Career Resume
Third in career goals (30) and scoring (71 points - 30 goals, 11 assists)
2004 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team
2005 NCAA Woman of the Year for Montana
Second in points in a season (28, 11 goals and 6 assists)
Feature Story: Merrill-Johnson a True Student-Athlete for MSUB (By: Joe Kusek/Billings Gazette, 5/7/2005) - Original Publication
Margot Merrill-Johnson never liked any gaps in her schedule.
Bored easily, Merrill-Johnson always looked for things to fill her days.
"I like to be on the go,” she explained.
During her time at Montana State-Billings, Merrill-Johnson never stopped.
Merrill-Johnson was the definitive student-athlete.
Times two.
She played two sports - soccer and tennis - for the Yellowjackets.
Saturday, Merrill-Johnson graduated with degrees in two majors - history and sociology.
The daughter of a school teacher (Charsti Merrill) and an architect (Vinson Johnson) from Salt Lake City, "The kids kind of bunked together on the names,” Merrill-Johnson said, the likable athlete who finished with a cumulative 3.9 grade point average.
In four years at MSU-B, she received three B's.
"And two of those weren't fair,” she jokes.
Merrill-Johnson became the first Yellowjacket athlete - male or female - to be awarded an NCAA post-graduate scholarship. The award, worth $7,500, was given to 25 female athletes from the fall sports in Divisions I, II and III.
"School has always been important to me,” said Merrill-Johnson, who was the top selection for the academic all-Pacific West Conference team in women's tennis.
"It's always been a priority in my life.”
Merrill-Johnson continually balanced schoolwork, athletics and the travel that came with athletics all four years on campus. Sometimes, she balanced practice for both sports around her class work.
"I don't how I got it done,” she said with a smile. "I would get the studying done before everything else. If I had an hour between classes or before practice, I would do my school work then.
"It's something you've just got to do. Something you always make time for.”
Merrill-Johnson wasn't totally buried in her books.
Originally recruited to play by then coach Carlos Arce, Merrill-Johnson started every single game of her four-year career.
Merrill-Johnson finished first for career games played and started (both 70) and ranks first for total career points (71), second for career goals (30) and third for career assists (11).
This past fall, Merrill-Johnson scored a school-record 11 goals and a total of 28 point to help the Yellowjackets to a program-best 12-4-3 record.
She finished with 11 game-winning goals during her career and was an academic All-America selection.
Her younger sister, Micah, has signed to play for MSU-B next year.
"It's been great to experience the growth of the program,” Merrill-Johnson said. "To watch it become part of the community.
"Most people know who we are now and come out to our games.”
Ferociously competitive, "I hate to lose,” she says with another laugh. "I'm not a good loser at anything. I have to win,” Merrill-Johnson decided to add collegiate tennis her sophomore year.
"I took a tennis class and made it my goal in life to make the team,” Merrill-Johnson said. "I figured I could do both.”
Both coaches - women's soccer coach Don Trentham and tennis coach Jerry Peach - were initially skeptical. Trentham wants his players to devote their off-seasons to improving their soccer skills, while Peach was hesitant about throwing a complete novice into the rigors of the ultra-competitive Pacific West Conference.
Peach took her on the team, but warned that he expected a full commitment.
"Coach Peach took a chance on me,” Merrill-Johnson of one her favorite coaches.
Merrill-Johnson's indoctrination to collegiate tennis was not a smooth one.
Early on, Merrill-Johnson got by on her sheer athletic ability. She could run down the ball and figure out where it was going, but it took some time for her to build up a repertoire of different strokes.
"It was tough,” she admitted. "I am not a patient person. It took me a while to compete at that level.”
Merrill-Johnson won 44 matches in singles and doubles for MSU-B in three years.
She did most of her balancing in the spring. Merrill-Johnson would have early-morning soccer practice, followed by school. Tennis practice was in the late afternoon.
"Life? I didn't have much of one,” she laughed again. "To me, it was not a grind. It made me appreciate each sport more. To appreciate the opportunities that I had.
"Going to practice was the fun time for me.”
Merrill-Johnson plans to attend law school at Brigham Young University this fall. She wants to be a prosecuting attorney some day, focusing on domestic situations.
"I love school. I love to learn,” she said.
"They say the first year of law school is the busiest ? that you don't have time for anything else.
"I hope so, otherwise I'll be bored.”
