EAST ORANGE, NJ — East Orange High School juniors Jordaine Johnson and Shakur Taylor enjoyed great performances at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s state indoor track and field individual championships at the Ocean Track and Field Facility on Staten Island, N.Y., on Sunday, March 3.
Johnson took third place in the finals of the 200-meter dash in a time of 21.67 seconds, out of a field of 20 runners.
Taylor also took third place in the finals of the 400-meter dash in 49.13, out of a field of 25 runners.
They were the only EOCHS competitors at the Meet of Champions. They qualified for the meet after their performances at the Group 4 state individual championships at the John Bennett Bubble Center in Toms River, where Taylor won the 400-meter title.
The following is a Q&A with Johnson:
Q: Last indoor season, your name was not buzzing as much as it is now. Then in the outdoor season, no one still heard of you. Can you touch base on what happened?
A: After my indoor season of last year was over, my outdoor season didn’t start off very well during practice. I fractured my left third toe, after breaking it on a weekday, running off to go to the first meet of outdoors. It was a sad experience, but I treated it as my first major challenge of being an athlete.
Q: What’s your favorite subject?
A: My favorite subject is history.
Q: What is your GPA?
A: 3.0.
Q: How did you manage to join the track team, after doing track in Jamaica for about two years? And did you always know you were fast?
A: I always knew I was fast, just not as fast as I am right now.
Q: What is your favorite event?
A: My favorite event is the 200 meters.
Q: How did you feel about your indoor season?
A: I felt nervous because it was my first time running in half a year.
Q: What are your goals for the outdoor season?
A: My goals for this outdoor season is to drop my 200 time and my 400 time and just have fun.
Q: How did it feel for you to be back out there with your teammates this year?
A: It feels good being out there, running alongside them again and helping them move forward.
Q: What is the worst memory in track and how did you deal with the outcome?
A: My worst memory in track was the day I broke my foot. I had to stay inside, couldn’t do a lot or even move around. I had to do a lot of recovery workouts, but not once did I think of quitting.
Q: What is your best memory in track and field?
A: My best memory in track was my freshman year. That was my first year doing track in high school. That was the time I started getting faster and learning how to run my race.
Q: What should we be looking forward to for the rest of the year?
A: Times being dropped and getting stronger.
Photo Courtesy of Lance Wigfall/EOCHS head coach
East Orange Campus HS track runners Johnson, Taylor blaze to great finishes added by Editor on
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