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Wartburg College Athletics

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Wartburg College Knights

Hall of Fame

Steve Johnson

Steve Johnson

  • Class
  • Induction
    2022
  • Sport(s)
    Men's Track & Field, Men's Cross Country
Steve Johnson, was the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach for the Knights from 1989-2016. He is a nine-time Central Region Coach of the Year by the United Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), and was named the National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2012. For cross country, Johnson earned nine Conference Coach of the Year honors for the men’s team and 16 for the women. The 2008, 2012, and 2013 women’s cross country and track and field programs earned the prestigious Deb Vercauteren Program of the Year honors. In his tenure, Wartburg cross country won 25 Iowa Conference and 12 NCAA Central Region cross country team titles and sent more teams to the national championships than any other Iowa college or university during that time span. The 2012 women's cross country team finished as the National Runner-Up which marked a new best for the program as it previously placed as high as third three times in 1991, 1992 and 2002. The men's cross country team has four top-ten national meet finishes in his tenure, and placed as high as fifth in 2003. Johnson coached 140 All-Americans in cross country and track and field, which included eight different individual National Champions. He coached Missy (Buttry) Rock, who placed eighth at the 2004 US Olympic Trials and competed on two USA World Championship cross country teams. Johnson retired from Wartburg in 2016, and resides in Cedar Falls, Iowa, with his wife, Linda.
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