LBWCC freshman and Straughn High School graduate Beth Johnson traveled to North Carolina over the weekend and came home with the INT WB Entro Women’s Regional wakeboarding championship with a pair of standout performances.

“It was amazing,” Johnson said of the championship. “I honestly never thought I would have made it this far.”

Johnson said that the competition for the championship was fierce.

“There was a lot of hard competition,” Johnson said. “They put together some great sets, but I pulled it out by 200 points.”

On the first day of competition, Johnson said she felt good about her set.

“I felt confident about day one,” Johnson said. “The girl from North Carolina had a really good set and I thought she might have beaten me that first day.”

The second day went well for Johnson, but she said she wasn’t sure about the outcome of the day.

“On the second day, the girl I’ve been competing against from Alabama had a really good run,” Johnson said. “I knew mine was good, but I thought she beat me. When they announced the results at the banquet that night, I was in shock that I won.”

As they began announcing the winners, Johnson said she was a little nervous.

“I was nervous when they started calling out the winners at the banquet,” Johnson said. “When they called out third place, it was the girl that from Alabama that I thought might beat me.  Then they called out the girl from North Carolina for second place, and I just started smiling because I knew that I had won. It was so exciting.”

Johnson said that going into the regional championship she just went with the same things that have worked for her all season.

“I threw everything that I had this weekend,” Johnson said. “I just stuck to the old winning game plan.”

Earning the championship through hard work is something that Johnson is proud of.

“It took a lot of hard work to get here,” Johnson said. “I’m very proud of what I put into it, and I got out what I put in.”

There were some important people that helped her along the way, Johnson said.

“I really want to thank Colten Meeks and his family,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t have done it without them. I also what to thank all the other people that have supported me and made this possible.”

Johnson said for now she will continue training for next season and working towards a degree in criminal justice.

Currently, Johnson is a freshman at LBWCC and plans on transferring to Jacksonville State University to pursue a degree in criminal justice. She also plans on joining the wakeboarding club at JSU.