Howell caps off Illinois cross country season with 208th place finish at NCAA Championships
Senior Olivia Howell slows down towards the finish line during the Illini Invite for track & field on Apr. 23. Howell finishes her cross country career for Illini, placing in 208th for this season.
November 20, 2022
Coming off of an extraordinary first-place performance in NCAA regionals, Senior cross country runner Olivia Howell (21:27.9) placed 208th in the Stillwater, Okla., national meet, capping a season of first-place finishes (before today, she finished outside of first only twice) with one decidedly not so.
Howell competed in three regular season meets — the Terre Haute, Ind., John McNichols XC Invitational, the Columbia, Miss., Gans Creek Classic and the Peoria, Ill., Bradley Pink Classic. She finished first in Terre Haute and Columbia, but came up short in Peoria, finishing third.
In the postseason, Howell competed three times as well. Finishing a disappointing 23rd at the Big Ten Championships and then a ferocious first at the NCAA Regionals. There, she set a course and program record for third fastest finish with a time of 20:02.9.
The cross country season is over, but Howell will be back in action when the Illinois track and field team begins competition in January.
