Johnson won two Indiana state titles for shot put and discus in her junior and senior years at Lawrence North High School and holds records in both events.[1][2]
In her first year for the Sycamores she was a Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) finalist but did not reach the NCAA level. She broke through in the 2011 season, winning the weight throw at the 2011 NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships with a personal best of 22.69m (74ft 5+1⁄4in). She competed at the NCAA Outdoor Championships that season in both shot put and hammer throw. She did not achieve the same success in 2012: she was third at the MVC Indoor Championships in both shot and weight throw, then did not defend her NCAA title, coming fourth in the weight throw. Outdoors she took third places in shot put and discus throw at the MVC Championships and was fifth in the shot and 22nd in discus at the NCAA Outdoors. She competed at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials and though she did not make the final, she came 13th overall in shot put.[1]
Johnson's final year at Indiana State was her most successful. She won the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships for a second time with a new best of 23.52m (77ft 1+3⁄4in) – this moved her up to tenth on the all-time lists.[3] Johnson's title win came ten years after her coach, Erin Gilreath, had won the same title.[4] She was also eighth in shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships and came fourth in the weight throw at the 2013 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, her best senior national placing at that point. She also won her first MVC Indoor title in the weight throw and was the shot put runner-up. A school record of 17.80m (58ft 4+3⁄4in) in the shot put came at the Indiana Relays. She improved the outdoor shot put school record with a throw of 18.27m (59ft 11+1⁄4in) in May. At the MVC Outdoors she won both shot put and discus events, as well as taking fourth in the hammer. In her final collegiate nationals, she was third in shot put and 23rd in the hammer at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships.[1] Her last appearances as a college athlete came at the 2013 Summer Universiade, where on her international debut for the United States she placed seventh in the shot put.[5]
Johnson achieved her first national title at the 2015 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships with a personal best of 23.45m (76ft 11in).[10] She competed on the international Diamond League circuit for the first time and set her season's best mark of 18.73m (61ft 5+1⁄4in) in Beijing, placing third.[11] She took sixth place at the 2015 USA Outdoor Championships with a throw of 18.24m (59ft 10in).[12]
Johnson competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but did not qualify for the finals. She placed 14th with a throw of 17.69m (58ft 1⁄4in).[2]
