State champion Halee Jo Johnson signs with East Texas Baptist University

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - A state champion golf star from right here in the Texas Panhandle has made the decision to continue her playing days at the college level.

Halee Jo Johnson from Happy High School is heading to East Texas Baptist University.

Johnson is coming off back-to-back state individual state championships at the 1A level. She is the first girls golfer to do so in over 40 years at Happy High School.

The golf star highlights the facilities and the coaching staff as major factors in her decision to head to ETBU.

“Coach Harvey is amazing.” Johnson said. “Everything she said to me, I just loved it. She was supporting me no matter what, even if I went play for her or if I didn’t.”

Johnson is excited about the opportunities she’ll be afforded in college to focus on her craft and continue to improve as a golfer.

“Practicing every day and having a coach that is really dialed in on making my golf game what it can be.” Johnson said of what she’s most looking forward to. “In high school, I don’t practice every day. That’s the reality of it being high school.”

Now that she’s leaving Happy High School behind, Johnson hopes her legacy will inspire future Happy athletes to follow in her footsteps.

“I just want everybody younger than me to realize that anything is possible. I hope at Happy that I left a legacy, that I made people’s dreams into reality, and that they realize that anything that they want to do, they can do. They just need to keep striving for success in everything they do.”

ETBU is a Division III school in Marshall, Texas in the American Southwest Conference.

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