Newspaper Page Text
4A
JANUARY 86, 2000
Finally, city recognizes pro runners
®Some say recognition of Donna and Anita
Howard is long overdue. The Augusta speed
‘ters have made the switch to running for cash.
ty Eileen Rivers
VUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Wniter
AUGUSTA
Over the past 14 years, Augusta
wtives, Donnaand Anita Howard,
iave collectively flown by (liter
illy) hundreds of local, national
ind world competitors, bringing
iome countless medals in track
ind field, that have helped put
\ugustaon the map in competitive
ports. While working to get to the
op of their craft has always been a
hysical challenge, doing it with
ut financial and local support has
nade it even harder
“There 1s so much talent in Au
usta, but we don't recognize it,”
ommented Donna, who at 25 is
he vounger of the two sisters.
People here run off of pure talent.
Vhen 1 went to California for a
neet, | saw high school kids that
/ere getting trained like pros.
hat's because they get money from
heir towns, and are sponsored.
hey can afford to buy equipment
ind enter a lot of different races.
\!ll these things are necessary to
wepare and train for tough inter
itional competitions like the
Nympies.”
OnTuesday, Augusta-Richmond
‘ounty commissioners honored
hem, by naming Jan. 4, “Donna
ind Anita Howard Day "
Despite recent accolades, in No
ember the running duo was de
ned financial support from the
ommission, and have, until re
ently, been ignored by local gov
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ernment and civic organizations,
according to the Howards. While
they’re grateful for the honor, some
in the family question the motiva
tion of the county.
“I feel that this was done, in a
way, to show them some recogni
tion because they didn't get
funded,” commented their mother,
Hollace Howard, a nursing assis
tant in MCG's Shock Trauma Unit.
“Otherwise they could have done
this a long time ago. My daughter
made the Olympic team eight years
ago. They have consistently been
performing well, long before now "
The sisters recently turned pro
fessional, but have an extremely
long list of accomplishments that
started when they were young com
petitors in the Richmond County
school system.
“I didn't start running until 1
reached high school,” commented
Donna, who attended Glenn Hills
High. She is now working on her
Masters Degree in Chiropractics,
at Atlanta's Blythe University.
“Before that | was trying to com
pete atbasketball, but realized that
I didn't have the height "
After watching her sister win
national track and field competi
tions, she decided to throw her hat
in the ring, and found that she had
a natural aptitude for the sport.
During the summer of her junior
year, she began participating in
the Quick Silver Track Club in
Atlanta, where she and her sister
were discovered.
“I think we were blessed to find
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e sisters Howard: Anita (L) and Donna (R).
out about, and be able to go to
Quick Silver,” Donna, commented.
“But so many local kids don't even
know about that. It'simportant for
developing runners to compete on
a larger scale or they will never
improve.”
That year, she placed second
during her first national competi
tion in the 400 meter race
Her senior year was even more
lucrative. She won the Nationals,
was ranked third in the nation's
high school standings, with a 400
meter run time of 53.1 seconds,
and was the number one college
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recruit in the nation
In '93 she made the state record
in the 400 meter race, which was
recently broken last vear Her
sister’s records in the 100 and 200
meter races, which she made in 'B4
as a student at Butler High School.
have not been broken
After graduating from Glenn
Hills, Donna attended the Univer
sity of Texas and trained under the
same coach that prepared her sis
ter for the Olympics
“You have to be careful with the
coach vou choose,” Donna com
mented. “Some of them will prom
ise you the world, then change
when they have youin their school ~
But her extensive training only
enhanced her performance Dur
ing her freshmen year she won the
Indoor Conference, and was ranked
first going into the Nationals, by
Track and Field News magazine
“They ranked me first in the na
tion before | even went to the com
petition,” she explained “] put a
lot of pressure on myself to win,
because | kept thinking ‘all these
people are expecting me to win '’
That was very hard for me to work
through. That's when | realized
that running is very mental ”
She eventually conquered her
nerves, and made it to the semi
finals during the Summer Olym
pictrials in '96. Four vears earlier,
her sister was a member of the 400
meter relay Summer Olympic
team, and traveled to Barcelona
“I didn’t even know that | was on
the team until the last minute,”
remembered Anita. “While | was
running | was just trving to hold
on. Just before the race my coach
said to me ‘no matter what hap
pens just keep runnming’ So as |
saw myself constantly getting
1
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reguiar or coarse. T
passed, 1 just closed my eyes and
went for it. When it was over |
remember my coach running up to
me telling me ‘'you made It' and
that was it ™
She was the only collegiate, non
professional runner competing for
a spot
“In the end | didn't even get the
chance to run, because I was just
an alternate " commented the 30-
vear-old former Olympian. “A
more experienced runner knocked
me out of my spot, but it was in
credible just to be there ”
After the Olympics, Anita gradu
ated from University of Florida,
turned professional, moved to
Texas, and signed an endorsement
contract with Reebok.
“There are different types of en
dorsements,” the former Olympian
explained. “With mine, | didn't get
any money, | just got equipment ...
which can in itself become very
expensive, but people always think
that because you have an endorse
ment, you're getting a lot of money "
Reebok pulled their contract,
which lasted for three years, in 97
because of budget cuts.
“That’s why my sister and | are
trying so hard to get funding,” she
explained
But, so far, lack of money hasnt
slowed either one of them down.
Donna is training to compete in this
vear's Summer Olympictnrials, which
will be held in Califorma.
“So much of running seems to be
pohitical” she commented. “You
can't improve unless vou get to the
major tournaments, and you don't
get to the major tournaments un
less you have the money. But I'm
training so hard, either way | am
determined to make it to the Olym
pics this year.”