Alijah Johnson (Upper Marlboro, Md./Frederick Douglass) and Isaac Alderfer (Broadway, Va./Broadway) concluded standout track seasons this past week at the NCAA National Championships.
Johnson ran in his first-ever national meet, finishing 14th as the lone Old Dominion Athletic Conference representative in the 17-man field. He ran in the third heat and finished with a time of 21.88, just shy of his PR time of 21.45.
Alderfer narrowly missed qualification in the 800m race in order to advance, missing the eighth qualifying spot by mere milliseconds with a time of 1:53.13.
This was the first outdoor National Championship for the junior, who is coming off of an ODAC championship and record, alongside many other personal records across the season. Alderfer was a seven-time ODAC Athlete of the Week across the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Their coaches were pleased with both the efforts and the caps to their breakout seasons.
“Alijah had a tremendous season,” said Associate Coach Kyle Dickinson. “He was able to have a break-through season mentally and physically. He had multiple PRs, broke an ODAC Championship Record and was able to break through and qualify for the National Championships. Alijah is a tremendous young man who is going to come back even stronger next year as we continue to rewrite the record books. (Coach) Bob (Hepler) and I are extremely proud of him.”
Johnson earned All-ODAC First Team honors after winning the 200m at the ODAC Championships. He also claimed All-Region honors in the 200m after both the indoor and outdoor seasons this year.
Alderfer wraps up a decorated season, one that contains an ODAC championship, an ODAC scholar-athlete award, and many other accolades from the ODAC, the region, and EMU.
Head Coach Bob Hepler on Alderfer: “I’m very proud of Isaac. He had such an amazing year with four school records, an ODAC championship and championship record, and an all-time ODAC record in the indoor mile. He made huge strides as an athlete in his first college outdoor season. Isaac is more than an amazing runner. He is a true scholar and an amazing young man. I am blessed to be a part of his life.”