Heading into her fourth and final year as a member of the Whitko track and field team, senior Gwen Howard already has a trophy cabinet full of accomplishments to her name.
Howard is the school record holder in shot put, discus and the 4x400 meter relay and a three time state qualifier. In just her junior year alone, she was the Three Rivers Conference and sectional champion in both shot put and discus, as well as the regional champion in shot put. They weren’t just ordinary championships either, she is now the record holder in all three competitions.
At state, she finished fourth in Indiana in shot and fifth in discus. At the New Balance Nationals Outdoor competition back in June, Howard’s throw of 47’8” landed her second in a field of 49 competitors, earning her All-American status.
Her success both on the track, as well as off it, she is in the top three percent of her class academically, has paid off. Next year, Howard will be taking her talents to Division I athletics, as she heads to the Atlantic Coast Conference to compete for Duke University on scholarship.
“I really liked the coaches when I visited, and the atmosphere was amazing too,” Howard said at her signing ceremony on Wednesday. “I looked at a couple of other schools in this area but Duke really stood out to me. I really liked the people on the team when I went down there.”
According to Gwen’s mother Tracy, Gwen had wanted to attend school in North Carolina since she was little. Funnily enough, her desire to head to the state stemmed from her love of the University of North Carolina’s basketball program. Instead, fell in love with track and field in fourth grade and will head to the other side of the Tobacco Road Rivalry down in Durham.
Tracy is extremely proud of what her daughter has accomplished to get to this point.
“She has put in so much extra effort along the way to get here and to see it all pay off is remarkable,” she said. “I’m just so happy for her. This is a dream come true for her.”
Gwen credits her training as well as playing multiple sports at Whitko in previous years, volleyball and basketball, as main factors to her success.
“Staying consistent is really big for me, and my dad has been a huge help training me,” Howard said, “Playing multiple sports has helped me stay sharp and hone different skills.”
Howard’s dad, Glen, has helped coach her since day one, and leads by example. Glen also went to Whitko and was able to earn a Division I scholarship for track and field, going to the University of Illinois for shot put and discus. Like his daughter, Glen is a school record holder at Whitko.
One of her coaches at Whitko, Ashley O’Haver, knew from the moment she stepped onto the track as a freshman that she could be something special.
“She was awesome from day one. Qualified for state her first year and just kept on improving,” O’Haver said. “She stays consistent with her training and does a lot of stuff on her own and with her dad, and that’s really nice as a coach. She’s always giving it her all and we can always count on her.
“She’s always focused, I’ve never seen her frazzled,” she added. “I hope she can have some fun this season. She’s already done it all, so let’s see what else she’s capable of.”
As she heads into one last run as a Wildcat, Howard’s goals are simple: she wants to make it back to state and break more records, some of them, her own. She hasn’t decided whether or not she will be competing in any other events over the summer before she begins the next step of the athletic and academic career.