The Sun Devils' perennial prizewinner

Johnson an ASU athlete for the ages

 by Sarah McLellan
 published on Thursday, March 27, 2008

Kaitlin Ochenrider / THE STATE PRESS

A HOP, SKIP AND A JUMP: Senior Jacquelyn Johnson is a world-class athlete on the cusp of graduation from ASU. Among a bevy of records broken, she has won six NCAA titles and earned All-America honors while a Sun Devil.

Kaitlin Ochenrider / THE STATE PRESS

The physical accomplishments of ASU senior Jacquelyn Johnson's track and field career aren't put on display for everyone to see.

The trophies and medals detailing a career seasoned with hard work and flavored by success don't adorn shelves on a wall or shine from behind the glass of trophy case.

They line the garage of her mom's Buckeye home.

"I wanted to do a trophy room," Johnson said. "But we just stack them in her garage for right now. One day we'll situate it all out."

The trophy room might have to be built sooner rather than later. With Johnson concluding her tenure as a Sun Devil this spring, she's already begun to defend the titles she's accumulated throughout her time at ASU.

She won the 2008 NCAA Indoor Pentathlon on March 15 and is the reigning outdoor heptathlon champion. Johnson also won the heptathlon championship in 2006 and 2004 and the indoor pentathlon in 2007 and 2006.

Of her six titles, Johnson's most recent victory eclipses them all. She called her win at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., less than two weeks ago her favorite because both the men's and women's track and field teams were able to join her in celebration.

"It sugarcoats everything," she said. "Our whole team is national champs."

Still, her first title will always be special.

"It's a big deal your freshman year winning nationals," she said.

Johnson's triumph in the outdoor heptathlon that year capped a remarkable first-year campaign that saw her finish runner-up in the pentathlon at the indoor championships and earn 2004 Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year honors.

Johnson's achievements during the 2007 indoor and outdoor seasons are also impressive considering the adversity she had to overcome to become a champion.

What started as a simple annoyance with her ankle while working out at Sun Angel Stadium left Johnson facing what many athletes fear the most — surgery.

"One day it started locking up," she said. "It started swelling up like I had rolled my ankle, and I never rolled it. It was weird."

Recovering from the surgery was a difficult transition.

"It was hard to come back. This is my jumping leg so it took a long time for me to get my jumping back in gear. I'm a six-foot high jumper coming back after my surgery and only jumping five [feet], three [inches].

"Your confidence is just shot."

Johnson's struggle to regain her form caught the eye of ASU coach Greg Kraft.

"She was as low as I seen her in January and February [of 2007]," he said.

But she rallied to give what Kraft called the "most amazing performance I've seen at ASU."

"What she did in the meet — I never seen it in practice," he said, recalling her capturing the title. "That was really a testament to her competitive fire more than ASU coaching."

And all of this success sprouted from a mother's idea of how to get her daughter to come home tired.

"I didn't know [track] was for me at first," Johnson said. "My mom just sent me to practice with my sister because I had too much energy."

But once coaches noticed Johnson's talent, it wasn't long before she became part of the team.

And she never did come home tired like her mom had hoped.

"I had too much energy," Johnson said. "I think that's why I'm kind of good for the heptathlon … because it's an all-day thing and I just have energy just to do all that."

As her high school career winded down, the accolades began to pour in. Johnson concluded her high school tenure with 14 state titles in track and field, a feat that provided her a shot of confidence to help her combat the anxiety of joining the college ranks.

"I was a little nervous," she said of coming to ASU. "But I was a track star in high school so it was like 'OK, I can do this.' "

And not surprisingly, Johnson's athletic prowess extended beyond track and field. During the 2005 season, she was part of the ASU women's basketball team.

"It was a fun experience," she said. "But it's something I had to decide. I really wanted to move on with track, and [basketball] might be an interference, especially at a college level."

It's at the track where Johnson has found her ultimate ambitions and her motivation.

"Every time I come out [to the track], it's just fun. It's something I like doing and that I want to continue doing," she said. "This is what I want to do as my job."

While a professional career revolves around the individual athlete, contributing to and being part of a team is a supporting factor to Johnson right now that may just help her make track a full-time job.

"I know I can help the team, but at the same time I know it's helping me not only for me myself, but also for my dream," Johnson said. "If I'm going to practice today or going to the meet tomorrow, I'm helping out my team, but I also am helping out my career because knowing that if I go here and I jump this or do this, I can bring it to the table at the Olympic trials, at the Olympics."

Johnson, who said she's dreamed of making the Olympics since she was 9, received her first taste of it when she placed 12th at the 2004 U.S. trials.

"It was kind of nerve-wracking because you have all these Olympic people out there," she said. "I'm the youngest one out there, but it was a good experience because without that experience I think it would kind of even be more nerve-wracking this year going into the Olympic trials."

This year, with the summer games in China approaching, Johnson looks to make a bigger splash than she did four years ago.

And despite the Olympic anticipation, what Johnson has accomplished at ASU is not overshadowed.

"It helped define who I am," she said. "I think it helps to humble myself.

"Leaving here, knowing that everything was great, it was a great experience, is a success."

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