Senior Bryston Johnson pushes headphones over his ear, scanning through his phone, hoping to find a song mesmerizing enough to soften the buzz of the hundreds of people sitting on bleachers around him. Their screams are hypnotic; all eyes on him, at the current biggest track meet of his season – district championships. 

Looking up to the crowd, Johnson’s biggest supporters, his parents, wave down to him. His favorite track and field event, his specialty, long jump, starts in less than five minutes and he’s never been more prepared. No bone in his body feels a tinge of fear, yet every bit of him is filled to the brim with adrenaline. He has his parents to make proud, coaches to satisfy, friends to cheer him on, but his main inspiration is himself, because in Johnson’s beaming eyes, he has to make every second of this moment count. 

As the announcer calls his name on the overhead speaker, Bryston Johnson takes a final deep breath before locking in completely; this is it. He has three attempts to fulfill his goal of breaking his personal record. 

Then, it all begins to happen, he prepares his body for the jump, his closest friends line up around the jumping pit hoping to catch the best view, more than ten cameras hone in on him, following his every move. The crowd goes crazy, clapping and screaming, almost as if they were daring him to jump. Clap clap clap clap, each ear piercing slap of the crowd’s palms gets faster and faster, while Johnson sprints to the pit, and leaps, he flies, breaking gravity, and landing hard into the soft sand.

22.5 feet, twenty two and a half. 

The score that surpassed Johnson’s personal record, the distance which exceeded the district meet long jump record record, the number that broke history. 

The farthest distance ever jumped in the history of District Track and Field Championships, completed by Bryston Johnson. He did it for himself, for his dreams of running D1 on the collegiate level, for the young athletes watching him in admiration, for his past self who spent hours and hours pouring his heart out during practice.

After Johnson won first place at the track and field District championship, he furthered his success and went on to compete at Regionals, where he was able to qualify for State championships; he ultimately took the first place spot at State Championships, against hundreds of athletes coming from all over the state of Virginia. Being the only track and field athlete from Hayfield High-school to win first place in the state, Bryston Johnson is simply untouchable.