Girls track and field: Huntley’s Alex Johnson picks the Sun Devils

HUNTLEY – Alex Johnson is almost as proficient at keeping a secret as she is at jumping.

The Huntley senior, a three-time girls state track and field champion, made her college decision about three weeks ago, but did not announce it until Tuesday night in the Huntley fieldhouse.

Naturally, Johnson’s family knew, but only a couple friends were in on which school it was. Track teammate Molly Allen could not stand the suspense and offered Johnson $5 to spill it, which she did.

Johnson sat at a table with caps from Baylor, Arizona State and Tennessee in front of her. She thanked her coaches, her teammates, her parents and little sister, Dominique, then made the announcement that she is headed to Arizona State.

Johnson won the Class 3A long jump at the last two IHSA Girls Track and Field State Meets. She also won the triple jump last season. Between athletics and academics, Johnson will receive a full scholarship.

“It was so hard (to keep secret),” Johnson said. “I let it slip to a few people.”

Huntley coach Jason Monson and assistants Brad Gallaugher, Jennifer Garza and Zack Borring did not know. Neither did most of Johnson’s teammates.

“It was the coaching and the campus. I really liked all my schools,” Johnson said. “I felt a real connection with their coach (Phillip Butler Jr.). I liked the way he coaches. I got to sit in their entire practice, their jumps practice.

“I saw first-hand how he coaches and I like it. I see a lot of my dad in him.”

Alvin Johnson has coached Alex and Dominique the last two years with jumping. Alvin Johnson played football and competed in track and field at East St. Louis and at Louisville.

“The biggest thing for me from Day 1, all the schools we talked to were great, but I was more focused on coaching,” Alvin Johnson said. “Clearly, I’ve been coaching them the last couple years and nothing’s more important to me than going to a good coach. Baylor and Arizona State were tops on my list because of coaching.”

Monson said he spoke with numerous college coaches about more than Johnson’s considerable athletic accomplishments.

“I’ve talked to 10 to 12 different coaches from schools over the last two years,” Monson said. “I could talk to them about the accolades and state championships and all of that, but the one thing I always talk about with coaches about Alex is how great of a teammate she is, how great she makes others around her, the positive energy that she brings on a daily basis. There’s so much we could say about Alex Johnson.”

Johnson has established herself as one of the best girls track and field performer in McHenry County area history with one more season to add to that. She has half of Huntley’s six track and field state championships with Class 3A long jump titles as a sophomore and junior and a triple jump win as a junior.

Meaghan Byrd (Class A shot put, 1999), Jessica Miron (Class A triple jump, 2002) and Omo Tseumah (Class 3A high jump, 2013) are Huntley’s other state champs.

Johnson and Woodstock’s Kayla Beattie (Class 2A 1,600 and 3,200 in 2011) are the only area girls with two titles in the same year.

Johnson won the long jump her sophomore year at 5.92 meters (19-5), then won last year at 6.0 (19-8 1/4). She won the triple jump, an event she started last offseason, at 12.33 (40-5 1/2). Her best long jump last season was 20-1 (the Fox Valley Conference Meet record); her best triple was 41-0 1/2.

Dominique Johnson took second in the triple jump and ninth in the long jump. The girls were destined for greatness with their parents’ backgrounds. Yolanda Johnson, their mother, played soccer at East St. Louis Lincoln and DePaul University.

Alex Johnson, who has dominated the 100 and 200 locally as well, will concentrate on the jumps with the Sun Devils. Johnson left her father for last on the list of thanks, for all his coaching through the years.

“We’ve been working on this so long,” she said. “I remember in third grade you told me I had to be the best so I could get a scholarship. I didn’t even know what that meant then, but I do now. It’s just crazy.”