As with many young athletes, Johnston was competitive and skilled but needed to be assured that she had what it took to achieve her goal. She turned out to be a diamond in the rough that Haddonfield Middle School field hockey coach Samantha Wiley polished throughout sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, when Johnston and her twin played both sports together.
"Coach inspired me to take field hockey to the next level," said Johnston, speaking by phone while driving to James Madison University on Labor Day weekend. "She convinced me that I could play at a high level.
"I never looked back."
Next fall, the 18-year-old from Haddonfield is looking to become part of the field hockey team at James Madison or Penn, both of which invited her. An honors student, Johnston plans to study physical therapy and go into business with her twin, who wants to be an orthopedic surgeon.
"That is her dream," Katie Johnston said. "Me, too."
A minute younger and about six inches taller than the 5-foot-6 Megan, Katie Johnston said she could end up at Penn with her sister, but as a soccer player or track and field athlete. Katie Johnston is a javelin thrower, and her sister sprints for Haddonfield's track team.
Both are fiercely competitive athletes, and Katie said it stems from their childhood.
"I don't like to lose, either, which is why Megan and I try to be on the same team," Katie said. "We got it from growing as twins, sharing, or trying to get our parents' attention - we always had competition.
"When we have family game night, I usually team up with her. People say we have twin telepathy. We always crush everyone. We finish each other's sentences."
When she took over the Haddonfield field hockey program four years ago, Lindsay Kocher saw the competitiveness as well as athleticism in Megan Johnston and made her a starter.
"I noticed that she was special," Kocher said. "I knew she would grow.
"She has a presence on the field. She's dynamic, fast, and has explosive power when she has the ball."
As a left midfielder, senior Carolyn Clark has a lot of interaction with Johnston. Clark likes the way the center midfielder gives direction to her and the others and passes the ball where they can get to it.
"She makes me and the other girls better on the field," Clark said about Johnston, whose gamble as a freshman is paying off for her and Haddonfield.
Contact staff writer Bill Iezzi at 856-779-3826 or biezzi@phiillynews.com.
