Miriah Johnson has been taking risks since she was a small child. She began trampoline jumping as soon as she could walk and has been learning gymnastics every since.

 Johnson competed in gymnastics as a child and was coached by her father, Teddy Johnson, the owner and operator of The Flip Shop, in Joplin.

“I’ve been involved in many different sports and have learned the work ethic it takes to be successful in sports,” said Miriah Johnson.

She is currently living in Park City, Utah, training for the Olympic winter sporting event freestyle aerial skiing. She came to Southern in 2012 from Joplin High School and was a part of the women’s track and field team for the 2012-13 season.

For the opportunity to move across the country and essentially train to be an Olympian, Johnson credits Facebook.

“One day in the beginning of June I was just scrolling through Facebook and saw an ad for an aerial skiing recruitment camp and checked it out,” said Johnson. “All I had to do was make a video of what I could do and then wait to see if I was invited to one of the two camps. One was in Park City, Utah, and the other was in Lake Placid, New York.”

A couple of weeks after submitting her video, Johnson received an email from the head coach at the Utah Olympic Parks Fly Freestyle Club in Park City. She attended the camp and at the end of the week came back to Joplin and waited.

A few days after arriving back in Joplin, Johnson received an email inviting her to come back to Utah and receive a scholarship for the rest of the summer training.

She is still working towards earning a physical education degree from Southern, but she has shifted all her course work to online classes.

“Living on my own away from all my family is significantly different from my life in Joplin,” said Johnson. “This is my first experience out of my parents’ house and I have to cook, clean and manage my money.

“Overall it’s been an amazing experience and I have learned so much, from learning how to ski on snow, the lifestyle of living in the mountains and training full time. Learning how to ski was fun and I learned fast for most beginners, according to my coaches.”

Johnson is a part of a five-member team of women from all over the country. One of Johnson’s teammates is her roommate, a 15 year old fittingly named Winter. She is from Oregon, and keeps up with high school online high school through Stanford University. In November she will set the world record for being the youngest person to run a marathon on every continent.

“Everyone on my team has a different background. Some were gymnasts and others were skiers before coming to Utah,” said Johnson.

Johnson and her team train six hours a day five days a week. This training includes jumping on trampolines, jumping of the ramps and a variety of different workouts. Training for  the athletes varies greatly depending on the summer and winter seasons.

 “Southern was a great experience and I was sad to cut it short,” Johnson said when asked about her experience and making the choice to leave and train in Utah. “The track team at Southern was like a family and I really enjoyed it.

“It was hard telling Coach [Patty] Vavra that I was leaving and moving to train in aerial skiing, but she understood and I always visit when I’m in town. The dedication and hard work at every track practice has helped me because I’m still having to train every day and work hard all the time to get to the end goal.”

Johnson’s coaches are Sharlee Holland and Jana Lindsey, both of whom were on the USA National Ski Team for many years.

“It was hard to make the decision to do this, but how often does one get this kind of opportunity? I felt like it was the right thing to do,” said Johnson.