Lynette (Gardin) Johnson joined the Salem College Track & Field/Cross Country staff as an assistant coach on Tuesday, April 1st. Coach Johnson will lead the sprinter/hurdle group for Salem.
 
Johnson is a graduate of Appalachian State, where she was a distinguished sprinter on the women's Track & Field team earning numerous awards and accolades throughout her athletic career. Johnson's impressive achievements led to her induction into the Appalachian State Hall of Fame in 2009. She has been a vital part of the Track & Field community, serving as a former board member of the Former Athletes Association at Appalachian State.

"Lynette was a successful sprinter in 200 and 400 in North Carolina as a high schooler and she was part of a real good program at the high school level," said former Mountaineers coach John Weaver. "When she came to Appalachian State, she was on the best recruits we had early on when we made the transition to the NCAA's. As a matter fact, Lynette and several other women that we got that year—Lamanda Miller, Stephanie Pipkins and Lynette Farmer—were eventual All Americans and sixth in the nation in the 4x100 event. So, they began the legacy of what eventually ended up trying to maintain after 38 years and we're trying to continue now at Appalachian State. 
"The success was because of Lynette's natural abilities as a sprinter and the fact that she's a very intelligent woman," continued Weaver. "She was a very good student, and she had her head on straight about a lot of things. She's very mature and she came from a pretty large family so you can imagine how that would help you get through because she had a strong family unit."

In 2012, Johnson co-founded the Winston-Salem Roadrunners summer track club. She served as the Athletic Director and coach for more than 10 years. During her tenure, Johnson coached sprinters and hurdles that ranked among the top ten in the country at the Junior Olympics Championships and many earned scholarships to Division I schools.

Johnson retired after 31 years in the private business sector as a director of benefits administration. She comes from a family of accomplished track and field athletes, including her husband, Linell, who was a sprinter and jumper at Appalachian State, and their two sons, Jordan and Brandon. Johnson assisted in coaching both boys during their high school and summer club track days. Both boys competed at the high school level, earning numerous appearances at the N.C. State Championship meets. 

Jordan achieved top three finishes for two consecutive years in the long jump, while Brandon is a two-time State Champion in the 55m and 110mh hurdles. Jordan continued his athletic career at Appalachian State as a long jumper and sprinter, holding the school's indoor long jump record. Johnson's youngest son, Brandon, is currently competing at the University of Cincinnati as a sprinter and hurdler, ranking fifth in Bearcats history for the indoor 60m hurdles and seventh for the indoor 200m.

"She knows what she's looking for," said Weaver of Johnson's coaching style. "She knows what she's looking for in an athlete, not just by their times, but also by who they are as a person," added Weaver. "That's very valuable. You could come tell me the 'OK coach you can recruit an athlete, but you'll never get a chance to see him until the first day of practice and you only can recruit them based on their time.' I might not have a successful team because there are a lot of people out there that are talented. 

"They can do well but they're not going to be very good to work with," continued Weaver. "However, in this case Lynette will be finding someone that's going to accept and absorb coaching and it's going be part of a team endeavor. So, it's not about just individuals, because there must be a team component if you really want to be successful. Lynette would know all that and she would understand all that and so the fact that she has accepted this position tells me that she's ready to do the job.

"Lynette's confident in what she has done and what she has learned," added Weaver. "So, she's able to apply her knowledge to the program and she's not going to settle for something just to just to be doing it, she's going to be doing it because she wants to. Lynette wants her people and her program to be successful."

Awards & Accolades
>NCAA Division I All-American: Member of the 4X100m relay team at Appalachian State 
>Hall of Fame Inductee: Appalachian State Class of 2009
>Southern Conference Champion: 10-time individual champion
'>All-Southern Conference Honoree: Eight-time honoree (indoor and outdoor all four years)
>Former School Record holder (Appalachian State): Held three individual school records for the Mountaineers for more than 15 years in the 300m, 400m, 500m and a member of four record-holding relays: 4x400m, Sprint Medley, 4x100m, and 4x200m
>Southern Conference team titles: Eight titles (indoor and outdoor)