Megan Johnson begins her sixth year coaching the Big Red throws in 2016 and is looking to build on five outstanding seasons. In her short time at Cornell, Johnson’s athletes have broken nine school records and two Ivy League records and can already be seen all over the school’s top 10 lists. She has sent one athlete to the Indoor NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships and two to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and her athletes have also tallied 18 individual Heptagonal Championship event wins and an indoor IC4A individual championship. Johnson has also produced ten NCAA First Round qualifiers, two Junior National qualifiers, a Junior National Champion, a USA Track and Field Outdoor Championship qualifier and two All-Americans. She has also helped coach multi-event athletes to two NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championship appearances, two Heps Championship titles and a Junior National qualifier.
At the conclusion of the 2015 season, Johnson was named the Northeast Regional Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaching Association after leading Stephen Mozia and Rudy Winkler to NCAA Championship appearances. Mozia and Winkler were also both named all-americans, meaning that the Big Red’s weight men have produced All-American honors in every outdoor throwing event (shot put, discus, javelin and hammer) since 2013. Winkler also qualified to compete in the hammer at the prestigious U.S. Track & Field Championships. At Heps, Mozia was named Most Outstanding Field Performer for the second time in his career for his first-place finish in the shot put and runner-up performances in the discus and hammer throw. Winkler placed first in the hammer throw at Heps and broke the school record in the qualifying round.
In 2014, under Johnson’s tutelage, Mozia broke the Ivy League record in discus throw and claimed Heps titles in shot put at both the indoor and outdoor championship. He also qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championship.
Mozia’s first Most Outstanding Field Performer at Heps came in the 2013 season, when he finished first in the shot put and discus at the championship event. Robert Robbins claimed the Outdoor Heps title in javelin, won the Outdoor IC4As and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. On the women’s side, Victoria Imbesi was the outdoor Ivy League champion in shot put and javelin and advanced to the national championship in javelin.
The 2012 seasons demonstrated the strength of Johnson’s team with dominating performances throughout both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Senior Bob Belden had NCAA First Round qualifying marks in both the shot put and the discus, and Junior Bob Fiedler also threw a NCAA First Round qualifying mark in the hammer. Senior hammer thrower Erin Rossi also broke the school record in her final throw at the 2012 Outdoor Heptagonal Championships. Junior Victoria Imbesi broke both the indoor and outdoor school record in the shot put as well as continuing a fantastic career which includes NCAA First Round qualifying marks in both the shot put and the javelin.
Johnson also showcased her ability with her first recruiting class, led by indoor Second Team All-American Mozia in the shot put. Mozia capped an outstanding indoor season with a trip to the Indoor NCAA National Meet and also broke the 37-year-old school record. Mozia’s throw also placed him third all-time in the Ivy League for indoor shot put, putting him just behind throwers like Olympic Gold Medalist Adam Nelson and Olympian Augie Wolf. During the outdoor season, Mozia also broke the freshman discus record and tied the freshman shot put record, both of which earned Mozia trips to the NCAA First Round meet. Mozia finished his outstanding freshman year by winning the Junior National Championship in the shot put and placing third in the discus, earning him a spot on the Junior National team for the USA, which competed in the Junior World meet in Barcelona, Spain, where he placed 10th in the shot. Fellow freshmen of note were Jesse Braun, who earned a spot on Cornell’s top-10 list in the discus, as well as a berth to the Jr. National meet in Bloomington, Ind. Freshmen Megan DeFord and Felicia Reid both placed at the conference meet. Reid also made the top-10 list in the javelin.
In 2011, Johnson guided sophomore and second-team All-American Imbesi to a school record and NCAA First Round qualifier in the javelin, as well as junior Bob Belden to an NCAA First Round qualifying mark in the shot put. The entire team saw solid growth and personal bests for everyone in almost every event.
Before coming to Cornell, Johnson was first a manager, then a volunteer coach under throws coach Debra Farwell at Washington State University. Johnson was lucky enough to work with multiple All-Americans between 2007 and 2010 under Farwell’s guidance. Prior to coaching under Farwell, Johnson coached at Pullman High School in Pullman, Wash., where she produced a three-time state champion and dual record holder in the shot put and discus, as well as multiple state scorers, many of whom went on to successful college throwing careers.
Johnson earned Bachelor’s degrees from Washington State University in Kinesiology and International Area Studies with an emphasis in Latin America. Johnson also threw at the University of Minnesota under Coach Lynne Anderson from 2000 until 2003 before suffering a career ending injury after only two years of competition.
*Updated 8/7/15
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