FITCHBURG — Mohawk Trail’s Emmett Johnson got caught in a traffic jam. The 23-person 800-meter run field at the MIAA Meet of Champions on Thursday at Fitchburg State was larger than he’d ever experienced.

“I got boxed in horribly,” Johnson said.

The sophomore, seeded 10th, found himself 22nd after the first 100 meters and needed to fight his way up the pack for the rest of the race. 

“(I need to) get out as fast as I can and definitely be a little more, I don’t want to say ruthless, but aggressive,” Johnson said. “I can’t afford to slow down a lot just because someone went in front of me.”

Johnson finished 14th among the state’s best middle distance runners. He crossed the line in 1 minute, 57.56 seconds. North Andover’s Ryan Connolly took first in 1:51.11. Johnson was the top finisher from Western Mass.

“Last year I barely was able to get into states, just normal Division 6 states, and now I’m scratching the lower level of nationals,” he said. “Pretty big jump.”

Johnson’s first all-states experience followed a surprising Division 6 title last week at Westfield State. It likely won’t be his last.

“All of the big meets I have aspirations of going to are going to be like this,” Johnson said. “I’m going to have to get used to it.”

Johnson’s Div. 6 state championship-winning time of 1:57.00 in the 800 set a new Mohawk Trail school record, beating Cam Olanyk’s previous school mark of 1:57.53 set in 2016.

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.]]>