BOYS WINNER: Thomas Howell - Freshman @ Niceville
Thomas Howell was used to leading races. It had been his strategy all throughout middle school to go out strong and hope he had some juice left in the tank at the end. It was in his seventh grade year when he came across Niceville coach Mike Warren. Warren saw potential in the youngster, but knew it would warrant changing his plan of attack on the cross country course.
“I met him after he lost the Middle School State championships as a seventh grader. He came to our open practices at the high school and I went up to him and told him it looked like he had led that whole race and the other guys kicked past him in the end. He told me that is exactly what happened so we talked about how leading a race is a lot easier for the competition and lowers your chance of beating them.”
As an eighth grader in 2010, Howell took those lessons to heart and won the Middle School State Championship in the 1500. He transitioned to the high school level seamlessly posting a 15:40.02 time in the 5K; the third fastest for a freshman in the nation according to his coach. His desire to be the best continued on the track where he placed fifth in the 3200 in an astounding 9:24.93, the fastest time in the state of Florida for a ninth grader since 2002. The mark puts him near the top of a list that contains some of the greatest runners in the last decade.
Fastest Freshman 3200’s Since 2002
2010 – Kamal Karoso (9:27), next fastest (9:50)
2009 – Joey Castagnaro (9:50), Elliot Clemente (9:56), Max Del Monte (10:01)
2008 – Will Stanford (9:30), Armando Del-Valle (9:39)
2007 – Brian Atkinson (9:27), Erik Montoya (9:40), Matt Mizereck (9:56)
2006 – Connor Revord (9:41), Derek Wehunt (9:42)
2005 – Kyle Cooke (9:40), Erik Larsen (9:46)
2004 – Alex Wills (9:58)
2003 – Austin Joiner (9:36), Caleb Vogt( 9:46)
2002 – Andy Billadeau (9:19) – first one faster than Howell
“It’s rare to be one of the top freshman in the last 10 years. I’ve coached the last ten years and I’ve seen all kinds of runners and to have this kid come through our school is just mighty humbling. He got done with that 9:24 at states and wasn’t totally satisfied and I wasn’t either. With 300 meters to go he hung in fifth when he could have been better placed going into that home stretch. He probably lost 2-3 seconds right there that were in his legs when he kicked in. He had a little more in him.”
Only a freshman, Howell will grow and mature over the next three years. One obstacle Warren faces is the idea of burning out his young runner. It’s a problem he has first-hand knowledge about.
“It happened to me when I was a kid. I was a 4:32 miler and ran way back in my day and I got burnt out so I know what that is about. My experience is that a lot of summer track will do that and a lot of early national things might do that as well. Thomas and I talked about that after the state race and he decided to layoff the summer track things, calm it down, and start base training for next cross country season.
Training over the summer and gaining strength from lifting weights and cross training will be crucial to Howell’s success his sophomore season. He plans on running below 15 minutes for the 5K and his goal is to break nine minutes in the 3200.
“It might sound aggressive, but at the right place and the right time, no injuries, and everything going okay, it seems doable to me.”
Personal Bests
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1600 Meter Run 4:28.56
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Two Mile Run 9:31.73
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3200 Meter Run 9:24.93
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5000 Meter Run 15:40.02
