FARGO — Fargo Shanley’s Mykenna Johnson gives a surprising answer when asked which sport she most enjoys partaking in.

“My favorite is probably soccer.”

Afterwards, Shanley cross country coach Chris Foerster let out a sigh and playfully proclaimed, “I can’t believe she said soccer is her favorite sport.”

Foerster can hold that against Shanley girls soccer coach Ryan Christianson at a later date. In the meantime, Johnson is fully dialed in on preparing for this weekend’s Class A cross country state meet at Parkhurst Campground/Pipestem Reservoir in Jamestown.

Don’t be mistaken, her passion for running is loud and clear.

“Maybe just after eighth grade and after how well I did, (the passion) just kind of stemmed from there,” Johnson said.

Now in her junior season, Johnson clocked 22 minutes, 1.1 seconds at her first state competition in 2022. Today, her times have improved by nearly four minutes. Johnson now holds the program record for the Deacons after putting down an 18:01.9 at the Grand Forks Border Battle in September.

The previous high mark for the Shanley girls was a 19:00.6 set by Anna Bernhardt in 2018. Johnson shattered that time with an 18:28.1 at the first meet this season and broke her own mark again with an 18:20.3 a week later.

The 18:01.9 set at the Border Battle ranks No. 2 in the state among Class A girls this season.

“At the beginning of the season, I didn’t realize (the 18:28.1) was a school record,” Johnson said. “So that kind of shocked me and pumped me up even more.”

Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum

Most recently, Johnson’s 18:17.9 during the East Region championships at Grand Forks’ Lincoln Park was good for first place and the individual conference title. Johnson edged West Fargo Sheyenne freshman Emmie Fellows by more than 35 seconds.

The win also gave Johnson back-to-back all-conference finishes after a 16th-place run in 2024.

“It was pretty great,” Johnson said. “I didn’t think I would quite reach (the East Region title) at the beginning of the season, so it was pretty surprising. But I’m really happy about that.”

Eric Hylden / Grand Forks Herald

Johnson’s winning run also helped the Deacons to a runner-up finish in the East Region team competition. Shanley finished the meet with 59 points.

Foerster said consistency has been the key to Johnson’s development into an elite runner.

“She’s been a consistent athlete over the years,” Foerster said. “Always hard-working, always consistent. This offseason — over the winter and over the summer — just did a tremendous amount of work and she’s just spot on with doing the work as any athlete I’ve ever coached.”

For comparison, Johnson’s previous personal best was a 20:07.1 at last season’s East Region meet. She came out with the 18:28.1 in the season-opening race this year and has only brought her times down further, earning three wins along the way.

“She hit that school record in the first race of the year and it probably wasn’t even on her radar,” Foerster said. “And then she’s built on it over the year, which has been exciting to watch.”

Johnson will head into the state meet ranked No. 2 in the Class A girls individual coaches poll. The only runner ahead of her is Bismarck Century junior and defending individual champion Ruby Ihmels, who holds a state-best time of 16:24.5 that also ranks No. 5 nationally.

Williston sophomore Harley Jeannotte is more evenly-matched with Johnson with an 18:04.8 that ranks No. 3 in Class A this season.

“My goal is to get second and just stay with (Jeannotte),” Johnson said. “Definitely just staying locked in, focusing on it and not letting anything distract me.”

Johnson would be remiss to not mention her Shanley teammates. After all, she credits her Deacon counterparts for pushing her towards her goals and vice versa.

“They really push me and they encourage me,” Johnson said. “And then I’m definitely just cheering them on and staying confident.”