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- Title:
- Head Cross Country Coach; Assistant Track and Field (Distance)
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- Phone:
- (785) 460-5417
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- Email:
- brady.johnson@colbycc.edu
Bio
Brady Johnson oversees the cross country and distance athletes. He joined CCC in 2019.
- 2022 USTFCCCA NJCAA Division I Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year
- Three-time KJCCC Cross Country Coach of the Year ('23 Men, '22 Men, '20 Women)
- Two-time KJCCC Assistant Track & Field Coach of the Year (‘23 Indoor Men, ‘23 Outdoor Men)
- 2023 USTFCCCA NJCAA Division I Central Region Men’s Indoor Track Assistant Coach of the Year
- 11 Individual National Champions & 1 National Championship Distance Medley Relay
- Four Region VI Team Championships ('23 Women's XC; '23, '22, '21 Men's XC)
- 27 Individual Region VI Champions & 3 Region VI Relay Champions
- 55 NJCAA All-Americans
In the fall of 2022, the Trojan men won the cross country program's first NJCAA Division I national title. At the national meet in Tallahassee, Fla., Colby tied the second-lowest score in DI history with 38 team points after finishing the race with four All-Americans and six runners in the top 20. The Trojans also won the KJCCC/ Region VI Championship for the second year in a row with a dominant 23 team points. Individual national champion Sanele Masondo won the Region VI title during an undefeated 2022 campaign. At the Region VI Championship, Emily Diercks also won the women's championship, marking only the second time Colby had the individual DI men's and women's champion at the region championships.
The 2023 indoor and outdoor track season featured six total individual national championships, several school records, and numerous All-American honors. The indoor season was highlighted by a double national championship by Masondo, who won the men's 3000m and 5000m. Masondo was followed by Kgadi Monyebodi and Tom Thierry to give the Trojan men a 1-2-8 finish in the 5000m, earning three All-Americans in a single event. Diercks won the women's 3000m, along with a
runner-up finish in the mile. Diercks was the first individual national champion on the women's side coached by Johnson. The outdoor season saw Masondo continue his dominance, winning both the men's 10,000m and 5000m, giving him an undefeated year at the NJCAA National Championships. Ricardo Barbosa won the men's 3000m, going back-to-back in the event. Masondo and Barbosa ran personal best times at the Drake relays earlier in the season. Masondo in the 5000m and Barbosa in the 3000m steeplechase both ran the third-best times in NJCAA history.
In 2021, the Trojan distance program saw one of its most historic seasons in school history. During the cross country season, the Trojan men won the Region VI Championship on their home course. It was the first region championship for the men's program since 2014. The men's team placed 3rd at the NJCAA National Championships, the highest finish in program history to date. The women's team also finished in the top 10 nationally.
During the 2022 indoor track season, the men's distance medley relay won the Region VI and NJCAA national titles, setting a new school record of 9:51.92 and breaking the previous record by 12 seconds. Johnson guided Barbosa to NJCAA runner-up finishes in the 3000m and mile. The Trojan distance runners posted 14 top-10 program marks. The outdoor season saw continued success for both the men's and women's teams. Ricardo Barbosa won the Region VI championship in the 3000m steeplechase and 1500m. Barbosa went on to win a national championship in the 3000m steeplechase in a personal best time of 8:51.45, shattering the school record by over 20 seconds.
Sanele Masondo also experienced unprecedented success by setting school records in the 5000m and 10,000m events. He won the 10,000m at the Region VI Championships and finished as national runner-up in the same event while also winning the national title in the 5000m. The Trojan men finished seventh nationally at indoor and outdoor national championships, scoring more points in the distance events than any other program. On the women's side, Emily Diercks won the regional titles in the 1500m and 5000m. Her teammate, Regan Hodsden, finished right behind her in the 5000m, marking a one-two finish for the Trojans. Both Diercks (1500m-fourth place) and Hodsden (5000m-fourth) went on to earn All-America honors.
Johnson's first year saw historic firsts in the program before being cut short by Covid-19. He helped guide Wesley Kiptoo to the 2019 NJCAA national cross country individual title. Kiptoo was the first male athlete to win the individual national title in program history. Additionally, he won the indoor 5,000m national title and set the NJCAA national record (13:43.29), and clocked the second-best time in NJCAA history for the 3,000m (7:51.59). Kiptoo later became an NCAA National Champion, multiple NCAA All-American, and professional athlete for Hoka One One.
Johnson also coached Abigael Kemboi to All-American honors in the fall as she won the individual title at the KJCCC/ Region VI Championships. The individual titles by Kemboi and Banguria at the 2019 KJCCC/ Region VI Championships marked the first time Colby athletes won both men's and women's titles at the same meet. Both teams finished the season ranked nationally, with the men's team finishing in the top 10 at the NJCAA National Cross Country Championships. The men's distance medley relay also finished 3rd at the NJCAA Indoor National Championships, one of the highest finishes in program history.
Before arriving in Colby, Johnson served as an assistant cross country and track coach at Fort Hays State University for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. During that time, he had an active role in aiding a 1,500m NCAA Div. II national champion, school record-setting and conference champion men's DMR, a women's school record holder, and several all-conference athletes.
Johnson began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 2017 at the University of Portland. While at UP, the men's team won the NCAA West Cross Country Regional on the way to claiming second place at the NCAA Division I National Cross Country Championships. The men's squad had three All-Americans, and the women's team had one. While coaching the Pilot runners that year, Johnson also worked at Nike at the World Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., as a running specialist.
As an athlete at Portland, Johnson was the top finisher on a team that placed 13th at the 2016 NCAA Division I National Cross Country Championships. He was an outdoor track West Regional qualifier in the 5,000m and 10,000m and ran the school's fifth-best time in the 3000m.
He transferred to Portland from Wichita State University. At WSU, he earned several All-Conference honors, was an NCAA qualifier in the 5000m and 10,000m, and ran school record performances in the 5000m and cross country 8000m races. He also ran the No. 2 time in WSU history in the 10,000m.
From nearby Plainville, Kan., Johnson was a high school state champion in cross country and track before graduating from Plainville High School.
He holds a bachelor's degree in sport management from Wichita State and a master's degree in management communication from the University of Portland.
Johnson is married to Chelsea Johnson, who also serves as an assistant coach for the cross country/distance program.
College Signings under Coach Johnson:
Nehemiah Too '20 - Iowa State University
Wesley Banguria Kiptoo '20 - Iowa State University
Abigael Kemboi '21 - East Central University
Claire Kimutai '21 - University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
Micah Too '21 - New Mexico State University
Victorine Kiprop ‘21 - Texas A&M International
Regan Hodsden ‘22 - Fort Hays State University
Cierra Nord ‘22 - Tennessee Martin University
Remi Chavenaud ‘22 - Bradley University
Chayse McCullough '23 - University of Missouri Kansas City
Emily Diercks '23 - University of Missouri Kansas City
Sanele Masondo '23 - Iowa State University
Ricardo Barbosa ‘23 - Wingate University
Tom Thierry ‘23 - Wingate University
Mohammed Baghati '23 - Western Illinois University
Kgadi Monyebodi '24 - University of Portland