By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com

Coaches love to coach coachable athletes. Fourth-year Fighting Illini distance coach Sarah Haveman insists that she has one of the best in junior miler Olivia Howell.

"One of the ways that Olivia leads our program is that she's so coachable," Haveman said. "We have a high trust relationship. She trusts the training she's doing, how she's being coached, and when she's being coached certain ways. She follows instructions. Olivia has a beautiful personality, inside and out. She executes each day at a very high level. Anytime you have natural talent, a tireless work ethic, and the right environment, good things are going to happen."

Though the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on Howell's freshman season in 2020, she performed with flying colors in her second season. The Solon, Ohio native was the Big Ten's 2021 indoor champion in the mile as well as the conference's outdoor titlist at 1,500 meters. Howell earned a spot in the finals of the NCAA 1,500 and earned Second-Team All-America honors. Last year, she was named the University of Illinois' 2021 Dike Eddleman Female Athlete of the Year.

"The entire season was an amazing feeling," Howell said. "With the rough start of not having the cross (country) season, I feel like I had a lot of adrenaline going into it. With all of the struggles that we had, staying motivated during the pandemic paid off. Sometimes, it's hard to grasp because everything happened so fast, having cross and indoor at the same time, then going to outdoor. After one of the first 1500s I ran last season, I wasn't sure that I would make it to nationals. I started off the season with a 4:28, so making it into the 1,500 finals (with a time of 4:09.71 in the NCAA prelims) was definitely a huge accomplishment. I still count the little things that happened throughout the season to be just as important."

Howell says that one of her biggest highlights came last May when Illinois hosted the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Demirjian Park's new Gary Wieneke Track. 

"Being able to win the Big Ten (1,500) title on our home track was definitely a thrill," she said. "While I hardly ever look at the clock, at the end of that race I realized how fast we were going. I had beaten my PR by about six seconds (with a time of 4:12.86). To have all of my teammates there was a huge moment in the season for me."

One of Howell's biggest regrets is that her mother, Antoinette, hasn't been able to see her perform as a collegian. Her mom died from a heart attack during Olivia's junior year at Solon High School.

"She was always supportive of me and my siblings and was really encouraging with everything that we were involved with," Howell said. "My siblings and I were involved with a lot … band, drama club, athletics. Mom made sure that we were working hard and putting a hundred percent in whatever we did."

"Ever since I was quite young, Mom always had this vision for me that I would have a lot of success in running," she continued. "And knowing that she had that dream motivates me. When it's hard in a race or just any aspect of life, I just remember how much support she gave me and I use that as encouragement every day."

A studio art major at Illinois, Howell is following in the footsteps of her father, Errick, who is a graphic design artist with his own T-shirt company and designs skateboards.

As for Olivia, her favorite medium is painting. 

"Whenever I'm painting, I can get kind of lost," she said. "I'm able to express so much through my paintings. It's similar to when I'm running a race. I'm able to just get lost into the rhythm of things. Sometimes I feel a connection between the two."

Howell works on several sizes of canvases and has even painted a mural on the wall of her apartment.

"One of my roommates is from New York, one is from Chicago, and I'm from the Cleveland area … so I painted the skylines of all three cities."

The 20-year-old Howell is targeting specific track and field objectives in 2022.

"I definitely have a goal (in the mile) of 4:30 or even 4:25, because that's what a 4:09 in the 1500 converts to," she said. "Time isn't the most important to me. When we're all out there, anything can happen in a race. I do have goals of hopefully winning a national title."

According to Haveman, any of Howell's objectives are achievable.

"Olivia is such a pure competitor and she rises to her competition level constantly," Haveman said. "Last year was a great example of that, starting the season where she did and then finding herself in the national finals. She just rises to what's necessary. Olivia has a great natural race instinct and she has the talent and the work ethic to back it up."

Howell was asked if she thought a woman would ever break the four-minute barrier for the mile.

"Absolutely," she said. "Records are constantly being broken. Times just keep getting faster and nothing is too far out of reach. If you work hard at it and set that goal, I don't see it as impossible."