by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
Jeremy Johnson probably couldn't ask for a better opportunity to close out his UNM cross country career.
Johnson will take on the best the nation has to offer Monday when he competes in the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.
The Lobo standout, who qualified by placing third at last weekend's NCAA Mountain Region Championship, said he has had his mind on the race for some time.
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"This was a day we were looking forward to half a year ago, a year ago," Johnson said. "We've been working hard. We've been excited for this a long time."
Johnson had a stellar season in his senior year, even in limited
action.
He competed in four cross country races this season, placing no lower than sixth in any meet. The sixth-place finish was his debut at Oregon, where he placed ahead of five All-Americans.
At the NCAA Pre-National meet in October, Johnson finished fourth overall and broke his own school record in the 8,000-meter course.
In the final home race of his UNM cross country career, Johnson won the Mountain West Conference Championship and led the men's team to a second-place
finish.
But after finishing third at the regional meet last week, Johnson will take on his toughest competition of the year.
"There's great guys out there," he said. "There's guys that have represented the U.S. There's guys that have represented national teams. They've been on the international stage. There's big guys, but we're ready."
UNM head coach Joe Franklin said Johnson can have an impressive showing on Monday as long as he runs a smart race.
And that shouldn't be a problem, because Johnson has been an intelligent and mature runner, Franklin said.
The coach, who is in his first year at UNM after taking over for Matt Henry, said Johnson has adapted to his coaching style with ease.
"It's nice to have him have such an open mind," he said. "When somebody comes in with some new ideas and some new thoughts, it's kind of tough for some runners to get out of that routine that they've had for four or five years. And Jeremy's been awesome."
Franklin said he wants Johnson to run a tactical race in which he is not at the front of the pack until the latter stages of the race.
Johnson said he has thought about his strategy and tried to picture the race, but it's important to be ready for anything.
"The big thing is to not get settled into one plan, because you don't know what's going to happen," he said. "You don't know if it's going to start out slow or if it's going to hammer or what."
Johnson said he has a lot of respect for the other runners in the field, but that doesn't mean he isn't giving himself a chance.
"I'm going to go in there believing that I can win it," he said. "I'm going to race like I can win it."
