped 19’7 1/2″ to become the long jump state champion at the Track and Field State Meet in Austin last weekend.

“Kelsey is an ice cold competitor when the pressure is at the highest level,” Coach Cinda Baer said. “Her ability to deliver when the stakes are the highest is extremely rare.”

Johnson’s winning jump set a new school record, which was already hers.

“She has been in the exact position many, many times, which gives her coaches severe heartburn,” Baer said.

Coach Tommy Neal said he learned to never bet against Johnson.

“Kelsey thrives under pressure,” he said. “She seems to perform at her very best when everything is at stake.”

Unlike her coaches, Johnson said she was worried.

“I wasn’t jumping well at the beginning of the season,” she said. “I didn’t get first place in a meet until regionals.”

Baer said she still had confidence in Johnson.

“She is the kind of individual that gives her best, and doesn’t settle for anything less,” Baer said.

The winner had much preparation for the meets.

“In practice we do pop ups and run throughs to check our form,” Johnson said. “Our other jumper Bry (Lawrence) and I also kind of have unintentional mini meets where Coach Baer tries to instigate a winner and that pushes me to work on my jumps more.”

She medaled in third place.

“It took me a while to realize that I still did really well last year,” Johnson said. “This year, I felt like there was so much pressure and very high expectations (so) winning just took all the worries away.”

Johnson plans on competing at a college level.

“Being able to work with Kelsey over the last two years has been one of the highlights of my coaching career,” Neal said. “I cannot wait to see all of the great things she will do with her life.”