USA Track & Field hosted a media teleconference on Wednesday, February 13 with hammer/weight thrower Anna Norgren Mahon and sprinter Joshua ‘J.J.” Johnson.

Both athletes are scheduled to compete at the 2002 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Norgren Mahon will compete in the women’s 20-pound weight throw, while Johnson will compete in the men’s 60m dash. The championships are scheduled for March 1-2 at the Armory Track & Field Center at 168th Street in New York City. In addition to hosting the 2002 & 2003 U.S. Indoor Championships, the Armory will be the site of the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, which will open there in 2003.

Norgren Mahon, the U.S.-leader in the weight throw for 2002, is one of the up and coming hammer/weight throwers in the U.S. Earlier this year, she came within 4cm of Dawn Ellerbe’s world record in the women’s 20-pound weight throw when she won at the Verizon Millrose Games. Her mark of 23.56 meters/77 feet, 3.75 inches, is also a world leader as of February 13. In 2001, Norgren Mahon owned four of the top ten hammer marks in the U.S. outdoors and was runner-up to Ellerbe at both the U.S. Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

Johnson, ranked #7 in the world at 200 meters by Track & Field News, continues to make a name for himself in track and field circles. Johnson competed in the all three GST meets, winning at the third stop, the adidas Midwest Indoor Track Classic. A relative newcomer to the sport, Johnson has only been competitively running for the last two years, but has quickly made his mark. At the 2001 World Outdoor Championships, Johnson won a 4x100m gold medal, running anchor leg in the rounds. He also posted the fastest 200m time in the world last year at 19.88 seconds.

Below are excerpts from Wednesday’s teleconference. Or listen to the full teleconference on our Web site: www.usatf.org.

ANNA NORGREN MAHON

Q: Please evaluate your season and how you feel going into Indoor Nationals.

NORGREN MAHON: I have had a pretty good season. I’m preparing for nationals the way I’ve prepared for every other meet. I’m looking forward to competing in Manhattan, which is right next door to my home state of Connecticut.

Q: The Armory gets 300,000 kids coming through every year to run on their track. As a teacher and a coach, can you comment on how track can fit into young peoples’ lives?

NORGREN MAHON: I’m a high school English teacher, teaching 10th and 12th and Amity Regional in Woodbridge, Connecticut. I’ve also been a volunteer coach. The Armory is a mecca for track and field at the high school level. It’s nice to have such a big meet close to home. My students get a kick out of my involvement in the sport. In fact, I spent half a class period talking about it today. The best thing about being an athlete is they see they can relate to me on another level. If they say they don’t have time to do their homework because of athletics, I can throw it back at them.

Q: Who are you training with, and where?

NORGREN MAHON: My coach is Bill Sutherland. I started training with him again in the spring of 2001. I was training with him from 97 to 99, and am training with him again. I didn’t have a coach during the Olympic year, which was very tough. Having a coach again is great. I train at Southern Connecticut State University and Yale University.

Q: What do you attribute your success to in 2002?

NORGREN MAHON: My success is due to pretty much everything coming together. I made my first major international team last year for Outdoor Worlds. Sitting and watching the finals of the hammer and not being part of it resolved myself for where I want to go in track and field. I know I can compete with the best in the world. In the last six months things have really come together …. My training is mostly hammer. I only practice the weight once or twice a week. I’m hoping that will transfer to outdoor. … There’s no doubt that Dawn Ellerbe has established herself as one of the best and most consistent weight throwers in history. We’ve known each other for a while, we’re friends. We know we can compete against each other then head to the next competition.

Q. What do you hope to achieve at Indoor Nationals at the Armory?

NORGREN MAHON: Obviously the world record would be a nice distance. I went into Millrose having PR’d by three feet the week prior to that. My goal was to be consistent at that range, 22 meters. Funny thing is how your perspective changes. Right now my sights are set higher than they ever were. I wasn’t really thinking about the distance and specific marks, I was thinking about performing the way I should (at Millrose).

J.J. JOHNSON

Q: The Armory track is known for being fast. How do you fee about competing there?

JOHNSON: I’m real excited because it is one of the fastest tracks in the world. I’m really excited to test my skills.

Q: You made a big impact last year at 200 meters. A guy your size normally doesn’t run the 60. Do you feel that’s a limitation?

JOHNSON: I feel I have no limits. I can do anything. I have a real good coach who is an expert at the sprints. He’s training me very well and keeping me very focused on it.

Q. How did you come to be coached by Dennis Mitchell?

JOHNSON: I met him over in Europe last summer. At the time I wasn’t with a coach, and Dennis was telling me that he was retiring and was going to go into coaching. I decided to come on down to Gainesville (Florida). (Also training under Mitchell is World Championships 100m bronze medalist Bernard Williams.)

Q: Does Dennis ever work out with you? JOHNSON: (Laughing) Dennis doesn’t work out. This is his first year of retirement. He’s gonna sit around and get fat.

Q: What do you and your coach think you are capable of achieving?

JOHNSON: We think I can become one of the best runners in track and field. We are training really hard to be on top. In my mind, I know I want to be a great sprinter like Michael Johnson or Maurice Greene.

Q: You ran very fast last year – 19.88 for 200 meters. What can you do to show that kind of speed more consistently?

JOHNSON: For me, it’s a mind thing. I’m new to the sport. I’m used to just running – I don’t really have form or technique. So that’s what we’re working on.

Q: What inspired you to start running track and field after college?

JOHNSON: I wanted to try something new. I played basketball four years in college and one year of football. I always knew I was fast, so thought I’d try track and field…. When I was young, basketball was my thing. I wanted to grow up and be like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. Track was not on my mind at the time. … I also wanted to be a role model in this sport. I try to live my life the best I can, but I love kids. I love dealing with kids that are troubled and don’t think they can go to the next level in anything. I like to deal with them because I’ve been there and I feel that I’ve done that. I try to work with them and get them on the right track.

Q. What do you hope to achieve at Indoor Nationals at the Armory?

JOHNSON: (A world record time of) 6.38 would be great. But I’m just trying to go out and run a real fast time, try to PR and get into the top 3. That’s my goal. My goal is to go out there and put in a good performance.