Limestone's Johnson Goes to Division I
July 19, 2004

Courtesy Limestone College Sports Information Office

GAFFNEY, SC: Limestone College announced today that head men’s lacrosse coach T.W. Johnson has accepted a position as an assistant men’s lacrosse coach at Hobart College, an NCAA Division I institution in Geneva, NY.

In three years at Limestone, Johnson’s teams put up impressive numbers. Since he took over in 2002, the Saints have an overall record of 41-7 (.854) including 19-0 in Deep South Conference (DSC) play and 9-0 in DSC tournament play. Johnson led the Saints to three DSC championships, one national championship and three consecutive appearances in the national championship game.

His teams placed 22 student athletes on the All-DSC team including Nick Carlson, Matt Malloy, and Clint Pitts as DSC Players of the Year. He also coached three Academic All-America selections and 16 USILA NCAA Division II All-Americans including Nick Carlson and Clint Pitts as Division II Players of the Year.

“This was a tough decision that took a lot of time to make because it is tough to leave a place that gave you an opportunity” Johnson said. “I’ll always be thankful for the opportunity that Dr. Griffin and Dennis Bloomer gave me in the summer of 2001. I’ve grown to love Limestone and the people around the College and it is going to be tough to leave them.

“This is also a great opportunity. I’m looking forward to the challenge of working as an assistant at the next level with a great head coach, Matt Kerwick.”

Hobart won back-to-back national championships at the Division II level in 1976 and 1977. The Statesmen set the division II record of five consecutive appearances in the Division II national championship game between 1974 and 1978. Limestone tied that record last season with their fifth straight appearance in the title game. The Statesmen then won 13 national championships in 14 years at the Division III level between 1980 and 1993 before moving up to Division I in 1995.

“We are excited and happy for T.W.” said Athletic Director Larry Epperly. “This is a great opportunity for him to advance his career. He experienced a lot of success at Limestone, and it shows the magnitude of our program that our coaches can advance to higher levels. We wish him all the best.”