ROJO RESIGNS FROM POST AS CORNELL UNIVERSITY PART-TIME ASSISTANT MEN'S DISTANCE COACH

ROJO RESIGNS FROM POST AS CORNELL UNIVERSITY PART-TIME ASSISTANT MEN'S DISTANCE COACH

ITHACA, April 1, 2007 Ladies and gentlemen, the long, national nightmare is over. At a lengthy, heart-rending press conference inside Cornell University's Uris Hall Auditorium, Robert Johnson called a seemingly premature end to his five-year tenure as the men's varsity track team's part-time assistant distance coach.

"This is a very hard decision for me," Johnson, 33, said as he tried feebly to hold back his tears, "but as a man who values integrity, I don't see any other option but to resign. I don't like liars and as a result I must keep to the promise I made to the world in 2003 and hand in my resignation."

His unfulfilled and now-infamous promise was to turn Cornell's struggling cross country team into a perennial NCAA qualifer, and a top ten finisher at that. He stated his intentions most boldly in an interview conducted in the summer of 2003 with the much-reviled running website LetsRun.com, of which Johnson is a co-founder with his twin brother Weldon.

In the interview, Johnson said, "Realistically, I'd put the state of our cross [country] program as the following. Next year, I'd hope to make NCAAs. In two years, I expect to make NCAAs and will be very upset if we don't make it as we'll get our top guy from this year back and we should be a real force. If we don't make it the year after that, when all of the talented young guys I have on the team now are seniors, then I'll offer coach Taylor my resignation. Maybe I'm on crack, but that's the year I dream about getting top 10 for the first time."

Unfortunately for Johnson, things have not turn out as spectacularly as he had hoped. The 2003 team finished eighth and last in the Ivy League Conference championships, affectionately known as the Heps. Two weeks later, they finished 14^th at the Northeast NCAA Regional meet, twelve spots out of an automatic qualifying position.

But the team was exceptionally young that year, and 2004 looked promising. In some ways it most certainly was. While the team continued to struggle overall, then-junior Bruce Hyde won the Heptagonal and Regional cross country championships that year, capping things off by placing 27^th at the NCAA meet, an All-American performance that signaled the program's potential to live up to Johnson's goals.

But a Cornell singlet has yet to be worn at the NCAA cross country meet since that day. Though the past two years have not been completely devoid of highlights, none of them have included the team qualifying for the NCAA meet.

"First off, I'd like to categorically deny that I am on crack. I have never tested positive for it, and while a lack of a positive test has never stopped my website from freely defiling suspected drug cheats in the past, I request that the media respect my privacy and let due process play out on this matter." All prior drug tests have come up inconclusive. Johnson continued to explain in detail his disappointment regarding the last few cross country seasons.

"Going into this year, I was hoping, frankly, that people had kind of forgotten about my promise to place in the top ten at nationals by now. But people obviously noticed how I'd given myself something of a one-year extension to make good on my claims, and the media pressure and scrutiny has been unrelenting for both myself and my family. Resignation is really my only option at this point."

It was at this point that the press conference took an emotional and angry turn. "This is the hardest decision I've ever had to make. I'm very happy here in Ithaca. It's a lovely area with great running trails. But the worse part about it all is having to admit that I have been taken down by my own brother, that pseduo journalist Wejo. It's clear to me now that that interview was a 'hit piece' by him. At first I thought it was great when Weldon moved here with wife and their two Australian shepherds but now I realize he's buddies with Coach Taylor and wants my job. But if nothing else, I am a man of my word, and that is why I informed Nathan [Taylor, men's head track coach] of my decision yesterday."

Coach Taylor, however, was less sympathetic, if not more realistic. "This is a sad day, as Robert will be missed, don't get me wrong. But if you can't win the f---ing Heipsh, how are you going to be a perennial top team at nationals?"

Coach Taylor refused to answer questions about whether Weldon Johnson has already been hired to replace Robert but sources indicate that Weldon conducted the workout later in the day.

Regardless, the atmosphere in Uris Hall reminded one that success as a coach entails much more than wins and losses. Johnson's athletes, who faithfully attended the press conference in order to give their beloved coach one final goodbye, were by and large visibly shaken. One runner, Jimmy Wyner, was sobbing so violently at one point that he had to excuse himself. Afterward, he explained the source of his immense anguish.

"You have to understand, I'm an only child," said Wyner, 20. "So I view Robert almost like he's my younger brother. That's why I lost it in there. Plus I'm really worried now that I won't have anywhere to watch 24 on tv. Do you know anyone with a flat-screen?"

"I think he should have given himself more time," Wyner added. "I know he made that silly promise when he was hired, and it's what got me to come to Cornell, but we've had some great successes on the track, particularly in the relays. I mean how many other guys have 'one for the thumb?''

Wyner's words and actions spoke to the connection that often exists between coach and athlete, one that can be powerful and long lasting. But Johnson remained resolute in his decision to step down.

"I realize the critics are right. Having won 5 straight IC4A 4 x 800 crowns and running 9:33 in the DMR at Penn is meaningless. Those aren't NCAA events, it might as well be the quadruple jump," said Johnson.

When asked of his future plans, Johnson said that he hopes to soon form a national Tony Romo Fan Club as a tribute to the Dallas Cowboys' young quarterback, but stressed that nothing was set in stone at the moment.