Under cold and bitter conditions of 22 degrees, nine degrees with the wind chill, seven Athletics East Running Club members took center stage …

The Athletics East program already had a season full of highlights and records, and there was another chapter added to the book this past weekend at the USATF Region 13 Meet, held at Lane Community College in Eugene, as all 16 runners on the roster qualified for nationals, and Juan Diego Contreras claimed first place overall.

It was a good way to end the 2019 summer running campaign.

The Athletics East trio of Friedrich Stelzer, Juan Diego Contreras and Emily Johnson were on the journey of a lifetime at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships from July 22-28 at CSU Sacramento in California.

Poised to make their case for regionals, Athletics East Running Club standouts Juan Diego Contreras, Emily Johnson and Friedrich Stelzer attained top-3 finishes at the USATF Oregon Association Junior Olympic Championships this past weekend in Newberg.

The Athletics East track group broke the seal on the Junior Olympic slate with a solid opening performance at the two-day Portland Track Festival this past weekend at Liberty High School in Hillsboro. While facing male and female runners from 49 other clubs ranging in ages from eight and under through 18, Conor Blair, Emily Johnson, Vivian Harrah and Liz Tapia either matched or surpassed their personal records and combined for a handful of top-5 finishes, as this marked the first year AE athletes participated in field events.

Emily Johnson claimed an individual award for eighth place, two others were close to the top-10, and The Dalles cross country team racked up 10 personal records, along with a season-best mark at the Curtis Invitational Meet held Saturday at University Place in Washington. “Our kids ran well,” said TD head coach Bob Thouvenel.

All summer long, Emily Johnson used her challenging slate of race events to prepare for regional competition. With a chance to move to the Nationals stage, the incoming The Dalles High School freshman notched a couple of top-14 finishes at the four-day USATF Region 13 Junior Olympic Championships ending Sunday in Spokane.

In just her third attempt at 3,000 meters, Emily Johnson showed she has the winning edge. At the two-day Portland Track Festival Youth Meet ending Sunday, The Dalles Middle School eighth grader shattered her previous personal record by 26 seconds and came away with first-place honors after a final marker of 11 minutes and 27.16 seconds.

As a former top high school and collegiate athlete, coach Heather Fitz-Gustafson sees so much potential in Emily Johnson. Coming off a standout Junior Olympic performance in 2016, Johnson, from The Dalles Middle School, hit the ground running for a pair of events at the Middle School Meet of Champions last Thursday in Corvallis.

Three middle school athletes determined to fare well in their final meets of the summer for the Athletics East program were able to end on a high note in their respective events earlier this July. Emily Johnson, of The Dalles, accomplished great times and personal records during her running campaign, and she did well enough to earn a berth into the USATF Regional meet in Seattle. Elli Rising, of Goldendale, and Hood River’s Chloe Bullock also capped their solid summer at the Tracktown Youth League finals on Saturday, July 9, at Historic Hayward Field, with Rising nearly winning two events and Bullock picking a victory in her lone run at 400-meters.