The Penn State Women's Track and Field team, fresh off the school's first-ever Big Ten Track and Field championship during the 2004 indoor season, today announced the addition of Chris Johnson to the coaching staff as an assistant coach for the sprints and jumps unit. Johnson will join the staff on August 20.

      

Johnson replaces Jeff McAuley on the Nittany Lion staff. McAuley has left after two seasons with Penn State to join the coaching staff at South Carolina as an assistant.

      

"We are very excited about the addition of Chris to our staff," Penn State Head Coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "He comes from a background of significant success at Arkansas and has experience working with high level athletes, but is also grounded and focused on the development of our program."

      

Johnson spent the last two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Arkansas Women's Track and Field team. He worked specifically assisting Associate Head Coach Rolando Greene with a very successful Razorback sprint group and also worked in the Arkansas academic center as a tutor and mentor. Among that group he worked closely with junior LaShaunte'a Moore who won the 200-meter title at the 2004 NCAA Championships and finished fourth in the 200 at the recently completed U.S. Olympic Trials. Moore will join Penn State's Connie Moore on the U.S. Olympic team as a member of the relay pool.

   

Johnson also worked with Southeast Conference 100 and 200-meter champion Veronica Campbell, a Razorback record setting 4X400 relay team and the SEC runner-up 4X100 relay team. The Razorbacks won the SEC Outdoor Championship in 2004 and placed 10th at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor championships.

     

Johnson was a Sun Belt Conference champion at 400 meters while attending Lamar University in Texas. He earned a degree in kinesiology from Lamar in 1999 and following graduation taught health and physical education at East Chambers High School in Winnie, Texas. He began his coaching career at East Chambers, guiding one of his athletes to a state runner-up finish in the long jump at the AA level.

 

Johnson is engaged to marry 2001 NCAA indoor triple jump champion and outdoor runner-up GiGi Miller. The former Razorback is now among the top all-around track and field competitors in the U.S. with several top placings in the sprints, jumps and heptathlon in national competition to her credit including a recent fifth place finish in the heptathlon at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She will move her training base to State College.

   

"We are looking forward to making a fresh start with Chris and also looking forward to having GiGi training with us," Sullivan, who was named the 2004 Big Ten Indoor Coach of the Year, said. "They will help us push on toward our conference and national goals."

   

Penn State will welcome a very strong recruiting class next season highlighted by several strong athletes in the sprints and jumps. Among them is 2004 U.S. Junior National heptathlon champion Gayle Hunter. All of Penn State's recruits have reaffirmed their commitment to the Nittany Lion program and are eager to work with Johnson Sullivan said.