Often-injured Hoosier hurdler fights her way to NCAA Championships

During her final year at Brookhaven High School in Columbus, Ohio, senior Courtney Johnson met then IU senior Danielle Carruthers on a recruiting visit. \nCarruthers, who collected 10 All-American honors combined in indoor and outdoor track and field as a sprinter and hurdler hosted Johnson and made a significant impression on her.\n“She was basically the reason I came,” said Johnson, who is now a star hurdler on IU’s track and field team. “She is someone I can say I really do look up to.”\nFour years and many injuries after that initial meeting, Johnson now ranks second to her former host on the all-time hurdle list at IU. Although it will be incredibly difficult for Johnson to break Carruthers’s 12.68 second school-record mark in the 100-meter hurdles, Johnson has a chance next week when she competes in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.\nJohnson earned a spot in the national field by placing seventh at the Mideast Regional last weekend with a preliminary time of 13.12 seconds and a finals time of 13.24 seconds. She now ranks in the top 10 nationally in the event.\nJohnson suffers an injury \nAfter an impressive freshman season in which she finished second at the Outdoor Big Ten meet in the 100-meter hurdles and came within 2 spots of qualifying for the finals in the regional competition, her sophomore season took a turn for the worst.\n“That whole year was tough,” she said.\nJohnson had an average indoor season, and then in her first meet of the outdoor season she pulled her hamstring, effectively ending her year.\nAs if the injury didn’t already disappoint her, the outdoor Big Ten meet was held in her hometown of Columbus that year. And to make matters worse, two weeks later Johnson couldn’t compete when the regional came to Bloomington.\nAdditionally, the standard to qualify for nationals that year was easier than in years past, but Johnson said she tried to keep a positive attitude through the tough times.\n“It was a bittersweet moment, but at the same time it motivated me and kept me mentally prepared for seasons to come,” she said.\nAs a sprinter and hurdler, Johnson is increasingly susceptible to hamstring injuries and said she has pulled hers about four times since the initial injury.\nFighting through the pain \nJohnson said she got discouraged occasionally and thought some of the treatment wasn’t working. After implementing a new rehabilitation program and working more in the training room, Johnson started to feel better. She said she still experiences occasional pain in her hamstrings.\n“They’re not 100 percent, but you have to keep going,” she said.\nJohnson kept going and in her sophomore outdoor season notched a career-best mark of 13.38 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.\nIn her junior year of eligibility, another injury hindered her chance to better her sophomore performance.\nGoing into this season, Johnson experienced a whole new set of coaches that came to IU last summer.\nOne of her coaches that works with her frequently is associate head coach Jeff Huntoon.\nHuntoon, who coached at West Virginia before coming to IU, has helped fine-tune Johnson’s technique and increase her speed Huntoon is proud of what Johnson has accomplished.\n“She is officially now my fastest hurdler ever,” he said. “For her to be the quickest is a testament to her because I’ve had some good ones over the years.”\nThis year, Johnson has progressed and dropped her time down to 13.53 seconds, which she ran in the preliminary race at the Drake Relays. The NCAA National Championships will be contested there next week.\nA day after that race, however, disaster struck and the senior sprained her MCL and could not practice for two weeks prior to the Big Ten meet.\nJohnson struggled in that meet, failing to even qualify for the finals in the 100-meter hurdles, but was determined to come back strong for the regional meet.\n“I just had to keep pushing through it and mentally get myself prepared for regionals,” she said.\nTeammate and friend motivates Johnson \nLorian Price, who graduated last year from IU and ranks fourth on the all-time long-jump list, provided the help that Johnson needed to overcome her troubles.\nPrice was a teammate of Johnson’s and competed with her in the hurdles at IU. Although Price now focuses on the long jump, she provided a training partner for Johnson in the hurdles.\n“She came out of retirement I guess you can say, and was hurdling with me,” Johnson said.\nPrice said that Johnson in turn helped her tremendously.\n“Without Courtney I wouldn’t be the athlete I am today,” she said.\nPrice and Johnson trained together up until the regional meet last weekend. Johnson went into the meet extremely focused. She even separated herself from the team hours before her race. Her preliminary heat had many talented runners, including the defending NCAA champion.\n“I kept telling my coach and everybody else I just have to run for my life, run for my life,” she said.\nJohnson did run for her life and finally set a career best of 13.12 seconds. The senior said she is extremely happy right now.\nI was able to come back my last year, my last meet, and finally put a complete race together, and go to the national championships,” she said. “I’m ecstatic right now.”\nHuntoon was also excited about her performance at regionals.\n“I would have never pictured 13.12,” he said. “To say I was happy was probably \nan understatement.”\nFellow senior Kiwan Lawson, who also qualified for nationals in the long jump grew up with Johnson and is also very happy for her.\n“If you could be happy for anyone on the team I have to say definitely it’s her,” he said. “She has gone through trials and tribulations.”\nNow Johnson will have a chance to do something only one other Hoosier hurdler has done, run under 13 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.\n“It is possible; yes, it’s possible. There is no doubt about it,” Huntoon said.