Track and Field
- Title:
- Assistant Track & Field Coach
- Email:
- lejohnson25@liberty.edu
- Start Date:
- 07/16/2022
Luke Johnson joined the Liberty staff as an assistant track & field coach in time for the 2022-23 season, coaching the Flames’ throwers.
Paola Bueno placed 16th in the 2025 NCAA women’s hammer final, becoming the first Liberty women’s thrower to earn multiple All-America honors and capping off another impressive year by the Liberty throwers. Kellen Kimes also threw the hammer at the NCAA meet in Eugene and captured one of the Flames’ four CUSA titles in the throwing events.
The Liberty throws crew continued to flourish under Johnson’s direction in 2024, accounting for three of the team’s six qualifiers to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships and 12 of the Flames’ 22 NCAA Division I East First Rounds competitors. Warren Barrett became an indoor men’s shot put All-American for the second year in a row, while Paola Bueno captured her first All-America certificate in the women’s hammer. Throwers combined to win six CUSA event titles, helping Liberty sweep the indoor and outdoor conference crowns.
Johnson’s charges enjoyed a phenomenal year in 2023, headlined by Kevin Nedrick’s fifth-place finish in the NCAA men’s discus final with an ASUN all-time record mark of 203-2. Warren Barrett threw a program-record 64-1.25 to become the first Flames shot putter to qualify for the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships in 15 years. Liberty throwers won four ASUN titles and accounted for nine of the program’s 19 qualifiers to the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet.
Johnson spent the 2022 season as CSUN’s throws coach following four years (2018-21) coaching Emory University’s throwers. During his time in Atlanta, Johnson led 16 Eagles to University Athletic Association medalist honors. Johnson taught Emory women’s basketball player Laura Shekter to throw the shot put, and in two seasons, she posted a best of 45-7.75 and earned 2020 NCAA Division III indoor All-America honors. Johnson’s Emory throwers recorded five school records.
Johnson moved to Emory after spending the 2017 season as a volunteer throws coach at Georgia, working under assistant coach Don Babbitt. In addition, he served a stint at the highly regarded Hoffa Throws Academy where, under the direction of three-time Olympian Reese Hoffa, Johnson provided coaching to high school and middle school athletes in the discus and shot put. He also traveled to multiple high schools to put on day camps to help educate coaches and teach fundamentals of throwing.
Johnson competed for Minnesota from 2012-16. Named team captain by his teammates as a senior, he earned second team All-America honors with a 14th-place finish in the men’s shot put at the 2016 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championship. Johnson placed third in the shot put at the 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a personal-best mark of 64-1.25 and went on to compete in the 2016 USA Olympic Trials.
Johnson, whose discus personal best measured 185-4, was voted by the Gophers’ coaching staff as the inaugural recipient of the Roy Griak Award, symbolizing resilience and work ethic.
A native of Brooklyn Park, Minn., Johnson earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Minnesota in 2016.
Johnson and his wife, Jessica, have three children, Bear, Zoey and Wake.
