JJ Johnson Tabbed RMISA Alpine Coach of the Year

Press release provided by the University of Utah, photos: JJ Johnson photo Dyke/Utah Athletics team Eli Rehmer/Utah Athletics

Johnson takes league honor for the second year in a row

SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah head alpine skiing coach JJ Johnson was named RMISA Coach of the Year on Thursday. It is Johnson’s fourth career RMISA Coach of the Year honor, also taking it home in 2019, ’20 and ’23.
 
Johnson’s alpine squad, plus the Utah Nordic contingent, combined for a runner-up finish this past season at the NCAA Championships. It marked the ninth straight national championship meet that the Utes placed fourth or higher; it included a run of four straight national titles (2019-23) which had not previously happened in the combined-gender era of NCAA skiing.
 
Under the guidance of Johnson and assistant alpine coach Mary Joyce, the Utes scored the most regular season alpine points of any RMISA team (1190.5). The men’s squad topped the league with 614.5 points while the women placed second (576) behind only Denver. All told, Utah had 10 individual alpine race wins throughout the campaign.
 
Seven Utah alpiners earned All-RMISA postseason honors, headlined by Kaja Norbye’s nod as women’s slalom MVP. Awarded to the skier with the most NCAA qualification points, Norbye had a remarkable season as she started all 14 races with 13 top-10 results, including six podiums and three wins.
 
Then at the NCAA Championships, six alpine All-America citations went to the Utes led by Mikkel Solbakken’s win in men’s giant slalom. It made Solbakken the first men’s alpine individual champion from Utah (either in GS or slalom) since 2016.
 
Johnson also coached fellow First Team All-Americans Madison Hoffman and Sindre Myklebust. Hoffman wrapped up a stellar Utah career with a pair of second-place results at NCAAs, while Myklebust turned in a runner-up GS performance in his nationals debut as a freshman. Norbye also reeled in All-American honors, placing sixth in GS.