On Juy 2, 2018, Daryn Johnson was named the head coach of the Hunter College men's and women's cross country and track and field teams, as announced by Director of Athletics, Recreation and Intramurals, Terry Wansart. Johnson joined the Hunter ranks in 2015 as an assistant coach of the cross country and track teams, helping them through some of their most successful seasons in program history.
In his second season, Johnson guided the women's cross country team to their sixth straight conference championship during the 2019 season. At CUNYAC's, the women had seven place in the top-15 with six of them coming away with All-Star honors while Annabel Gregg was named the Rookie of the Year. Johnson was named the women's Coach of the Year for the second time. On top of that, the women placed sixth at the ECAC Championship. Meanwhile, the men posted a runner up finish for the fourth consecutive time. They had three earn All-Star status while freshman Alexander Marquez was named the Rookie of the Year. Johnson was also named the Men's Coach of the Year.
During the indoor 2019-20 campaign, the women placed second for the third year in a row. At CUNYAC's, there were three individual event winners plus a relay winner. Additionally, eight were named All-Stars while Leah Guan was named the Rookie of the Year. He had four individuals and two relays qualify for ECAC's where they placed 11th. On the men's side, they improved from a year ago and placed second at the CUNYAC Championship. There, they had one individual and one relay winner while seven took home All-Star honors. Meanwhile, they qualified four individuals and two relays for ECAC's where they finished in eighth as a team.
In his first year at the helm of both the men's and women's cross country and track and field teams, Johnson continued the success the programs have traditionally enjoyed. During the 2018 season, the women's cross country team won their fifth straight Championship while the men finished as the runner up. He had a total of nine All-Stars (four men and five women) and the women's individual runner up in Julia Leask. Additionally, he was named the CUNYAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year.
During the 2018-19 indoor season, the women placed second at the conference championship while the men claimed third. At the CUNYAC Championships, two men and nine women took home All-Star honors while the women's DMR took home top honors. Additionally, he had two athletes qualify and compete at ECAC's in Bianca Rey and Isaac Mari-Jata.
During the 2019 outdoor season, the women once again claimed top honors at the CUNYAC Championship while the men chalked up a third place finish. A total of 13 All-Star honors (eight women and five men) were bestowed upon his athletes. In addition, at the championships, two men and five women were individual event winners. For his efforts, Johnson was named the CUNYAC Coach of the Year. At ECAC's he had several individuals qualify and compete. The women, en route to a third place finish, crowned two event winners to compliment eight individual top-seven finishes and two third place showings in the relays. On the men's side, they finished 15th after sending five athletes who combined for five top-10 finishes including the 10k winner in Cristhofer Castro.
During his time as an Assistant at Hunter, the Hawks have won three women's cross country CUNYAC Championships, two women's indoor track and field CUNYAC Championships and two women's outdoor track and field CUNYAC Championships.
As an Assistant Coach, Johnson was primarily responsible for leading the sprint, hurdle and relay efforts of the programs. Since 2015, he has coached 15 individual conference champions in those events, including one ECAC title in the women's distance medley relay in 2018.
Prior to his time with the Hawks, Johnson spent time as the track program site director for the New York City Parks Foundation, as well as an assistant coach of the cross country and track and field program at Fordham Preparatory School.
Johnson has split time as a track coach, while maintaining a job as a math and science teacher since 2007. He currently works as the lead chemistry teacher at Xavier High School.
A talented collegiate runner, Johnson competed in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field all four years at Cornell University. While running for the Big Red, he helped his team to a conference championship in indoor and outdoor during his senior year and qualified for the Eastern Regional Championships in the steeplechase.
Johnson graduated from Cornell with a Bachelor of Science and earned a Master of Science in Education from Fordham University in 2012. He owns a U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association technical certification.
