Biography
By Jim Hague
The truth be told, LaSha Johnson always wanted to attend Rutgers-Newark in the first place. When she graduated from Columbia High School in Maplewood two years ago, Johnson’s first collegiate choice was in fact Rutgers-Newark.
But finances prevented Johnson from heading to R-N, so she went to Kean first.
“I always wanted to run for Rutgers-Newark and Coach (Juan) Edney,” Johnson said. “I’ve liked him for a long time. People joke that we look so much alike that we have to be related. I went to Kean and was all set to run there, but then the school cut the track program. I had no other choice.”
In order to get the proper financing to attend R-N, Johnson made a bold move. She enlisted in the United States Army National Guard.
“I joined the National Guard to help pay for the tuition,” Johnson said. “My brother and grandfather were both in the Army, so it’s always been in our family.”
Johnson said that the discipline she has received from her tour of duty has helped her as a student/athlete.
“It really keeps me focused for track,” Johnson said. “When I first joined, I did it to pay for school, but as it turned out, I really liked it.”
Johnson’s National Guard commitments require her to remain one weekend per month at the National Guard Armory in Teaneck.
“But sometimes, it gets difficult doing all the things I do, school, track, National Guard,” Johnson said. “I’m always going from place to place.”
Johnson is a Private First Class in the Army National Guard, where she has remained for a little more than a year. She tries not to concentrate on the fact that she could be a phone call away from being deployed to Afghanistan.
“It’s the No. 1 thing that I try not to think about at all, but it’s always in the back of my mind,” Johnson said. “Every time they call, I realize that it could be me.”
While Johnson has not been shipped overseas, she did assist recently in areas devastated by earthquakes and hurricanes.
Edney is impressed with Johnson’s commitment to her country.
“It was a big sacrifice for LaSha to make, but she’s a tough, hard-working kid,” Edney said. “I’ve told her that I wish some of the guys on the team would work as hard as she does. She has enough talent to be respectable, but she also has the hard work and dedication.”
Because of Johnson’s school situation and her commitments to the National Guard, she hadn’t run much for two years prior to the first semester.
Edney had an idea to strengthen Johnson’s stamina. He had her run on the cross country team.
“I definitely told Coach Edney that I couldn’t do that,” Johnson said. “I’m a sprinter. I don’t run miles. He kept saying that it would help me. He kept encouraging me that I could do it.”
“She was behind, because she hadn’t run in almost two years,” Edney said. “She didn’t want to run cross country, but I made her do it and I think it made her tougher.”
So when the indoor track season started, Johnson, a freshman in terms of eligibility, was back in her own familiar element, running in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes, as well as being part of the Scarlet Raiders 4x400-meter relay.
“She keeps fighting through everything,” Edney said. “She’s definitely tougher. If I had 15 more kids with LaSha’s dedication, I wouldn’t have a problem at all. She has one of the best attitudes of anyone I’ve ever coached.”
Johnson has also battled injury during her first season with the Scarlet Raiders, developing a painful case of shin splints.
“It’s taken her away from training,” Edney said. “There’s only so much you can do in the training room. It’s not the same as being on the track.”
Johnson said that she has recently attempted a new wrapping measure to protect her legs, a move that has seemed to work.
“We recently put tape on my legs and it’s helped,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely been a struggle, not being able to do anything some days, but recently, I feel like I’m winning the battle with the shin splints.”
Johnson is encouraged by the way she has been running lately, as the Scarlet Raiders make the move from indoor to outdoor seasons.
“I definitely feel like I’m getting faster,” Johnson said. “I didn’t expect to get this fast this year.”
“She may lose confidence when she doesn’t understand something, but she’s getting there,” Edney said. “I think she realizes how difficult it is to run in college track and she’s beginning to push herself. I think she’s going to keep plugging away until she gets it. She’s a powerful girl with powerful legs. She has a lot of promise, but she still has a lot to learn. Maybe we can grow together.”
Johnson is a criminal justice major at R-N. She will continue with her National Guard duties and might consider making the military a career.
“I think I look good in green,” she laughed.
Or she might consider following in the footsteps of her father, Isiah Jackson, who is a member of the East Orange police department.
“I have a lot to consider after school,” Johnson said.
For now, Johnson is getting comfortable at the school she always wanted to attend in the first place. Maybe, in that respect, it’s a little sense of destiny in the making.
