About the coach....

JANI JOHNSON- MEN & WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
jjohnson@cuesta.edu
    Jani begins her sixth season as the Head Coach of Cuesta’s Track and Field teams.  Jani coached both sports for five years, but then decided to concentrate on track and field. The Cuesta Men and Women’s Track and Field teams enter the 2008 season with an eye on improving the teams overall performance.  Coach Jani Johnson has assembled a coaching staff that will enable her to have every discipline mentored by an expert in thefield.  Her husband Jan Johnson and Cuesta Instructor Dave Pomfret have been on her staff all six years and she also has Phil Volta back for his fifth year in the throws.  Sprint Coach Greg Ross is back for his third run with the Cougars.  The pole-vaulters will be under the expert eye of former Olympic medalist and World Record Holder Jan Johnson, who has guided 17 athletes to the State Meet in the last five years.  Pomfret earned All-East NCAA honors in the pole vault, javelin and decathlon while at Bucknell and will work with athletesin the jumps, javelin and multi-sport events.  Volta was a thrower at Cuesta before transferring to Humboldt State to play football and has combined those two by coaching football at Morro Bay High and the throwers at Cuesta.  He will have the advantage of a new hammer ring and significantly upgraded facilities last year.  Ross, a former hurdler a Cal-Berkeley, will concentrate on the hurdlers and sprinters. Both Cuesta track and field teams have been finished in the top ten in the Western State Conference in each of Johnson’s years.  This year with the new throwing facilities and an on site weight room in the plans, Coach Johnson believes her teams are ready to make another jump in the standings.  She is excited about the ability to serve every discipline and to have a new home for the hammer event.
    Jani has extensive running experience and is one of Cuesta’s most accomplished coaches.  The New Zealand native was the first female athlete to receive an athletic scholarship at Cal Poly SLO and excelled for the Mustangs as a seven-time National Qualifier and four-time All American.  In 1979, she earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Education and in 1981 she earned her Master’s Degree in Education from Southern Illinois University.    Jani continued to compete at a national level after college.  She ran for the Nike South Team in 1980-81 and moved on to the Reebok Aggies Racing team from 1987 to 1990.  She competed in the half marathon at the 1988 Olympic Festival and won the 1989 Southern California Grand Prix of Road Racing.   
    Jani has been at Cuesta since 1990 and has had a diverse career as a coach at Cuesta College.  She served as the assistant track coach in 1991, the assistant cross country coach in 1996, was the assistant for Cuesta’s first women’s soccer team in 1995 and continues to serve as the coordinator for the college’s Employee Wellness Program.  She served as the Assistant Track and Field Coach Atascadero High from 1998-2001. She helped guide the Greyhounds to the 1999 CIF Title.
    Jani lives in Atascadero with her husband Jan, a Bronze Medallist at the 1972 Olympics in Pole Vault, and runs the Skyjumpers Pole Vaulting Camp.   The couple has two kids, Chelsea and Clay.  Chelsea won a pair of NCAA pole vault titles at UCLA.

Schedule

2007 Schedule/Results

Roster

Track and Field Bests

2007 Final Stats

Press Releases

Men 29th and Women 36th at State Meet
SAN LUIS OBISPO (May 21, 2007)— Last Week: Cuesta sent four athletes, two men and two women, to the 2007 State Track and Field Meet in San Mateo.  The two men combined to finish in 29th place and the women landed in 36th place.  The small contingent was led by decathlete Jordan Bucklew (Fresno), who finished in fourth place.  Bucklew set new personal bests in almost every event and had a lead after the first day, but he gave way on the second day within a closely bunched group of leaders.  Bucklew’s total of 6,123 points was only 156 out of first place and only 123 points from the Cuesta School Record set in 1989 by Geoff Bradshaw.    Teammate Zach Rosenberger (Indiana) was in place to chase a State Title in the pole-vault, but couldn’t get past 14-0.75 and had to settle for 7th place.  Rosenberger had cleared 15-7 several times this season.  The women also scored a pair of 7th place finishes and also failed to produce any season-best marks.  In the javelin Michelle Jost (Nipomo HS) hurled her projectile 109-4, but was over seven feet off her season-best mark set last week.   Runner Becca Reyes (Los Osos) was five seconds off her career best in the 800 meters, also set last week, with a 2:22.15 for 7th place.
This Week: No Contests- Season Over
Notes: Recent (since 1996) State Championship Marks for Cuesta in this year’s events
Women’s Javelin- Cuesta Record: Julia Turing, 1989; 148-10 (State Champ)  
2007 Michelle Jost 7th 109-4
2006 Shaylene Jensen 8th 122-5
1996 Kelly McAlee 7th 118-10

Women’s 800 Meters- Cuesta Record: Kathryn Krieger, 1988; 2:11.45 (State Champ)
2007 Becca Reyes 7th 2:22.15
2005 Laura McGinley 6th 2:19.33
2004 Christina Reyes 2nd 2:15.45
2003 Christina Reyes 6th 2:19.35

Men’s Decathlon- Cuesta Record: Geoff Bradshaw, 1989; 6246 points
2007 Jordan Bucklew 4th 6,123
2004 James Nunno 3rd 6,154
2000 Brandon Gardner 10th Not Available

Men’s Pole Vault- Cuesta Record: Chase Shealy, 2004; 17-4
2007 Zach Rosenberger 7th 14-0.75
2006 Kasey Burlingham 1st 16-9
2004 Ryan Tonneson 2nd 16-0
2004 Chase Shealy --- No Height
2003 Ryan Tonneson 4th 15-1
2000 Jesse Callwood 10th 15-1

Quick Facts/Johnson Record

Men and Women’s Track and Field
Coach:Jani Johnson  
Year 6th
Assistant (Jumps): Dave Pomfret (6th)
Assistant (Pole Vault): Jan Johnson (6th)
Assistant (Throws): Phil Volta (5th)
Assistant (Distance): Miles Neisser (3rd)
Assistant (Sprints): Greg Ross (3rd)
Office Phone: (805) 546-3100 x2716
2007 WSC Finish, men:  8th
2007 State Meet, men: 29th  
2007 WSC Finish, women: 5th
2007 State Meet, women: 36th  
Sports Information Director: Pete Schuler (805) 546-3211
Athletic Trainer: Sue Gin/John Malinowski ( 805) 546-3225
Athletic Director: Bob Mariucci (805) 546-3100 ext.2709

The Johnson Record  
        M X-Country W X-Country M Track W Track
Conf State Conf State Conf State Conf State
02-03 11th ----- 5th 18th 3rd 15th 3rd 23rd
03-04 7th ----- 4th ----- 3rd 22nd 2nd 7th  
04-05 6th ----- 6th ----- 6th 41st 5th 17th  
05-06 7th ----- 2nd 8th 4th 21st 3rd 8th  
06-07 10th ----- 11th ----- 8th 29th 5th 36th  
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Archives

State Qualifiers | Women's Records | Men's Records