DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – For this week’s #TitleTuesday we take a special look back at Chelsea Johnson’s run to the 2013 NCAA Division III Women’s Cross Country National Championship, becoming the institution’s first NCAA Champion.

THE BUILDING OF A CHAMPION

Johnson, a native of North Branch, Minnesota, had a quiet start to her collegiate career with a seventh-place finish at the Crown College Invitational being her best during her first season and she did not qualify to compete at the Region Championships. She would earn All-UMAC accolades during the outdoor season from being part of the conference champion 4x800m relay team.

In her sophomore season in 2011, Johnson would score for the team at the Pre-UMAC Invitational and then later in the year led the team for the first time with a third-place finish at the UMAC Championship. She followed that up by breaking 24 minutes for the first time at the NCAA Central Region Championships. During the track & field season, Johnson captured the UMAC Indoor and Outdoor Titles in the 5000m run and the 3000m steeplechase outdoors.

Prior to her junior season in 2012, the expectation was that Chelsea would be the cross country team’s top runner for the year. She began that season with a bang, winning the Tom Barry Invitational, becoming the first CSS runner to win an event in four seasons. However, that would be her lone race win of the season, but she did finish in top five in every race leading her to qualify for the 2012 NCAA Championships. She was runner-up to the University of Minnesota Morris’ Linda Keller at the UMAC Championship and placed third at the NCAA Central Region Championships. Keller won that Region meet. At the 2012 National Championships, Johnson would defeat Keller for the first time, placing 15th overall to become the program’s second NCAA All-American. Later that year, Johnson was limited during the track & field season due to lingering injuries.

SENIOR SEASON

So following an All-American cross country season as a junior and her continuing progression towards the top, expectations were really high entering her senior year of 2013. Not only that, the women’s cross country team had the depth to contend to qualify for Nationals as a team that season. 

After winning just one race as a junior, Johnson was dominant in 2013, winning eight of the nine races she competed in. The only event she did not take first was the St. Olaf College Invitational in September, where she finished third. Following that third-place finish, however, Johnson went on to win the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational, becoming the first Saint to win that event since 2002. She also defeated Noelle Olson of St. Olaf, who won the previous week. 

The team then competed for the first time at the Pre-National Meet in Hanover, Indiana where Johnson could preview the National Championship course. Johnson went on to win that race by 46 seconds as the Saints placed third in the 18-team field as the team was ranked 22nd in NCAA Division III.

Two weeks later, Johnson set a 6k-program record that still stands today, winning the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational with a time of 21:04. After cruising to the UMAC Individual title, where she won by two minutes and 17 seconds, Johnson set her eyes to the Central Region Championships where she became the first Saint to capture a NCAA Region Championship, beating the rest of the field by 20 seconds.

THE 2013 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP RACE

Johnson was one of the favorites, if not THE favorite at the NCAA Division III National Championship the following week in Indiana. Having already seen the course, Johnson and Head Coach Steve Pfingsten had a plan to start out fast. However, Johnson would not breakaway like she did in previous races and would be in a battle with three other runners, which included Olson from St. Olaf. 

With a kilometer remaining, Johnson started to distance herself from the group by a few meters. "I decided when walking the course and talking with coach, that the 5k mark was going to be the time I was going to go," described Johnson.

In the final kilometer, Johnson put on a bit of surge and cruised to an 11-second victory over Olson of St. Olaf to win the program's first national title. In doing so, she became the school’s first NCAA Champion and finished her collegiate cross country career winning her final six races.

"Never thought I would be here," reflected Johnson. "Freshman year was rough, but my times got better my sophomore year and I just wanted to train more and see where it goes."

WATCH THE FULL RACE REPLAY

Johnson would later go on to take All-America honors in the 5,000m run at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Johnson also still holds the indoor 5,000m program record.