Assistant coach Patrick Johnson is beginning his sixh season with the New Mexico Highlands track and field program in 2015-2016. Johnson primarily works with the jumpers and sprinters. In his time with the Cowgirls, Johnson has mentored 24 All-Americans in either the indoor or outdoor triple jump or long jump – including five national champions.

Johnson was named both the Indoor and Outdoor US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association South Central Region Coach of the Year in 2015, helping guide the Cowgirls to both the Indoor and Outdoor RMAC Championships. During the season, he helped mentor Salcia Slack to both multi NCAA Championships and Shanice McPherson to not only the Indoor NCAA Championship in the long jump, but the indoor NCAA Division II record of 6.49 meters.

Slack - the Outdoor National Female Field Athlete of the Year and the 2015 RMAC Female Track AND Field Athlete of the Year - was named Female Performer of the Meet at the NCAA Championships, scoring a jaw-droping 30.25 points and being an All-American in six different events. Slack was also the 2015 Indoor South Central Female Field Athlete of the Year and won both the Female Track and Field South Central Athlete of the Year awards outdoors. She broke the USTFCCCA record for All-Region nods indoors (seven) and outdoors (10).

Finally, Slack smashed the NCAA Division II heptathlon record, and was then third in the world, with 6,141 points in April of 2015.

The jumpers and sprinters also had a phenominal year as the Cowgirls received 15 individual All-American nods and one relay honor in 2015 among seven different athletes. 
 
Since the 2011 outdoor NCAA Division II Championships, of the eight national championships contested in the indoor or outdoor long jump, four have been won by Highlands. Even more impressive, those four championships were won by three different athletes.
 
Prior to his stint at Highlands, Johnson was a graduate assistant at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, earning a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling.
 
A native of Jamaica, Johnson has spent more than 20 years as an assistant or head track coach at the high school level in his homeland prior to coming to the US.
 
An executive member of the Jamaica Track and Field Coaches Association since 1990, Johnson has a Level 1, 2 and 5 coaching certificate from the International Association of Athletic Federation and a Lever 1, 2 and 3 coaching certificate from the North Central American Caribbean Region.
 
Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education.