By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE — He specializes in the steeplechase, a 3000-meter event that requires runners to clear seven water barriers and 28 other hurdles. That doesn’t mean cross country is an afterthought for University of Virginia graduate student Derek Johnson.
Last fall, not far removed from surgery on his left knee, Johnson placed 25th at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships in Anchorage, Ky. Another operation, this one on right knee, sidelined him in the spring, wiping out his steeplechase season, but Johnson is healthy again and a leading figure on the UVA men’s cross country team.
Johnson, who’s pursuing a master’s degree in computer science, competed for the first time this fall at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown, Sept. 23 in Boston, where he placed ninth in the men’s race. He’ll run again Saturday at the Panorama Farms XC 23 Invitational, which UVA is hosting at its home course in Earlysville.
“He’s running well,” said Vin Lananna, Virginia’s director of track & field/cross country. “He’s a little bit behind schedule, but he’s making progress each week, and he’s such a good leader and a good competitor that I think he’ll do a good job.”
Johnson recalls a conversation he had over the summer with teammate Rohann Asfaw, a talented distance runner. Like Johnson, Asfaw competes in three seasons: cross country in the fall, indoor track & field in the winter, and outdoor track & field in the spring.
“We were talking about the team principles,” Johnson said, “and one of our core principles is that nobody really treats cross country like an offseason. I think at a lot of schools, if you’re more of a track-focused person, it’s easy to look at cross country like, ‘You’re just building your base. You’re getting ready for the real season,’ and I don’t think anyone on our team feels that way.
“I think everyone’s goal is to make the top five, make the top seven. So I think my strategy going into cross country is to race as hard as possible when I do get the opportunity to race, because there’s not a ton of opportunities. You don’t have that many races. And then also to understand that it’s a long season and you might be feeling amazing in September, even October, but if you’re not feeling great for ACCs, regionals and nationals, then that doesn’t really matter.”
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