Hall of Fame: Dave Johnson (Estancia)

Richard Dunn

Dave Johnson, one of Estancia High’s original speedsters, realizes

he couldn’t be where he is today without great coaching, which includes

encouraging parents who supported him “in every way they could.”

Johnson, a cross country and track coach at El Toro High, where he

teaches marine biology and oceanography, was the second of four children

growing up. His father, Aldis, is a doctor. His late mother, Margaret,

was a teacher and PTA president.

Branching out into the family tree, his mother’s father was a school

superintendent in Iowa, while his father’s mother was also a teacher.

(There will be a test on this later.)

“Education just feels right,” Johnson said. “To be apart of peoples’

lives, I think of it as a privilege to be working and sharing in the

classroom and out in the field.”

For Johnson, who later competed in track and field at Cal Poly San

Luis Obispo, teaching and coaching, you could say, was in his blood.

The late Tom Fisher, a former Estancia track coach and science

teacher, was a huge influence on Johnson, who graduated in 1970 and

played three years of varsity football, including two seasons as the

team’s star tailback.

Johnson’s name still grazes the Estancia track and field record board

in the 100- and 220-yard dashes, the oldest varsity records listed, set

in 1970. Johnson, if memory serves him correct, broke the 100 mark at the

fifth annual Beach Cities Invitational at Newport Harbor High.

“I kind of remember running the race and realizing it was a new school

record,” said Johnson, whose times of 9.8 in the 100 and 21.6 in the 220

will probably never be broken, since yards are no longer used as the

sport’s measuring rod.

“Maybe (the record) will always be there,” added Johnson, whose tenure

as a school-record holder is preceded only by a JV pole vault record of

13-4, set in 1969 by “C. Nomura,” according to the board.

As a senior, instead of the 100, Johnson qualified for the CIF

Southern Section finals in the 220. “That was a pretty influential moment

in my track career with Coach Fisher,” he said.

In football, Johnson was a standout under Coach John Lowry for two

autumns, then under Coach Phil Brown his senior year in 1969. In Week 2

of his junior year, Johnson carried 31 times for 225 yards against

Pacifica, a 33-12 victory for Estancia, one of only two wins that season

for the Eagles.

But, in the next game, Johnson suffered a hairline fracture in a

vertebra and missed ample playing time in 1968. The injury spoiled some

of his senior year, as well, with persistent back spasms.

In Estancia’s highly anticipated game against crosstown rival Costa

Mesa, however, Johnson scored the Eagles’ only touchdown on an 80-yard

kickoff return to open the second half.

“I think at that time I was considering football as my main sport, but

that changed when I went out for football at Golden West College and

continued having back problems,” said Johnson, who played one year of

football under former GWC Coach Ray Shackleford, but competed in track

for two seasons under Coach Tom Noon in the 100, 220, 440 relay and mile

relay.

Johnson, who also competed in cross country his sophomore year at GWC,

where his academic stature also improved, landed at Cal Poly San Luis

Obispo.

Johnson, teammates with middle-distance star Clancy Edwards and

high-jump great Ronaldo Brown at Cal Poly, found a spot running the 400

meters and mile relay. As a senior in 1974, Johnson placed second in the

400 at the NCAA Division II championships.

“Coach Phil Brown had set up a weightlifting program in the (football)

offseason at Estancia and that encouraged us to build up for football,”

Johnson said. “I attribute a lot of my track times my senior year (in

high school) to that great football weightlifting program. That had me

build up stamina.”

Later, Johnson walked on at Cal Poly, where Coach Steve Simmons was

another influence in his life.

Johnson, who majored in P.E. and minored in biology, later earned a

masters degree in science education at Cal State Fullerton.

Before Johnson began substitute teaching, he was pursuing a degree in

counseling in Lompoc.

In the spring of 1977, Johnson introduced himself to El Toro track

coach Larry Nitta and got a job as a walk-on coach. And, that spring,

Johnson began substitute teaching in four different school districts.

Johnson, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame,

was hired as a full-time teacher at El Toro in 1978 and has been there

ever since.

“It’s been a very good place to teach,” Johnson said. “It’s a very

supportive community and there’s a group of supportive teachers. It’s a

good academic community.”

Johnson lives in Portola Hills with his wife, Susie, and two children:

Their son, Michael, 19, is a student at UC Santa Cruz, while their

daughter, Kristin, is a sophomore at El Toro High.