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The pressure was high and fans were on the edge of their seats with only six minutes left in the final half. Senior Madison Johansen rushed off the field with equipment in hand hoping to make it in time to her next event. While gone the defensive line focused on keeping the one point lead while down a key player. She arrived just five minutes before her race, changing from one uniform to another. While cheering for her teammates from afar, Madi took the starting line.
Pure adrenaline controlled her after her race, she had no time for water, she needed to know the outcome of the soccer game. The phone rang as Madi eagerly waited for her teammate to pick up. After hearing the good news she was relieved.
Johansen is always rushing from one game or match to another right now as she plays in three different sports this fall. Administration does not recall any student performing in three sports during the same season.
“It’s actually such a cool experience being on three teams at once,” Johansen said. “I think a lot of it is the social aspect. I’m a very social person, I love talking to people, I love being a part of a team and I love sports in general.”
Johansen began the school year joining three fall sports teams; tennis, soccer and cross country (XC). In all, equalling a total of six hours of sports practices a day.
When others found out Johansen wanted to perform in three sports, they said it simply couldn’t be done. Regardless, this motivated her to work harder than ever before – she had a point to prove.
“Even more than talking to people, I love proving people wrong,” Johansen said.
All of Johansen’s practices ended up lining up almost perfectly to make getting from one to another slightly easier. A regular day for her practices starts before school ends, XC from 1:30-3:30, tennis 3:30-5:30, and soccer from 5:30-7:30.
“I told her she had two weeks as like a trial period, and if she was gonna be really hard to live with, and she was gonna be cranky and tired and if she struggled with it, then I was gonna have her just drop at least one. But she did it,” Johansen’s dad Dennis said.
Johansen has experienced not only physical exhaustion but mental and emotional as well.
“It’s like I can feel my body wearing down a little bit,” Johansen said. “Another hard part other than my body, like kind of breaking down, is the emotional responsibility I feel for being on three teams.”
Between all her sports and the high standards she holds for herself, Johansen’s drive to succeed does not stop with sports, in fact it flows into other aspects of her life as well, including school, work and home life.
“She’s always been driven to push herself to do her best to really excel in everything she does. I’m impressed with her attitude, mostly her work ethic, ” Dennis said, “She’s actually been able to keep a pretty positive attitude and still try to do everything she can at home.”
Through all of her sports, Johansen’s mentality is what she’s learned to take control of, her favorite motto being, “onto the next.”
“Once you lock into that mental toughness it’s almost easy, but getting there is hard,” Johansen said.
As Johansen has inspired her peers and teammates, she’s also inspired her parents. They’ve enjoyed watching her develop new skills in tennis and XC, as she has participated in these sports for all four years of high school.
“She’s just motivated and committed and willing to try new things and just everything she does is just very inspiring,” Johansen’s mom Angie Johansen said.
Johansen wants to be remembered as someone who was always kind, she hopes that becomes her legacy.
“I hope that people will just remember me as a nice senior,” Johansen said, “I want to build a bond with everyone.”
