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.
![](https://emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2021/06/01061401/wz87rq0dyqc3o4sy.jpg)
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.
![](https://emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2021/06/01061248/7tc9a8v8morb2jtm.jpg)
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.”