August 04, 2003
USI cross country signs Johnson to NLI
The University of Southern Indiana women’s cross country/track and field team announced the signing of Lauren Johnson (Carmel, Indiana) to a national letter of intent for the 2003-04 season. Johnson is the third runner to sign with head coach Mike Hillyard’s Screaming Eagles this summer.
A graduate of Carmel High School, Johnson earned six varsity letters in cross country and track. During the 2003 track and field season, Johnson earned first-team All-State honors after helping CHS’s 4x800-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams to second-place finishes at the IHSAA Track and Field Championships.
“Lauren has been fortunate enough to be involved with a very good high school program at Carmel,” Hillyard said. “She has a tremendous amount of natural leg speed and she seems to be built well for the longer distances.”
In track, Johnson ran a 2:17 split in the 4x800-meter relay and a :57.8 split in the 4x400-meter relay while running the 400 meters in 59.8. In cross country, she ran the 4k in 16:01.
“Lauren will be a strong contributor down the road in cross country,” Hillyard explained. “Our main goal this year is to transition her to the 1500 meters and mile and qualify her for the NCAA II nationals in those events.
“We have produced several national-caliber milers here at USI, but none with the kind of raw speed that Lauren possesses,” Hillyard concluded.
Dan McDonnell,
USI Sports Information
