Brandeé Johnson uses her summers to collect medals on the international stage of track and field.

The Nansemond River High School rising senior won bronze in the girls’ 400-meter hurdles while representing the United States at the ninth International Association of Athletics Federations World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia on July 18.

Last summer in Nanjing, China, Johnson won bronze in the girls’ 200-meter dash while representing her country at the Second Summer Youth Olympic Games.

Johnson’s latest international medal came on a 57.47-second performance in the final, her new personal record.

She preceded that run by placing first in her semi-final heat and initial heat prior to facing eventual winner Sydney McLaughlin, a rising junior at Union Catholic Regional High School in New Jersey who had the best 400 hurdles seed time entering the event.

“I felt good about my performance,” Johnson said. “I was glad to come out with a PR and get on the podium.”

She would have liked to change the end of her final race, though.

“I did trip over the last hurdle, but other than that, my race pattern was really (good), and I was excited,” she said.

Her support system was back in the United States, but her mother, Aquilla Redding, and Nansemond River coach, Justin Byron, did what they could to keep track of her progress.

Redding thought she would be able to view live each heat that her daughter ran in, but it did not turn out to be the case.

“It was just nerve-wracking not to see every step with her,” Redding said. “If I would have known that, then I would have probably made plans earlier to go, but I thought I was going to be able to watch it at home.”

She learned of Johnson’s performances in her first two heats through Twitter.

Byron said he was able to help coach from afar through iMessage and a couple of apps.

”I think that she did a wonderful job through the rounds,” he said. “Each round, she did exactly what we asked her to do — just win the heat, least amount of effort as possible.”

She won her opening heat with at time of 59.23 seconds, and she won her semi-final heat with a time of 58.51 seconds.

“And then on the final round, she just hit hurdle 10,” Byron said.

Fatigue was not the issue, according to Johnson, but rather a bit of impatience.

“I was getting excited because I was getting closer to the line, and then before I finished my complete hurdle, I wanted to sprint to finish at the line, and then unfortunately my trail leg hit it, and I lost my momentum,” she said.

McLaughlin ran the final in 55.94 seconds, and Canada’s Xahria Santiago took second by finishing in 56.79 seconds, a new personal record for her.

“If (Brandeé) hadn’t hit hurdle 10, man, it would have been tough to beat McLaughlin, but the Canadian girl didn’t have a chance,” Byron said. “She beat her because she hit hurdle 10.”

“The discussion at night wasn’t like, ‘Great job!’” he continued. “It was like, ‘Hey, you got another medal internationally, but this is what we have to work on,’ and she was the same way. She wasn’t ecstatic, but again, you always are thankful.”

He said he knew she had a little bit more in the tank and was looking to see her reach a 56-second time. Nevertheless, he said her new PR of 57.47 seconds “put her as No. 2 all-time in Virginia behind Sheena Johnson in the 400 hurdles.”

Brandeé Johnson competed in the 400 hurdles only twice before the World Youth Championships and the trials that immediately preceded them.

“To know that I can perform on an international stage with only doing maybe two 400 hurdles races before that event, going into next year, I’ll feel more confidence knowing that I’m capable of doing it,” she said.

Redding was proud of Johnson’s performance in South America, especially given that her daughter is not principally a hurdler. The last two summers have been a tribute to her versatility.

“She doesn’t practice this 24/7, and for her to go out there and compete with the best, that’s just rewarding in itself,” she said. “And then to come back from a 200 race last year (in China) to making another (U.S.) team in a totally different race, who can say that?”