Howard continues to serve as stellar example

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Jon Howard (middle) runs the third leg of the 4x400 relay for North Central College at the Division III Track & Field Championships at Ohio Wesleyan in Delaware. | Kirk Irwin~for Sun-Times Media

Updated: October 26, 2011 1:47AM

MEN’S TRACK —Four years removed from high school, people typically are graduating and looking for a job.

Jon Howard is winning national championships.

The 2007 Glenbrook South graduate came away with his second NCAA Division III Outdoor Men’s Track & Field Championship May 28 with North Central College.

The Cardinals edged out Wisconsin-La Crosse by two points thanks to a huge fourth-place finish in their final event, the 4x400 relay.

Howard ran the third leg of the relay while knowing the outcome of the meet would come down to his performance.

“It definitely put a lot of pressure on myself in the 4x400,” said Howard. “I think that it just made me appreciate the win so much more and it gave me the insight that every point counts and every person on the team matters.”

In four seasons with North Central, Howard has been named All-American three times and won two outdoor and two indoor national titles. He still has one year of eligibility remaining to register a pair of three-peats.

Glenbrook South head coach Kurt Hasenstein recalled that the future Titans standout didn’t even run his first year at the school.

“When Jon came in as a freshman, you could tell right away he had the runner’s body,” said Hasenstein. “He was long and lean and I thought ‘Good. We’ve got another good runner on our hands,’ but he didn’t come out for track his freshman year.”

Howard and his family had moved from Georgia while he was in eighth grade and while he was ready to begin track freshman year, his parents were not.

Before he eventually advanced to the State Meet in 2006 and ‘07, Howard needed to prove he could keep up with his academics. After sitting out a season and applying himself in the classroom, he was ready.

Still, Howard could not have predicted the results.

“Sophomore year, I was just getting my feet wet and junior year, I really started progressing and it was just a big shock,” Howard said. “Senior year, I definitely knew I wanted to continue into collegiate running, but I didn’t expect anything as great as the success from winning two indoor and two outdoor national championships.”

In his junior season as a Titan, Howard qualified for State in the high jump and 4x100 relay. His senior season, he advanced in the 300 hurdles and 4x400 relay.

Hasenstein praises his former athlete not only for his success, but because of the way he carried himself.

“He just went out there, did his job and never bragged about it and never really wanted any attention,” Hasenstein said. “He just really enjoyed the sport and it was fun coaching him.”

Always the first one to practice and the last one to leave, Howard set the gold standard at GBS.

“All of the kids always look up to the best kid on the team and everyone saw how hard he worked and always wanted to be like Jon,” said Hasenstein. “He was a role model for some of those younger guys.”

Before finishing off his career next spring, Howard will once again serve as a great example by volunteering in Haiti during the winter.