9 Conference Track & Field Titles (Women’s Indoor 2016, 2014, 2012, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 (Women’s Outdoor 2014, 2008)
5 Conference Cross Country Titles (Women's 2005, 2006, 2013, 2014) (Men's 2010)
10x Conference Coach of the Year (Indoor 2016, 2014, 2012, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006) (Outdoor 2014, 2008, 2007)
3x USTFCCCA Northeast Region Indoor Track Women's Coach of the Year (2016, 2014, 2008)
2016 USA Track & Field Olympic Team Assistant Coach
Former USA Track & Field Olympic Team assistant coach Robyne Johnson enters her 14th season as the director of track & field and cross country in 2018-19, bringing with her extensive experience coaching and competing at the highest levels of NCAA and international track & field.
During the 2017-18, Johnson's 13th as the director of track & field and cross country, three members of the Boston University track & field teams advanced to the NCAA regionals with one earning All-American recognition.
Graduate student David Oluwadara once again qualified for NCAA East Regionals in the triple jump during the outdoor season with his school-record mark of 16.21 meters which broke the BU record of 16.10 meters set by Duane Carlisle's way back in 1985. At NCAA regionals, Oluwadara finished seventh with a leap of 16.00 meters and was one of just 12 qualifiers to advance to Eugene, Ore. for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship. At the NCAA Championship, Oluwadara finished 13th with a jump of 15.89m (52-1¾) and earned second team All-America honors.
In addition, sophomore Paul Luevano qualified for the NCAA regionals in the 1500m run with a time of 3:44.34 while on the women's team, senior Tehya Noell qualified in the 100m hurdles by finishing first at the Patriot League Outdoor Championships with a personal-best time of 13.43 seconds.
During the 2016-17, Johnson's 12th as the director of track & field and cross country, three members of the Boston University track & field teams advanced to the NCAA Championships and earned All-American recognition.
During the indoor season, Oluwadara (triple jump) and senior Cameron Williams (200m dash) both set new school records, qualified for the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and earned Second Team All-American honors. During the outdoor season, senior Toria Levy (400m hurdles) advanced all the way to the NCAA semifinals in the 400 meter hurdles and also received Second Team All-American recognition.
In the summer of 2016, Johnson was named an assistant coach for the 2016 USA Track & Field Olympic Team that competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she worked with the jumpers and athletes competing in combined events. Under her guidance, US women long jumpers Tianna Bartoletta and Brittney Reese won gold and silver, marking the first time the US won gold and silver in the triple jump in Olympic history. During her time in Rio, the US team won three gold, three silver and one bronze medals in horizontal jumps. Overall the men's and women's US track & field teams won 32 medals in Rio, the most in any non-boycotted Olympics.
Her Olympic appointment came after another successful season at the helm of the Terrier track & field programs. She was named the 2016 USTFCCCA Northeast Region Indoor Track Women's Coach of the Year after BU claimed its second Patriot League indoor title. That was the ninth conference championship for the Terriers in Johnson's time leading the program.
In 2016, Cameron Williams was a Second Team All-American in the 200m dash during the indoor season, and he was also one of nine Terriers to qualify for the NCAA East Prelims during the outdoor campaign. Johnson also led the men's team to a second-place finish at the Patriot League indoor championships and helped BU athletes win 31 different events at both conference meets.
The Terriers have thrived under Johnson's guidance, claiming a total of nine conference championships in track & field and five conference titles in cross country. BU has been particularly dominant in its three years in the Patriot League, winning back-to-back women's cross country titles and sweeping the indoor and outdoor track & field championships in 2014, in addition to the 2016 women's indoor crown.
The 29-year coaching veteran has been honored numerous times, including three times as the Northeast Region Indoor Track Women's Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). She also earned that distinction in 2008 and in 2016. Johnson is a three-time Patriot League Coach of the Year and seven-time America East Coach of the Year.
During her tenure, the women's indoor track and field team has won five America East championships, including the 2012 title, as well as the 2014 and 2016 Patriot League championships. In addition, the women's cross country squad has captured two America East and New England crowns as well as the 2014 and 2015 Patriot League titles. The women's outdoor track and field team also won the America East championship in 2008 and the 2014 Patriot League championship. She has also helped student-athletes earn individual awards, including America East Field Performer of the Year and Track Performer of the Year, and has coached 18 All-Americans at BU. Johnson and her staff have been named America East Coaching Staff of the Year at eight conference championships and Johnson was honored as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's Northeast Region Head Coach of the Year in 2008, 2014 and 2016.
Johnson is a member of the USA Track and Field Coaches Association. Prior to being named an assistant coach of the 2016 USA Track & Field Olympic Team, Johnson previously coached at the international level numerous times. She was an assistant coach for the United States at the 2012 DecaNation meet in France, as well as the head women's track & field coach for Team USA at the World University Games in China. In addition, Johnson was an assistant coach for the United States team that captured its first title at the 1998 World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa and was an assistant coach for the 2003 Pan American Games.
From 1995 to 2003, Johnson served as an assistant coach at the University of California-Berkeley, where she was responsible for the training, conditioning and recruitment of both male and female horizontal jumpers and female sprinters. During her time there, she coached 11 All-Americans, including seven Pac-10 champions. Prior to her experience at Cal, Johnson spent two years at Rider University, serving as the associate head coach for track and cross country. At Rider, she coached three conference champions and started the university's first ever women's track and field program. Johnson also served as an assistant coach at Penn State, where she instructed four All-Americans, one Big Ten champion, nine ECAC Champions and six Penn State school record holders. Penn State won the ECAC title six straight seasons.
A four-time participant at the U.S. Olympic trials in the triple jump, Johnson served as the United States Elite Athletes Development coordinator for the event from 2000-05.
Johnson competed at the 1991 World Championships in Seville, Spain, earning a ninth-place finish in the triple jump. She also competed in the 1993 USA vs. Great Britain, finishing fourth. Johnson was a five-time All-American in the triple jump at the University of Texas at Austin and was a key contributor to the Longhorns' first outdoor national championship squad in 1982. She was ranked in the top 10 in the nation in the triple jump for 10 years and is considered to be a member of the first group of elite triple jumpers of the US. In 1992, she was ranked seventh in the world in the event and competed in the Olympic trials in 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000. In 1992, Johnson came in second at the Olympic trials.
In addition to her bachelor's degree in history from Texas, Johnson holds a masters of science degree in education from California State University Hayward and has six years of collegiate teaching experience in physical education.
As a high school student, Johnson made the 1980 Jr. Pan American team and finished fourth in the long jump. Johnson was also a high school All-American and a member of the 1981 Berkeley High School track team, considered one of the top high school teams ever.
In addition to developing student-athletes, Johnson is an active leader in the track and field and community, having served in numerous leadership positions. She was selected to the NCAA Division I Track and Field Committee in November 2006, and as part of the sport's top governing body, Johnson and the 13-member committee provide a legislative agenda for cross country and track and field. Her term runs through 2011. Johnson is also on the jury of appeals for the America East Conference and the IC4A games committee. A native of Oakland, Calif., Johnson has a son, Joshua, and resides in western Massachusetts.
