STEVENSVILLE — While most students are slowing down this summer, Reagan Johnstone is not taking a break.
The Stevensville High School hurdler and jumper has spent her time fine-tuning her skills every day, and the work is paying off.
WATCH THE VIDEO TO HEAR FROM JOHNSTONE:
"It's almost pretty much go, go, go, because I've realized that I don't want to lose it," Johnstone said. "If I stop, it's just going to be like, 'Oh, where did that all go? Where'd the hard work go?'"
Johnstone, who will be a junior this fall, turned heads earlier this month at the USA Track and Field Region 11 Junior Olympic Championships in Pocatello, Idaho.
"I ended up breaking three meet records and the 400 hurdles, 100 hurdles and long jump, and those are all in my age division," said Johnstone, who was competing in the 15-16 age group.
She also added a win in the triple jump.
But her proudest mark came in the 400-meter hurdles, where she set a personal-best time of 1 minute, 3.07 seconds.
"It's pretty brutal," she said. "It's a race where ... it's a lot of mental. It's physically you can do it, but mentally it's really hard."
The performance was the product of focused, deliberate training.
"It was never just a lazy day out on the track. That was the event that I wanted to be my event this year and I let that happen, so I was very excited about that," Johnstone said.
Johnstone also had a remarkable day in the long jump at the regional meet, jumping 18 feet, 2½ inches — and doing it with striking consistency.
"I actually ended up jumping 18-2 all six jumps — like nothing changed, which is crazy," Johnstone said.
She acknowledges there is still skill work to refine in the event.
"The amount of airtime and ... where you're going to put your foot on the board and how you're going to land, so I think it just all comes together naturally eventually," Johnstone said.
Johnstone said she currently owns five school records at Stevensville. She also set Montana's Class A record of 14.42 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles at the state meet in May, sweeping the hurdles titles for the second straight year.
With two years of high school competition remaining, she has her sights set on defending everything she's built.
"I want to hold onto both my hurdle titles for the next two years. It's going to be hard, but it's just going to take work, and I'll continue to put that work in," Johnstone said.
For Johnstone, the math is simple — all track, no break.
