A 2012 Edina High School graduate, Cavonte (“CJ”) Johnson established himself as a three-sport star and scholar athlete during his time at EHS. He was a varsity football, basketball, and track and field athlete who was a member of the Edina Boys’ Track and Field record setting 4 X 100-meter relay team. Cavonte was the recipient of four awards coming out of high school that included the Howard Merriman Student Athlete Award, the Kirby and Tanya Puckett Award, the National Football Foundation Scholarship Award and was awarded the highly prestigious Bill and Melinda Gates Millenium Award. Among his other accolades, Cavonte was a captain of the football, basketball and track and field teams, a member of the EHS Student Council and was the commencement speaker at his HS graduation. This episode is a bit longer (55 minutes) than our usual episodes, but we think you will appreciate hearing what Cavonte has to say about moving to Minnesota and being afforded an opportunity to get an Edina Public Schools education through the generosity of his “Moms” and “Pops” Sarah and Doug Jones. Hang in there with us all the way through the episode. You’ll be glad you did!

Sisters Kathryn and Christine Graf were teammates on the first volleyball team from Edina High School to make the state tournament (2018). Kathryn went on to play volleyball at Bradley University and Christine played 4 years at California Baptist before playing a post-grad year at High Point University while getting her MBA. The Graf sisters talked to us about how they came to focus on volleyball, what it was like to be part of the group that was instrumental in elevating the fortunes of the EHS Volleyball program, and what the "sibling-teammate" experience was like for them.

Art Downey began coaching swimming and diving at Edina High School in 1956 when he founded the swim program. He coached for 62 years retiring in 2018. Under his leadership the Edina Boys’ Swimming and Diving team won 10 state championships. Art is in the Minnesota Swimming Coaches Hall of Fame and the National Swimming Coaches’ Hall of Fame

Scott Johnson was a teacher & assistant coach with the Edina Boys' Swimming and Diving team from 1992-2018 and became head coach in 2018, following the retirement of veteran head coach Art Downey. He also coached with the Edina Girls' Swimming and Diving team from 1992-1996. Coach Johnson has led the Edina Boys’ Swimming and Diving team to 6 Minnesota State Championships. Scott was inducted into the Edina High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2024

We were lucky to have these two legends together in the studio for a conversation about how they got into coaching swimming, changes in high school swim programs over the past several decades, some career highlights and their legacies.