We saw many impressive performances throughout the day at NCRunners Middle School Elite on Saturday at Gaston Christian School. Charlotte Panther athlete Drew Johnson stood out doubling in the 1600m and 800m clocking 4:42.39 then 2:03.09.
Both performances would break the previous meet records which were 2:05.20 and 4:44.47. Johnson ran 4:37.52 the week before in the 1600m at the Carolina Distance Carnival for a new personal best where he took 2nd overall. His 2:03.09 was just .05 seconds off his end-of-season performance at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in 2021 where he won the 13 Year Old 800m. Not too bad of a place to kick off your outdoor season.
Johnson currently ranks US#9 in the 1600m and US#8 in the 800m. I'd expect him to climb the ranks in the 800m over the summer and wouldn't be surprised to see him flirt with the 2-minute mark before entering high school.
Johnson is no break-out star this season. As a fifth-grader in 2019 he placed 3rd in the 800m at the AAU Junior Olympic Games and won the 1500m in 4:43, which would be just above 5 minutes for 1600m in elementary school.
From what we saw over the last two weekends, Johnson shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. In both events, Johnson went to the lead from the gun ensuring he was the one to beat. He would lead Cam Kuss (Without Limits Triangle) as the two would distance themselves from the field through 800m. Over the final 400m Johnson would ever so slightly pull away from Kuss to take the win looking relatively controlled throughout the race.
Doubling back in the 800m you could tell once the gun went off the Johnson's main focus was on dropping a fast 800m time. He took the pace out in 30 seconds leaving the field well behind and crossed the 400m mark in just over 60 seconds. He'd win the event by 7 seconds in 2:03.09 as Peyton Morrison (SouthLake Christian) would edge Conner Ford (Wilson Christian) in 2:10.38.
Jamel Brown holds the fastest middle school 800m mark in North Carolina history per the MileSplit Database at 1:57.69. Johnson sits 7th on that list and could certainly rival that mark as his summer track season picks up. Johnson currently attends Lake Norman Charter Middle School in Huntersville, NC.
