Menu
Former GHS runner among plaintiffs suing ex-coach, university
HUNTINGTON — A former Greencastle High School runner is one of two plaintiffs suing her former university and cross country coach over doping and sexual allegations.
Emma Wilson, a five-time state champion for the Tiger Cubs in 2017 and 2018, and former Huntington University teammate Hannah Stoffel are suing former Huntington cross country coach Nicholas Johnson, two former assistant coaches and the university over the alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs and Johnson’s inappropriate conduct toward female runners, which they say went so far as the rape of at least one runner.
The 33-page federal complaint, filed in the Northern District of Indiana, alleges the two “were victims of a coach and his supporters that gave Larry Nassar-esque massages all the while acting like Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France pharmacist injecting substances into their bodies.”
The complaint continues, “His name is Nicholas Johnson, and he should be in prison. Nicholas Johnson and his co-defendants have been destroying the lives of young students and runners in Northern Indiana for years. Today, plaintiffs take a stand to stop him and his enablers.”
The suit is civil in nature, as no local or federal criminal charges have been filed against Johnson or his co-defendants. However, the plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages from Johnson, Johnson’s wife and assistant coach Lauren Johnson, assistant coach Curtis Hines and Huntington University and its administration.
While the Banner Graphic does not typically name victims in stories of this nature, not only are Stoffel and Wilson named in the lawsuit, but their attorney Jon Little told the newspaper that they want to help others who may find themselves in similar situations.
“Both Hannah and Emma want to make sure that other kids who may be in similar situations can identify the behaviors displayed by the Johnsons before it's too late,” Little said. “These behaviors are: 1. Isolating athletes both by making them feel like a favorite and by having personal, often sexual, discussions with them; 2. Making athletes feel like their success was somehow caused by the coach and that without that specific coach they would not be the athlete they are; 3. That athletes should never receive ‘treatments’ from their coaches; 4. That all treatments should be given in observable and interruptible settings.”
Among the counts listed in the complaint are multiple cases of battery of different kinds, infliction of emotional distress, negligence and violation of Title XIV.
While the accusations pertaining to Stoffel are more overtly sexual in nature, for Wilson they center on inappropriate and unwanted massages and hugs as well as injecting or massaging her with unknown substances the runners believe may have been performance-enhancing drugs.
Wilson was a star runner for Greencastle High School for 3-1/2 years, winning two cross country state titles and three in track, two in the 3,200 meters and one in the 1,600 meters — before choosing to forego her senior track season.
She went on to compete for the University of Illinois in 2019-20 before transferring to Huntington for the 2020-21 school year. In 2021, she won five NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) national titles for the Foresters, running first for cross country head coach Nicholas Johnson and later his wife Lauren after Nicholas was fired in December 2020.
After leaving Huntington, Wilson ran for the University of Indianapolis in 2021-22. The Indianapolis Star reporter David Woods, who first broke the current story on Tuesday, reported that Wilson has now transferred to Indiana State University and has quit competitive running.
In the complaint, her current address is listed as Terre Haute.
The complaint notes that on several occasions, Johnson would rub Icy Hot on Wilson after practice. However, Wilson alleges that on other occasions, Johnson would conduct massage treatments using an unknown substance.
A further allegation notes that Johnson “committed battery by infusing/injecting Emma Wilson with yet-to-be-determined substances on at least three occasions in July, October and November 2020.
Wilson also alleges that at one point her knee began hurting and Johnson gave her an unknown pill in a plastic bag, saying “it was stronger than ibuprofen and that it would help the inflammation.”
Wilson also recalled one conversation with Johnson in which he described his own personal experiences about his first sexual intercourse.
“The conversation made Emma feel extremely uncomfortable,” the complaint noted, “but she felt that she cold not tell him to stop for fear of reprisal.”
This sort of fear underlies many of the events detailed in the complaint, which paints a picture of an environment of manipulation and secrecy by Johnson and others surrounding the cross country program
The coach allegedly went out of his way to isolate runners in order to perform “treatments” on them.
There was also great secrecy surrounding an alleged “study” Johnson told runners that he was bringing to the program during the summer of 2019, under the endorsement of Nike and the athletic department. The runners would receive injections, but would have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, even though they were told the NAIA approved of the agreement.
Johnson allegedly became angry when another athlete told his parents about the infusions/injections, which Stoffel said discouraged her from confronting him more aggressively about the matter.
The complaint notes both Johnsons’ former connections to the Nike Oregon Program, which was exposed for systematic and organized doping in 2015. This included links to former coach Alberto Salazar, who was first banned from competitions for four years for doping, and was later banned from track and field for life due to inappropriate sexual conduct with his runners.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that Johnson would take the female runners, including Wilson and Stoffel, on individual runs to isolated places at or near the cross country course and press his body against theirs.
For Stoffel and at least one high school recruit, however, the batteries allegedly went to a much darker place.
The complaint details a series of rapes and sexual assaults that Stoffel says lasted from July through November or December 2020.
While these incidents never led to criminal charges, Johnson was arrested in December 2020 for felony counts child seduction, kidnapping and identity deception relating to a high school recruit who was a minor.
The two more serious charges were later dropped when Johnson agreed to plead guilty to the identity deception charges, and he served just 30 days in jail plus two years of home detention.
However, Johnson was at least fired from Huntington in December 2020, though wife Lauren was hired in his place, allegedly despite the concerns of team members and parents.
With husband and wife still residing together, Nicholas Johnson remained close to the program, with university staff members allegedly telling athletes they could visit the Johnson home, specifically Nicholas, “for running advice and camaraderie.”
The complaint specifically compares Johnson’s techniques to those of Larry Nassar, the disgraced United States women’s national gymnastics team physician who sexually assaulted hundreds of girls and young women under the guise of medical treatment. Incidentally, the Nassar story was also broken by The Indianapolis Star, which won a Pulitzer Prize for the reporting.
At one point, the complaint even alleges that Johnson justified Nassar’s actions to Stoffel.
Aside from the accusations against Nicholas Johnson, the complaint alleges negligence on the part of Lauren Johnson, Hines and as many as 50 “John Does” within the university administration who took no action against Nicholas Johnson even after actions were reported.