Coming off of his most recent race, sophomore Jordan Johnsson has set the record for the fastest 100-meter time recorded for anyone who has ever attended Palo Alto High School. Johnsson has been making a lot of steady progress this track season by gradually decreasing his time as the season has advanced. At the Arcadia Invitational on April 10th and 11th, Johnson was able to surpass the record he had held from a week prior. He clocked in at a speedy time of 10.44 seconds. Previously, his personal best was 10.49. It is important to note that Johnsson’s growth didn’t just start this year, but from years of training outside of school competitions.
Growing up, Johnssson wasn’t directly involved in track, but in soccer. Johnsson admitted that he didn’t fully commit to track until the beginning of the season this year. It wasn’t until Johnsson realized how in shape he was that he knew he had what it took to do track.
“I would say this year is really my first year taking track seriously and really trying to improve my running,” Johnsson said. “I think the jump from freshman year to this year was due to me showing up a bit more and my physical growth.”
Like a lot of people at a young age, Johnsson was often influenced by what he saw on TV. Whenever he would watch sports, he was very captivated by whatever athlete was breaking records and pushing themselves to the limit. When the 100 meter race came on, Johnsson was really inspired by the Jamaican sprinters that were able to steal the show.
“Watching Jamaican sprinters on TV has motivated me a lot to continue the sport,” Johnsson said.
Johnsson also prioritizes his diet as much as he can, as he knows that eating right can improve his performance on various levels. Johnsson insists on sticking to the same meal plan on the day of the meet. The purpose in doing so is in an attempt to ensure his ability to be at the top of his game when it comes to race time.
“My workout routine consists of eating well, so I try to eat the same foods every single meet that I have in the morning,” Johnsson said.
Johnsson has been steadily improving throughout the 2026 track season, continuously one-upping himself at each and every track meet. Because of his performance, he attributes most of his success to his healthy eating habits. Eventually, he wants to reach his pre-season goal, hoping to reach a swift time of 10.42 seconds.
This season, Johnsson has witnessed many of his teammates experience season-ending injuries. This led to him quickly understanding the importance of stretching and warming up before every race. Injuries can happen from anything, but in track, the main hypocrites are shin splints, a hamstring injury, muscle strains, tightness in the legs and severe muscle spasms. Johnsson has developed a pre-workout routine before every meet to ensure he avoids injuries and is ready to perform when the opportunity presents itself.
“Some advice I would give to anybody joining track and field or anybody trying to improve is to make sure to stretch and not get injured, and to also create a routine for your days you have meets,” Johnsson said.
As this season comes to a close, Johnsson looks to continue his steady improvements in order to move towards success.
For Johnsson, success means accomplishing his season goal and having steady time improvements at meets.
Last January, the highly accomplished tennis star Madison Keys was able to complete her comeback win in the 2025 Australian Open. She was able to rally after being down 30-15 early on in the contest. She showed a lot of resilience and confidence in what was the most important match in her life.
This is just one of the many moments that inspired freshman Akina Ogawa to pick up a tennis racket for the first time. Ogawa was motivated by what Keys had accomplished, including what she was able to achieve from the first half of her career. Ogawa started to play tennis around the same time Keys had reached the 2017 US Open final.
“I’m really inspired by Madison Keys because of her resilience on the court and how she stays focused without frustration,”Ogawa said. “Sometimes I try to copy her success by mirroring her mindset during matches.”
Some matches were closer than others, but when in doubt, Ogawa was able to channel a sense of clarity to avoid the possibility of a loss.
“I learned that I really need to focus on my mental game because sometimes when I find myself struggling or like when I’m down, my game goes down too,” Ogawa said.
Today, Ogawa has numerous accomplishments from her ongoing athletic career at Palo Alto High School. Arguably the most impressive one is Ogawa going seven for seven within all the matches she participated in during her freshman year.
Going into the playoffs, Ogawa was able to peel back many layers and use the progress she made in the regular season throughout the postseason. She was able to achieve the title of SCVAL finals champion, which allowed her to advance to the next level of her professional career as a tennis player.
“For my SCVAL final match, I lost the first set but I didn’t give up. I knew I wasn’t playing my best game, but I tried to focus on my footwork and reset,” Ogawa said.
Growing up, Ogawa was training constantly in her best attempt to become the player she wanted to be. With Keys’ story in mind, Ogawa was always chasing a side of herself that would make her feel like she had achieved her full potential. Looking back now, Ogawa references her family, particularly her mom, as a major influence on her career today. Her mom, who attended Brown University, participated in D1 tennis as a student.
“I would thank my mom the most for really pushing me because she’s always been there for me.”Ogawa said. “She’s the one who’s mainly on the court with me and taking me to tournaments, too.”
Ogawa also mentioned that scenery plays an important role in performance. The two states that held competitions were Texas and California. She stated that the contrast in weather impacted her level of play because of the climate and temperature around her.
“In Texas, it was really windy, so I definitely had to adjust to that kind of weather,” Ogawa said. I mean like it’s windy there, but there’s also a higher elevation in Texas too, so I’m always like restringing my rackets.”
Location had a major effect on the players, which made Akina alter her technique to adjust to her surroundings.
In the end, Ogawa’s achievements came from hard work and a little push from the people close to her. She was able to check off many goals she wanted to achieve from when she held a racket for the first time. Moving forward, she looks to continue her consistent improvement by maintaining steady progress to lead her to college.
