A ‘Case’ for All

Apr 28, 2023

By Austin Chastain | on June 07, 2023

Greenville sophomore Case Johnson poses for a photo with head coach Tim O’Brien and his awards following his third-place finish in the shot put at Saturday's Division 1 state finals at Rockford. Johnson said of his first experience at the state finals, "Holy cow, there's a lot of people. It was pretty cool, the atmosphere of it all was pretty awesome to be around." — Jamie McNinch Photography

ROCKFORD — Case Johnson has proven himself as a versatile student-athlete this school year. Johnson carries a 4.0 GPA while grinding away in four sports — football, wrestling, baseball on top of his track and field competition.

Having success in Saturday's Division 1 state finals at Rockford was a goal of Johnson's, a sophomore at Greenville. What that success looked like for him was hitting the marks he wanted to — 140 feet in the discus and 53 feet, 3 inches in the shot put, the Greenville school record set by Justin Zimmer at the Daily News track Invitational in 2011.

Starting at the discus, Johnson surpassed his goal mark — he pushed it out to 145 feet, 4 inches. Johnson claimed a 14th-place finish in the discus behind some insane talent, including St. Joseph's Gerald Capaccio, who won the discus with a throw of 167-2.

Middle of the pack, but still one of the top guys in his flight. Johnson was proud of the effort. What was the coolest part for Johnson was being able to learn from those insanely talented guys ahead of him. Johnson is a constant learner — see his GPA — but he watches others to learn more about his craft and how he can improve as an athlete.

"It was cool to see all the good guys in the state, in Division 1, being there," Johnson said. "Also, collaborating with them, that was awesome."

Greenville sophomore Case Johnson poses for a photo next to the standard board after his shot put throw of 52 feet, 8.25 inches at Saturday's Division 1 state finals at Rockford. Johnson finished third place with the throw and is less than a half-a-foot from Justin Zimmer's 2011 record of 53-3. — Submitted photo

So, one goal down with hitting his mark at the discus. Moving on to the shot put, Johnson was put in the first flight; typically the guys that make it to the finals, but have an outside shot to win — or even get on the podium. Johnson's regional throw wasn't his best.

His first shot put throw at states, however, was his best.

Johnson notched a personal record of 52 feet, 8.25 inches. Less than a foot away from the school record.

"Alright, sweet, I’m set," Johnson said. "Now, I just have to, hopefully, follow up with a bigger throw."

While he didn't surpass that throw, Johnson was watching his fellow competitors and learning from them. His mom, Becky Edwards, was equipped with a notebook marking off the distances the other competitors were throwing.

The numbers weren't beating Johnson's. Even the final flight, the guys that were considered most likely to compete for a state title. Johnson qualified for the finals in the shot put. The competition takes the best throw of the day, which was Johnson's throw of 52-8.25 — good for third in the state. Andrew Berryhill of Battle Creek Lakeview won with a throw of 58-0.25. Capaccio finished second with 56-11.25.

Johnson earned All-State honors with his performance at the shot put, and he also earned Academic All-State honors along the way. Johnson also earned All-State honors in wrestling and was part of the All-O-K Conference team in all four of his sports, "That's a pretty impressive year," said head track coach Tim O’Brien.

"It's great to see a young man who does everything the right way (succeed)," O’Brien said. "In the classroom, in the weight room, any athletic event he partakes in. He works as hard, or harder, than anybody else. Yeah, it's fun. … The upside in all of his sports, it's great. We’re looking for bigger and better things in the future from him."

Greenville sophomore Case Johnson stands atop the All-State podium with his first All-State track medal after finishing third at the Division 1 track state finals in the shot put at Rockford High School on Saturday. — John Brabbs | RunMichigan.com

Johnson playing baseball made his feat of ending the track season on the podium all the more impressive — especially knowing he's the Yellow Jackets’ starting catcher. Johnson carried a .321 batting average with a .796 on-base-plus-slugging (OPS) while stealing 12 bases. Johnson also caught 161 innings with 13 throw outs and four pickoffs throughout the season.

Greenville's throws coach, Adam Ellsworth, is impressed with Johnson's skill in both sports — especially knowing the toll it takes.

"We were talking, if you could play a position in baseball that's a little bit easier on the body," Ellsworth joked. "But for a guy to be using he legs like that for the entire game — he definitely has better knees than the general public."

Johnson elected to have baseball be his main sport, which was made possible by a rule change in 2017 to allow student-athletes to play more than one sport in a single season to avoid "single sport specialization." For Johnson, that means he goes from track meet to baseball in a given day when his throws are done.

But with the talent and work ethic Johnson has, Ellsworth is OK with the fact that Johnson may not show up to practice often. Especially given the likelihood that Johnson has two more years at it, two more cracks at potentially winning a state title, Ellsworth is excited for the near future.

"He's already checked the boxes," Ellsworth said of Johnson. "Most seniors are striving to complete one in a career and say, ‘Alright, that's it.’ Now, I’m trying to figure out what I gotta tell him in our summer sessions, next season and going forward where it's like, ‘OK, if you just match your performance, you can go back to state. … There are a couple guys coming up (in the O-K White), they’re all gonna improve. … Everything is gonna change, and we just have to stay competitive."

The work still hasn't stopped for Johnson. The day after the state finals, Johnson was in his truck making the hour-long trek to Kelly/Shorts Stadium in Mount Pleasant for a prospect football camp at Central Michigan.

Johnson has plans to participate in camps all over the place this summer while hitting workouts with the Yellow Jackets. He's going to be busy, to say the least, "He's probably going to have to get a job on top of everything else," Ellsworth said, laughing.

Johnson's future appears bright after a successful sophomore year. When he comes back for his junior year, he’ll have more opportunities to improve and see if he can put himself higher on the podium in both wrestling and his throwing events.

All the while, he's going to be learning — and working.

Johnson reflected on his year on Sunday, saying, "I guess the moral of this year is, ‘If you work hard, good things happen.’"