Huntington Uni drama

Still happening and still radio silence from the brojos.

I’d started writing one after I read this post but realized that it would likely get deleted or cause the whole thread to be deleted because any post that puts all of this together in a concise way has been getting deleted. Better to not do that and let the thread live (for now).

I encourage anyone who is curious to read the whole thread. If you have a brain, you’ll be able to piece it all together pretty easily. Some of the details shared here may not be true, but taken as a whole, it’s pretty clear what was happening.

What should be done about it? I’m still sort of mulling it over. I’m not sure it’s worth the crusade, even if it would be a good lesson to all that actions have consequences.

I'll do it and try to keep it appropriate for this thread

TLDR:

In 2020 the Huntington University (Decent NAIA school based out of IN) head coach was arrested for "sexual misconduct" (no need to explain further) with former athletes (once again no need to explain further. Do your own research).

The coach was obviously fired from his position, however shortly after his WIFE took over as head coach. On top of this already being completely inappropriate, it is well known by athletes/folks in the are area that the husband is still heavily involved in the program. No sanctions or disciplinary action has been handled down to the team or school.

The coach's sentence was officially handed out earlier this year, however due to some classic court/lawyer shenanigans, the coach was basically let off with only a slap on the wrist (once again do your own research).

Now to the present day. Earlier this week a notable runner de-committed from a prestigious D1 school and chose instead to attend HU. It is well known that this athlete has been personally involved with the mentioned coach/coaches (both husband and wife) in the past. Once again, not only is it completely inappropriate that the wife (and possibly husband) is still coaching the team, but it is a clear recruiting violation considering they had a relationship while the athlete was in high school.

So why the drama on LetsRun? A few reasons. Besides the folks familiar with the NAIA and the Crossroads league, this story had basically been forgotten. The recent news brought this back to light and I think many people were unaware that the wife of an "accused" sexual predator is now coaching the team. On top of this, this is not the first time a very good D1 athlete has decided to transfer to HU, a very tiny Christian school in the middle of nowhere Indiana. It's all just weird.

As someone very familiar with the Crossroads league, the athletes and stories at HU, and all the drama around the situation, I could write a short novel about this whole thing, but I'll refrain for now. Hopefully this somewhat explains the situation while not breaking any rules.

Super helpful, thank you. Sounds like you know a lot about this. Please share everything you know with reporters who might be willing to cover/investigate this. The New York Times covered Mary Cain’s story, so they might be interested. Another possibly might be Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

Good summary, but you missed one more point:

Nicholas Johnson was banned from coaching by SafeSport. Summary of reasons states “sexual misconduct” and “involving a minor.” They have their own adjudicatory process so you can get different outcomes from the criminal process.

Unless Coach Lauren Johnson was complicit in some way, why should she be punished by not being able to coach because her husband was a predator? We can speculate on what she knew or didn't know and all of that BUT isn't it also very possible she is a victim in a certain way?

I see that many have said she isn't divorced and that Nick is heavily involved in the program. Those claims of course are worrisome. But if she distanced herself from her husband and if he's not heavily involved, then I would see it as wrong to now allow her to have the opportunity to coach at Huntington.

The many high level transfers they've gotten is very intriguing, to put it mildly.

I would call that quite a biased summary with several examples of hearsay. This is a timeline of facts as best I can provide. If there are any errors with the following facts, please feel free to correct them.

2018 July 02: Nicholas Johnson, 2009 Huntington University alum, hired as head coach
2019 November 26: Men 16th, women 10th at NAIA Nationals (Individual champion for women)
2020 July - December 02: Incidents involving Coach Johnson and an athlete between the ages of 16 & 18 allegedly occur

2020 December 08: Huntington university advertises an opening for head cross country coach
2020 December 11: Johnson arrested and charged with child seduction, kidnapping, and identity deception; posts $30,000 bond. Huntington University cuts all ties with Johnson.
2021 February 11: Assistant Coach Lauren Johnson (wife of Nicholas), a 2009 Huntington alum and 2015 World Championships semifinalist, is promoted to head coach
2021 February 17: Nicholas Johnson receives a ban by the US Center for SafeSport
2021 April 19: Men 2nd, women 12th at NAIA Nationals (Individual champion for women)
2021 November 19: Men 9th, women 23rd at NAIA Nationals
2021 December 20: Nicholas Johnson accepts a plea deal offered by the prosecution. Pleads guilty to identity deception; child seduction and kidnapping charges are subsequently dropped.
2022 February 07: Nicholas Johnson sentenced to two years; 30 days to be spent in jail, 150 days under electronic monitoring, and 550 days of probation. Also ordered to have no contact with the victim.

NOTHING THAT OCCURRED AFTER THIS DATE IS RELEVANT TO THE TOPIC

I understand what you're saying in terms of Coach Lauren, but I disagree. She is a former pro runner. I'm sure there are hundreds of schools she could coach at if she wanted, and I'm sure those schools would pay a lot better. That being said, I also know that it was Huntington University that approached her about the full time coaching job. It was not initiated by Lauren.

This is the major major limitation of LRC's thread/post system. Once a thread hits critical mass, it's impossible for a casual reader to catch up. There are other styles of presenting posts so that more useful information rises to the top, but here we are, processing every single character one by one, or not knowing at all.

Red Hearing. Who cares about how the team performed at Nationals. Props to the athletes, but truly a comical response. The point still stands that the situation is completely inappropriate. A team running well doesn't mean the situation is all flowers and rainbows.

It's very clear that certain people around the University, around the community, and here in LetsRun really want us to forget about what happened and move on. That is not how these things work. Like I said before, I am coming from a place of sympathy as I care about the athletes past, present, and future.

If she truly was unaware, then I feel bad for her, but that doesn’t mean she should be in a position of power. Ask yourself this very basic question: Would you feel comfortable sending your daughter to HU to run distance? For me, that’s a resounding no. Read some of the earlier posts in this thread from girls on the team. It was a very inappropriate and culty environment. Allegedly of course.

You failed to mention the affidavit which is very relevant.

I agree. It would theoretically be possible that she has nothing to do with this. But she’s still married to him. I think that puts this theoretical possibility to bed.

Plus, she’s got a major recruiting violation that she can’t blame on anyone other than herself for coaching a high school athlete. That’s HU drama in its own right.

I would absolutely answer any questions that were brought forward to me, however much of what I know is essentially he said she said. I didn't attend HU, but I ran in the Crossroads League for all 4 years of college (during the time all this was transpiring). With such a small niche group of teams, you hear lots of stories. You also become pretty friendly with your rival schools and lots of stories about opposing teams are shared that probably shouldn't be shared. Besides a handful of small inappropriate moments I witnessed with Coach Johnson and athletes after meets, I can't claim any of my information is concrete or 100% accurate, hence why I am being very careful with what I share. If Rojo or anyone else needs me to confirm my identity or prove that I ran for a Crossroads league team during this time, I am happy to corporate.

wtf? very very strange situation.

What is the major recruiting violation? NAIA coaches are not banned from working with HS athletes. I'm not condoning it but is there a different recruiting violation?

I see where people are coming from and to answer the question about if I would feel comfortable sending a child there I can truthfully answer no, I would not. BUT I'm not convinced that Coach Lauren Johnson shouldn't have the opportunity simply because of her relation to Nick. I don't think that is right or fair. IF she has complicity, then I wholeheartedly agree that she shouldn't be coaching there.

Are you kidding?!?

No? You're telling me the average NAIA, D1, D2, or D3 school would rather hire some old alumni versus a prior pro runner and WC qualifier?