Chris Johnson Promoted to Associate Head Coach for Navy Track and Field
Navy track and field is rewarding one of the key figures behind its recent success.
Navy director of track and field and cross country Jamie Cook announced Tuesday that Chris Johnson has been promoted to associate head coach for the Midshipmen’s track and field program. Johnson originally joined Navy as an assistant coach in August 2021 and has developed one of the most productive event groups in the Patriot League.
Johnson will continue working primarily with Navy’s high jumpers and multi-event athletes while also serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator. During his five seasons in Annapolis, Johnson has coached 10 NCAA East First Round qualifiers, 25 Patriot League champions and 62 Patriot League medalists. Navy has also recorded 19 Army-Navy Star Meet victories and won 16 Patriot League team championships since Johnson arrived ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Cook pointed to Johnson’s ability to recruit, develop and mentor athletes as major reasons for the promotion.
“Chris has proven himself as one of the top young coaches in the country,” Cook said in Navy’s announcement, adding that Johnson’s high jump and multi-event groups have been particularly dominant within the Patriot League since 2022.
Johnson’s Athletes Continue to Produce
The numbers behind Johnson’s tenure show why Navy decided to expand his role.
Along with his 25 conference champions and 62 medalists, Johnson has coached 151 Patriot League Championship point scorers. His athletes have broken or tied 10 Navy school records and four plebe records while producing 45 indoor and 32 outdoor performances that have earned spots on Navy’s all-time top-10 lists.
The 2025-26 season provided another example of Johnson’s impact.
Junior Nicolas Simmons won the Patriot League indoor heptathlon with 5,144 points to earn First-Team All-Patriot League honors. Freshman Jordan Wolverton finished second with 5,068 points, while Jamison Scott and Cooper Wakley also scored for Navy.
Simmons became even more impressive during the outdoor season. He scored 7,244 points in the decathlon, the sixth-highest total in Navy history, to win the Patriot League championship and earn Patriot League Field Athlete of the Meet honors. Earlier in the season, Simmons posted 7,413 points at the Navy Spring Invitational, the second-highest decathlon total in program history.
Johnson’s high jump group also remained among the best in the conference.
Sheldon Ulmer swept the men’s indoor and outdoor Patriot League high jump championships and also won the event during both Army-Navy Star Meets. Ulmer cleared seven feet for the first time in his career at the Navy Indoor Invitational, reaching 2.14 meters — 7 feet, 0.25 inches.
On the women’s side, Zoie Tesi captured both the indoor and outdoor Patriot League high jump titles. Tesi also established a Navy indoor record by clearing 1.78 meters — 5 feet, 10 inches — during a dual meet against Princeton.
Success Goes Beyond Annapolis
Johnson’s reputation has also continued to grow outside Navy.
Most recently, he was selected to serve on the Team USA track and field coaching staff at the FISU America Games in Lima, Peru. Johnson worked with the combined-event athletes, including Navy’s Simmons, as the group collected seven medals — three gold, three silver and one bronze.
Johnson arrived at Navy following three seasons as an assistant coach at Tulane from 2018 through 2021. He previously served as the head cross country and track and field coach at Valley City State University in North Dakota from 2015 through 2018.
At Tulane, Johnson coached eight athletes who scored at American Athletic Conference indoor and outdoor championship meets. His athletes also established multiple program records in the women’s pentathlon and heptathlon, and Johnson was named Tulane Athletics’ Green Globe Assistant Coach of the Year following the 2020-21 season.
Before Tulane, Johnson coached at Dickinson College and the University of Mary.
Johnson was also a successful athlete himself. He competed in baseball and track and field at Dickinson, captained the track team as a senior and became a three-time Centennial Conference champion in the javelin and jumping events. Johnson later competed in the javelin after college and was inducted into the Dickinson College Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of its 2010 track and field team.
A Promotion Earned Through Development
Johnson’s promotion gives Navy additional continuity within a track and field program that has become one of the Patriot League’s most consistent championship contenders.
His value has gone beyond producing individual champions. Navy’s multi-event athletes and high jumpers regularly contribute significant points at conference championship meets, while Johnson’s recruiting responsibilities give him an important role in maintaining the program’s talent pipeline.
Johnson thanked Cook and Navy administrators Kris Pierce and Michael Kelly following the announcement and said he plans to continue putting his energy toward building on Navy’s championship tradition.
For Navy, promoting Johnson is a logical move. Since arriving in Annapolis, his athletes have broken records, won championships and advanced into NCAA postseason competition. Now, after five seasons as an assistant, Johnson will take on an expanded leadership role as Navy attempts to continue its dominance in both the Patriot League and the Army-Navy rivalry.
