South Dakota School of Mines men’s and women’s cross country head coach, Steve Johnson has been promoted to Director of Track & Field and Director of Cross Country.
Johnson has been the Hardrocker cross country head coach for the past four season and an assistant track and field coach for nine years. He takes over the track and field programs from Jerry Schafer, who retired from the position earlier this year.
“I'm very excited about the opportunity to lead the programs,” Johnson said. “Coach Schafer has left some big shoes to fill, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. Jerry has been a great mentor and will continue to be a resource for me in the future.”
Johnson assumed the head cross country role in 2014 just as the Hardrockers were entering the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Since coming to SD Mines, Johnson has coached athletes to over 60 school records and has coached national qualifiers in the javelin, 4x800-meter relay, high jump and long jump --- including SD Mines’ second female All-American high jumper, Madisen Lane.
In 2016 Johnson coached Alex Wood to a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Div. II National Outdoor Championships to earn All-American Second Team honors in the men’s javelin.
“The SD Mines cross country and track and field programs are in good hands with Coach Johnson,” Lueken said. “He’s been involved with Hardrocker Athletics for a number of years and knows what it takes for our scholar athletes to succeed --- whether it’s during competition or in the classroom.”
Johnson has also been the recruiting coordinator for SD Mines cross country and track & field programs and has played a key role in efforts to increase the women’s roster size and improve the depth of both men’s and women’s programs.
Prior to coming to SD Mines, Johnson was an assistant coach at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. At Mary, he worked with national qualifiers in the javelin and the multi-events. Johnson also worked at the University of Puget Sound and coached two Northwest Conference triple jump champions.
Johnson also had stints in Lakewood, Wash., at Pierce College; in University Place, Wash., at Speed Tech; and in Pullman, Wash., at the Comets Track Club.
“Thank you to Joel Lueken and Tiffany McCampbell (Senior Associate AD of Internal Operations) for their support throughout the transition and I look forward to their continued mentorship in the years to come,” Johnson added.
Johnson lives in Rapid City with his wife, Simonne, and two boys, Josh and Zach.
