Pitch Johnson

Pitch Johnson finished fourth in the NCAA high hurdles in 1923 and also finished fourth at the AAU Meet in the 1924 200 hurdles. He competed for the University of Illinois and the Illinois AC. Johnson became a track & field coach, first serving at Drake University (1928-40) where he was the director of the Drake Relays from 1933-40. He then became track director at Stanford from 1941-43 and was an athletic instructor there until the end of World War II. In 1945 he went to the Philippines and Japan to organize the Pacific Army Olympics.

Johnson’s son, Pitch Johnson, Jr., became a wealthy venture capitalist who helped launch multiple biotech companies, including Amgen, Biogen Idec, and Tande. Pitch Johnson, the Olympian, was posthumously inducted into the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame in 2009.

Personal Best: 110H – 15.1 (1924).