Skip to main content

‘I’m a freshman — I wasn’t expecting this!’ Tigard’s Marissa Johnson pulls off shocking shot put win at 6A state meet

“I think the venue helped, and the amazing competition I had. That’s why I PR’d.”

By René Ferrán 

EUGENE — When Tigard freshman shot putter Marissa Johnson won the Jesuit Twilight Relays title last month, it came with a caveat.

State leader Sydney Brewster of Sandy was not at the meet — and just a week earlier, Brewster had handily defeated Johnson at the Oregon Relays.

The two returned to Hayward Field on Saturday for the OSAA track and field state championships as the top two qualifiers in the field.

When Brewster took the lead in the second round with a throw of 43 feet, 1½ inches, it seemed like it was the start of a solid series for someone who’d thrown over 47 feet this year.

But Brewster struggled to find the sector the rest of the morning, never registering another mark.

Meanwhile, Johnson steadily improved over the course of the competition — from 40 feet to 41, then 42, before in the fifth round, she uncorked a career-best throw of 44-5¼ to take the lead.

“This week in practice, I wasn’t even hitting 40s,” Johnson said. “My coach said stay low coming out of the back and stay back when I was on my foot, and I did, and it came off my hand well, which has been a problem because my hand is bigger than most shots. It came off my hand as well as it could, and I was in disbelief when I saw how far it went.”

When Brewster’s final attempt to win the title clanged off the cement lining the shot put sector, it took Johnson a minute to realize that, yes, she was a state champion.

Marissa Johnson photo Rene Ferran 1

“I mean, I’m a freshman. I wasn’t expecting this,” Johnson said. “Yeah, I was aiming for it, but Sydney is such a great athlete, such a great competitor. I always think she’s going to pop something. I couldn’t believe I just won. I totally thought she was going to beat me.

“I run off nerves, being energetic, being nervous. I think the venue helped, and the amazing competition I had. That’s why I PR’d.”

Johnson returned from shoulder surgery last year that cost her most of the season and sidelined her for soccer — she is a goalkeeper who played for the third-place Northwest Elite FC team in the ECNL Regional League.

Now, she is within a few inches of Alyssa Hasslen’s state freshman record of 44-8 set 17 years ago with McMinnville. With several top summer meets on her docket, Johnson can take dead aim at breaking that mark, starting with the Nike Outdoor Nationals in mid-June.

“I’ve got shot, discus and hammer, so I’ve got to start training again,” said Johnson, who took second in the discus Saturday and was third in the hammer at the Oregon Relays. “No off time. I’m just trying to get as many marks as I can.”