Lakewood's Johnson throws his way to Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week

Lakewood's Richard Johnson has been a throwing machine this season, and he keeps finding ways to one-up himself.

In last week's Sumter County Meet, he took home the win in both the discus and the shot put. He competed against the best throwers in the state a few days later at the Bob Jenkins Coaches Classic and added more than a meter to his discus throw from earlier in the week. He followed that up on Tuesday with a region title in the discus.

All of those throws were more than enough for him to earn the Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week.

"It feels good," Johnson said of the honor. "It feels like I've got people there to support me."

Lakewood head coach Robert Zimmerman is glad to see Johnson's hard work pay off.

"He's just a very consistent guy. He always comes in, he always works," Zimmerman said. "The best thing about him is, he puts in the work over the summer and the winter, so while everyone else was doing other things, he was out there throwing."

Johnson said his success in the three biggest meets of the season to this point is simple. He puts in work every day to try to find the next level, so it's no surprise when he sees the disc go farther and farther every meet.

"My coaches are keeping me right," Johnson said. "Just getting practice in each and every day."

Johnson had a great showing in the region meet last week at Crestwood. His throw of 49.76m in the discus won the event by more than 6m. He won the shot put by more than a meter with his throw of 15.67.

"I had good practices that whole week, so I already knew," Johnson said of his mindset heading into the week.

He kept rolling at the Coaches Classic. Spurred by excellent competition from the best throwers in the state, Johnson heaved the discus 50.81m, finishing in third place exactly one meter away from West Florence's Nathaniel Bruce in first.

"It brings me to compete more because usually down here in Sumter, I don't have that much competition, so it just inspired me more," Johnson said. "There was a lot of competition, so I just had to compete."

Zimmerman thinks the Coaches Classic will only drive Johnson to improve down the home stretch with the SCHSL 4A Lower State Championships just a week away.

"I think that pushes him when he sees he's a little bit off from beating everybody," the LHS head coach said. "He's probably doing the calculations in his head what he has to do, so when he gets to state, he can try to make a push to win it."

Johnson carried that momentum into the region meet on Wednesday, throwing the discus 50.28m on his way to the title. He added a third-place finish in the shot put with his throw of 15.54m.

"I set a good standard," Johnson said. "This shows me what I have to deal with at state to get me right."