“That was all I wanted,” said Johnson, who will be a junior at Florence High School in the fall. “I just didn’t want to fall. That’s all I cared about.”

Turns out, Johnson didn’t fall and hasn’t fallen yet in her hurdling career — fingers crossed. But that fear of stumbling led to her jumping over the hurdles instead of hurdling them, in effect slowing her down.

“You would see pictures of me, and I was always a foot over the hurdle,” she said with a laugh.

While Johnson’s odyssey into hurdles began in typical fashion, her development since has been meteoric, going from complete neophyte in April 2022 to state champion in June 2023.

Florence varsity hoopster Kamdan Johnson (3) tries to set up a Tomahawk defender for a potential drive to the basket during a Dec. 6 clash at Florence High School. In her sophomore season, Johnson was the Ladycats’ second-leading scorer at 12.3 points per game and assist leader with three per game. (Dennis Mansfield/Daily News photo)

On June 3, Johnson, a 16-year-old competing for the Northwoods Storm co-op team (with Niagara), defeated the best the state of Wisconsin had to offer in Division 3 girls 100-meter hurdles, running a personal record 15.01 seconds to defeat 2022 runner-up, Shiocton senior Kendal Stingle, by nearly half a second.

Her time was the sixth-fastest in the state at any division.

From missing state qualifying by one position last year to winning a championship, Johnson’s is a tale of natural athleticism, speed, weight training and a few vital technique changes along the way.

Remarkably, Johnson’s final adjustment came just three weeks before her state finals appearance. Prior to the Marinette & Oconto Conference meet in mid-May. Florence assistant coach Greg Brownson noticed that a change was needed after studying videos of his pupil.

“She was getting stronger with her weight training and she was getting too close to the first hurdle,’ said Brownson, a Shiocton native and a state hurdles champion there. “So, we switched (the starting blocks) so that she would come out hard with her left leg. It cut her time down half a second.”

“I wasn’t running forward,” Johnson added. “I would stand up a little and slow down. So, I switched the blocks. I just flip-flopped them. It changed my footwork and my (stride) wasn’t bringing me right up to the hurdle anymore.

“(Greg) just figured that out and that was a great change,” she said.

Johnson quickly shattered her previous personal record time of 16.3 seconds by running a 15.35 — winning the conference championship and setting a new school record in the process.

“I couldn’t believe it when I looked at the time,” the 5-10 Johnson said. “I didn’t know that something so little could make such a big difference.”

Johnson followed up her conference title time with sub-16 efforts as well. She ran a 15.78 to finish second behind Kallie Volk of Three Lakes in the Division 3 Suring Regional and then ran a 15.53 to win the Marathon Sectional over Stingle (15.71).

With her confidence blooming, Johnson headed to La Crosse for the state finals, which began on June 2. It was Johnson’s second trip to the event after finishing third in the state in the D3 400-meter run in 2022.

Johnson, along with Brownson, coach Pam Jensen and teammate Blake Smith (a three-event qualifier who finished seventh in the 300 hurdles, ninth in the 110 hurdles and 12th in the triple jump), stayed in a hotel about an hour away from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse site.

She did what she could do to relax the night before she would compete in the qualifying heats that Friday, both the 100 hurdles and the 400-meter run.

“I’m a very nervous person when it comes to sports in general,” said Johnson, who also is a key member of the Florence volleyball and basketball teams. “It’s mostly just the waiting. I try to relax and distract myself. There was a pool (at the hotel) and that was pretty relaxing.”

The next morning, Johnson woke just before 6 a.m. and drank a chocolate protein shake. The group left for Veterans Memorial Stadium Complex at about 8 a.m. After setting up, Johnson used the open track period from 8:30 to 9:30 to take a couple of warm-up laps around the track.

“Just to get a feel for the track and where the wind was coming from,” she said. “It wasn’t super windy that day, which was nice. Because wind is a factor in hurdling, so it’s something you have to pay attention to.”

What Johnson and all the other athletes were forced to contend with that weekend mainly was the heat, with temperatures climbing into the low-90s on Saturday.

“The heat was a little bit of a concern for me, but it wasn’t too much because I would rather it be hot than cold,” Johnson said.

Johnson began her efforts that Friday with the 100-meter hurdles, which began around 10:30 a.m. She ran a 15.53 to win her heat and qualify for Saturday’s final.

Later, she ran a 1:00.01 in her 400-meter qualifying race to make Saturday’s final but did not place as high as she did as a freshman and finished 10th in the event.

The 100-meter hurdles were another matter altogether. From recent performances and a bit of a scouting mission in the second heat of Friday’s race, Johnson knew she could win the state title if things went well.

She woke up nervous but excited, feeling that she had put in her work and experiencing a new confidence. Now, it was go time.

“I just knew I had to run against the clock,” she said. “I was very focused and zoned in.”

Johnson was not leading in the race initially but picked things up quickly. The concentration and what Brownson calls her “deep well of desire” were there.

“All I remember was the gun and the finish,” Johnson said.

Her performance was spot-on. She crossed the finish line in 15.01 seconds — another personal record and a new school record.

And she had won a state championship.

“I was just absolutely shocked,” Johnson recalled a week later. “It was such a surreal feeling. Going into state, I wasn’t thinking about being state champ. I was just happy to be there and trying to get my best time.

“Like I’m thinking about it again, it was just unbelievable,” she added. “State champ.”