Wabash College Athletics

A native of Englewood, New Jersey, Johnson was a standout football and track athlete in high school. He escaped the city to accept a scholarship at the University of Idaho, where he played football and ran track. In 1962 he was the Northwest AAU champion in the 440-yard dash and a finalist at the 1963 NCAA Championships in the 220.

Upon graduation in 1965, Johnson returned to New Jersey to begin a coaching career. He replaced a legend and charter Hall of Famer when he came to Wabash in 1972. Prior to Johnson's arrival, Wabash's running programs had been led by J. Owen Huntsman, who brought national prominence to the Little Giant program. Johnson built on Huntsman's accomplishments and became one of the nation's premier coaches at any level.

As coach of Wabash's track team, Johnson led Wabash to undefeated seasons three times, won Little State Championships in 1980 and 1984, and won three Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference championships. Johnson also excelled in cross country. He led Wabash to six Great Lakes Colleges Association Championships, five consecutive Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference titles, a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference crown, an Indiana Little State title in 1991, and three top-ten finishes at the NCAA Division III Championship meet since 1991 while also winning f. Johnson's 1995 team registered two perfect scores (15), the first at the GLCA Championships and the second in winning the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional.He earned the 1995 Division III Cross Country Coach of the Year Award after leading the Little Giants to a third-place finish at the NCAA Championship meet. Johnson spent 37 seasons in charge of the Wabash harriers prior to retiring in 2008.

Johnson spent the summer and early fall of 2000 as one of five assistant coaches for the United States Track & Field Team at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, marking the first time that a Division III coach has been able to make that claim.

Johnson, an Honorary Alumnus of the College, was named the HCAC Coach of the Year to add to his impressive total of eight ICAC Coach of the Year awards. He has also earned Wabash Coach of the Year honors four times.

Even with such honors, Johnson's personal strength as a coach lies in his world-class relay coaching technique, which is part of the reason he served on the 2000 Olympic staff. Johnson appears at coaching clinics all over the country, including sessions at the United States Track & Field Coaches Association's annual convention, to discuss relay technique and handoffs.

Wabash runners benefit from Johnson's longtime work with the Olympic Development Committee and from involvement with two US Junior National Teams. In 1981, he served as an assistant coach at the National Sports Festival in New York. A year later, he coached sprints, relays, and hurdles in Ethiopia as part of the Olympic Solidarity Project. He was the head track coach for the North Team at the 1983 Olympic Sports Festival in Colorado Springs and later served as an assistant for the US Junior National Team which set two world records.

Johnson was the sprint and relay coach for the US Track Team at the 1993 World University Games, helping the 4 x 100 (38.65 seconds) and 4 x 400 (3:02.34) relay teams win Gold Medals. He gave his relay technique clinic to the US Track & Field Coaches Association during its annual meeting in 1994, as well as at the Atlanta convention just prior to the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.