When Janice Johnson got cut from the softball team at Fox Lane during her freshman year, she decided to give track and field a try. Admittedly, she did not think that she would last long in the sport.
“I just thought that I would try it out and probably not like it,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s attitude toward the sport changed dramatically due to the success she has had in it over the last four years. Last spring she was third in the state championships in the shot put, and this winter placed second in the state meet and third in the federation championships.
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That type of success has allowed Johnson to earn a track scholarship to SUNY-Albany, a Division I program, where she will be attending next fall.
“It’s the perfect distance,” Johnson said. “It’s not too far, it’s not too close to where I live. Also, I met the team. They were really nice. It’s like a family. They are really wonderful people. They will really help me do a much better job than I am doing right now.”
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Johnson has continued to excel this spring, as she broke the school and her personal record—which she has done numerous times—with a throw of 41 feet in the league championship meet on May 2.
“I was really excited when I got that,” Johnson said. “When I was at the states and I placed, I was excited too.”
Johnson’s success is one reason why the track program has an open policy about letting people try out for the team late, like she did her freshman year.
“We always tell people if you don’t make that team, come join us, we will let you on late and we have found some of our best athletes that way,” said Fox Lane coach Steve Petrillo, who shares head coaching duties for the Foxes with Chris Dossena.
Petrillo is grateful for the attention that Johnson’s success has brought to the Fox Lane program.
“We went from two years ago having just Janice as our only thrower to having a full team of throwers,” Petrillo said. “We have six boys and five girls now who are all throwers and some of them are now finding their own success, continuing to improve, going out there together as a team, practicing to make each other better. Janice is now our team captain. Everyone rallies around her.”
A recent example of this was at the Clarkstown South Gold Rush Invitational on April 30. The shot put was the last event and normally most of the team would be getting ready to go on the bus.
Instead the entire Fox Lane squad, which has more than 70 members, went to support Johnson.
“We packed in the whole area, cheering on Janice,” Petrillo said. “A lot of these kids had heard about Janice but never watched her throw. They saw girl after girl throw 20 feet and then Janice threw it about twice as far. The whole team was in awe of what they saw. She has set an example through what she does and has everyone else wanting to do better themselves.”
The support that day meant everything to Johnson.
“It was really great that they supported me because usually there is no one around,” Johnson said. “It felt great because I threw and everyone was cheering for me—it made me want to do so much better.”
