Sam Johnson is in his 13th season as head track & field coach of the Golden Bears in the 2024-25 season after being named to the role in the fall of 2012.
On the track, Johnson works with the sprinters, hurdlers and horizontal jumpers on the Golden Bears squad. Johnson and his staff are committed to serving their dedicated student-athletes who have the desire to work and compete to improve on a daily basis.
During the 2013-2014 season, Golden Bear track and field athletes continued to raise the bar for the program as 21 school records were set in indoor and outdoor events to go along with five All-NSIC selections and seven national qualifying marks. Academically, the student-athletes garnered 12 NSIC Spring All-Academic team selections while two individuals were recognized by the USTFCCCA as All-Academic status for their performances on the track and in the classroom.
The program took another major step forward in the 2014-15 season as the Golden Bears sent a team record five athletes to take part in the NCAA Championships. In addition, Johnson saw 14 school records fall throughout the year with five named All-NSIC. Concordia continued to excel in the classroom with 14 athletes named NSIC All-Academic and both teams earning USTFCCCA All-Academic honors.
In the 2016-17 season, the Golden Bears broke 17 more school records as the bar continued to be raised. CSP was again represented at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships as Kalle Burney and Wakpor Ighovojah each qualified in the pentathlon in the indoor season before Burney returned for the heptathlon in the outdoor season. Ighovojah became the first CSP athlete to earn All-America honors as she was named to the Second Team in the pentathlon. The team also found success in the classroom with both teams earning USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors while six individuals were named USTFCCCA All-Academic.
The progress continued into 2017-18 as Ighovojah earned All-America honors again in both the indoor and outdoor seasons while Burney became the first All-America First Team pick in program history in the indoor pentathlon. Benjamin Allen followed it up by grabbing All-America First Team honors by finishing fourth in the 1500m at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, marking the best ever finish for a male athlete in the program.
Despite seeing the 2019-20 season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the women's squad set a program record with 41 points in the NSIC Indoor Championships to finish fifth while Benjamin Allen earned NSIC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year honors. Allen was one of four CSP athletes to earn a spot at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
2020-21 marked another big step forward for the program as the Golden Bears had a record-setting six All-Americans between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Toni Canfell locked up a pair of All-America First Team honors in the indoor 60m and 200m while Christian Davis earned First Team honors in the long jump and Arika Robinson took home Second Team honors in high jump. In the outdoor season, Benjamin Allen came within a hundredth of a second of becoming an NCAA Champion in the 1500m to be named an All-America First Team pick while Marcus Gustaveson added First Team honors in the discus as well. Christabelle Mulcahy finished as a Second Team pick in the 100m hurdles. Gustaveson continued his remarkable spring by earning a place at the US Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon.
Johnson worked as an assistant with Concordia from 2010 to 2012 before taking his role as the head coach. During that time Johnson’s athletes collected eight All-NSIC performances, two NSIC individual championships, and one national qualifying mark en route to breaking 14 school records.
Prior to Concordia, Johnson spent two seasons as an assistant track & field coach for the Huskies of St. Cloud State University. While there, he co-coached the sprint and jump athletes, helping to develop multiple conference champions, national qualifiers and one national champion.
Johnson also competed four years for the Huskies and was a two-year captain while competing in the long sprints, 400 meter hurdles, relays and long jump. Johnson earned All-North Central Conference honors and was named to the NCC Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll four times.
A native of Savage, Minn., Johnson is a 2003 graduate of Burnsville High School. He received his undergraduate degree in 2007 and a master’s degree in exercise physiology and biomechanics in 2009 from St. Cloud State.
