University of Missouri-St. Louis sophomore Haeley Johnson competed in the biggest meet of her brief collegiate track career on May 6-7.

The former Montgomery County standout participated in the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship meet at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar. She was the Tritons’ only competitor in the women’s meet and one of three UMSL athletes who ran in the meet.

Even though she didn’t leave Bolivar with any medals, Johnson was thrilled to participate in a large meet that included teams such as Lindenwood, Lewis University, University of Indianapolis and Southwest Baptist.

“I think making it into conference was definitely a standout moment of this year,” Johnson said.

Johnson completed her second season with the UMSL track program. When she competed in her first year with the Tritons last year, it was the first time since her junior year at MCHS that she participated in track. Her senior year at MCHS in 2020 was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, Johnson was UMSL’s top performer in the sprint and jumping events. She ran a personal-best time of 13 seconds in the 100-meter dash at the Dick Cochran Classic in St. Charles on April 23 and jumped a personal-best 16 feet, 3 inches in the long jump at the Central Methodist Open on March 19.

“Personally, this season was better than my freshman year,” Johnson said. “I’m just getting into the groove. Having such a supportive team was a lot of help through all of the adversity. At the Division II level, there is so much competition.”

Johnson ran a total of seven meets during the indoor and outdoor seasons. She competed in her first indoor season for the Tritons, who completed their second year of competition.

“The indoor meets were something I had never done before,” Johnson said. “Not even in summer track or high school track. So it was definitely a new experience for me. Honestly, indoor was really hard, but it was probably one of my favorite times because it was something completely new to me.”

Johnson said UMSL coach Steve Picucci was helpful to her this season.

“I get along with him really well,” Johnson said. “He’s really easy to get along with. He makes sure that all of his athletes know what the point of a workout is and what we’re working on and how it’s going to benefit us. For me, it helps me a lot because I’m such a ‘Why’ person. But he’s definitely a one-on-one coach. He’s always offering to stay after practice and always reaching out over breaks, making sure everyone is eating OK and doing OK mentally.”

Johnson’s best finish during the indoor season came at the Principia College Relays on Jan. 29, when she helped the sprint medley team – which also included Dominica Rooks, Kennedy Moore and Lauren Bearden-Kyser – place second.
Johnson’s best finish during the outdoor season was sixth in the long jump at the CMU Open, where she jumped 16-3. She also helped the 1,600-meter relay team – which also included Rooks, Moore and Lily Wagemann – place ninth at the McKendree Classic on April 9.

Johnson qualified for the GLVC meet by finishing 15th in the 100 and 11th with a 15-6.25 in the long jump at the Dick Cochran Classic in St. Charles. She joined UMSL teammates Gavin Love, Benjamin VandenBrink and Jacob Warner on the trip to Bolivar.

“For us, that was our qualifying meet,” Johnson said. “We had to run certain times. For me, I had to jump a certain length at that meet to be able to qualify. I found out I made it that day.”

Johnson, who was a three-time state qualifier in track at MCHS, is already looking forward to her junior track season at UMSL.

“I’m hoping to take what I did and all of the progress that I made from last season into next season and just see how I can improve personally,” Johnson said.

Johnson is also focusing on graduating early. She plans to earn a Bachelor’s degree in exercise science in December.
“This year, my classes were a lot harder,” Johnson said. “But this was definitely my breakthrough year for track and for academics. I received a letter over the summer that I made the dean’s list. I’m in this organization for athletes at school and I was nominated to be a huddle leader. It just seems like everything has fallen into place this year.”