Track and Field
- Title:
- Assistant Coach - Sprints/Hurdles/Sprint Relays
- Email:
- john5733@ath.msu.edu
- Phone:
- 353-6357
Yolanda Johnson enters her eighth season at Michigan State for the 2024-25Â season, having guided nine Spartans to the NCAA East Preliminaries in eight seasons. Johnson joined the Michigan State track & field program in the fall of 2016 as the assistant coach in the sprints, hurdles, and sprint relays.
In the 2022 outdoor season, senior Kendel Hammock had a breakout season that saw him reach the NCAA Preliminaries in the quarterfinal of the men's 400m hurdles. Prior to preliminaries, Kendel set three straight personal bests in the event under Johnson's guidance. The year prior,, the 2021 outdoor season saw Shakira Dancy qualify for the NCAA Preliminaries women's 200m. The prelims was the culmination of new heights reached by Dancy upon arriving in East Lansing to be coached by Johnson after transferring from Florida.Â
In 2019, Johnson coached three NCAA Regional Qualifiers, including Taylor Mullins (400m hurdles), Will Agodu (110m hurdles) and Noah Burton (400m hurdles), three All-Big Ten athletes and one Big Ten champion.
Will Agodu, the 2019 Big Ten Outdoor Champion in the 110m hurdles, set a new school-record with a time of 13.75 at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Agodu advanced to the NCAA East Prelims for the third-straight season under Johnson, posting a time of 13.89 in the 110m hurdle semifinals.
Before coming to Michigan State, Johnson spent the last six years as the head coach and founder of the FK Elite Track and Field Club. FK Elite is a non-profit youth track club ranging from 8-18 years old, focusing on team and character building, while at the same time managing and handling personal short falls.
Johnson has also been a certified ISSA Fitness Trainer and owner at One Solid Foundation, LCC for the past 14 years, beginning the business in 2002. She provided nutritional consultation, weight training, and a variety of strength and agility skill sets. Johnson also monitored individual's progress, and made programs adjustable to each person.
She served as an assistant track coach at the University of Colorado from 1992 to 1999, her alma mater, where she was a standout student-athlete. While a coach at Colorado she trained sprinters, hurdlers, relay teams, and mid-distance athletes. She coached an athlete to three consecutive Big Eight Outdoor Championship titles in the 100 hurdles, an All-American school record-holding 4x400 relay team, and three athletes who swept the top three places at the Big Eight Conference Championship in the 100 hurdles. Johnson also coached Yvonne Scott, an Olympic 100m hurdle athlete.
As a former Buff standout, Johnson was an All-American all four years in the 100 meter hurdles. She participated in the Olympic trials in 1988 and 1992, and was a member of the Flo Jo International Track and Field team. She graduated from the University of Colorado in 1992 with her Baccalaureate of Arts in sociology.
