Athlete of the Week: Aspen johnson

Our athlete of the week is Freshman Aspen Johnson, a cross country runner. Aspen started running at an incredibly young age, and explained her incredible history as a runner. “I’ve been running since I was in kindergarten, running 5ks, and I stopped in around fourth grade but got back into it in 8th.” Johnson was a member of her middle school’s track team at Holy Family. As she was running from such a young age, it was only natural to ask who her biggest inspiration was. “My biggest inspiration is my godfather because he got me into running. He taught my brothers how to run, and then taught me.” Johnson had a very successful season, as she was able to place as top runner in the 4A category at regionals this past weekend. When asked about her strengths and weaknesses this season, Aspen responded with “My strength this season was progressively getting better throughout the season, and consistently being able to cut time off my race, being 4 minutes. My weakness was probably running with two injured knees while still trying to improve as a runner.” Even through this injury, Aspen was able to work her way to being one of the top 6 runners in Mesa County. She is planning to run track in the spring for Palisade, and hopes to make it state next fall.