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Northwestern College Athletics

Northwestern College
HOME OF NORTHWESTERN RED RAIDERS ATHLETICS
HONORING CHRIST THROUGH EXCELLENCE IN ATHLETICS
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2023-staff-mattjohnson

Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson joins the Northwestern Track and Field programs in the summer of 2021 as an assistant coach for sprints, pole vault, and javelin throw. He comes back to Northwestern after a two-year stint as a graduate assistant coach for the Dakota Wesleyan University track and field programs. Entering the 2022-23 academic year, Johnson also serves as a seasonal assistant in the athletic communications department. 

"I chose to come back to NWC because I wanted to make a positive impact on the team that set me up and led me to a life of coaching," noted Johnson. "The team’s leadership and school also keep a very good Christ-centered mission which is important and central to everything in life."

While at DWU, he coaches six national qualifying marks in the jumps, 15 All-Conference marks in men's and women's sprints/jumps/decathlon/heptathlon. Furthermore, he coached one All-American performer and two Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) champions in the men's high jump and women's triple jump.
 
"Honoring Christ through excellence in athletics is using the God given gifts we all have, be it work ethic, performance, or coaching and communication," says Johnson. "To not perform at the level we are capable of, with the gifts we have been blessed with, is to waste our gifts and not acknowledge our Creator and the reason we were created."

Johnson was a four-year member of the Raider track and field team under head coach Scott Bahrke. As a Raider, he competed in the decathlon, earning two All-Conference honors at the GPAC meet (5th in 2019, 7th in 2018).

During his coaching tenure, Johnson has earned certifications through the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as a Sprint, Hurdles, and Relay Event Specialist and Jumping Event Specialist, as well as Weight Training and Performance Nutrition certifications.

His favorite Bible verse is Psalm 118:5 - In my anguish I cried out to the Lord, and He answered by setting me free. "A promise that we can reach out to God about anything during the bad times and we will be freed from whatever going on," noted Johnson.

Johnson graduated from Northwestern College in 2019 with a degree in business administration with concentrations in management and marketing. In 2021, he graduated from Dakota Wesleyan University with his Master of Arts degree in Educational Policy and Administration. If not coaching, you can find him training in order to continue competing himself or reading various athletic development or coaching/leadership books in order to become a better coach.

Coaching Accomplishments:
  • 2022 Women's All-American 4x400m relay
  • 2022 Indoor and Outdoor and 2022 Pole Vault national qualifier (Erin Hulberg)
    • First female in school history to qualify for NAIA Championships in pole vault
  • 2022 and 2023 Men's 4x100m national qualifiers
    • 2023 GPAC Champions - school record-holder
  • 2023 Indoor Men's 200m national qualifier (Braden Kalvelage)
  • 2022 and 2023 Indoor and Outdoor Men's 4x400m relay national qualifier
  • 2023 Men's Javelin national qualifier (Ben Thelander)
  • Multiple school-record holders coaches (Erin Hulberg, Men's 4x100m, Braden Kalvelage, Braden Jahn, Cody Post)
Updated June 2023