One Visit Convinced Howard
After taking his first visit to Wilberforce, Skyaqui Howard knew Wilberforce was the place for him. Now he is representing the WU on the National Stage.
All it took was one visit, and Skyaqui Howard was convinced that Wilberforce University and its inaugural track & field team was the place for him.
With a plethora of NCAA Division III options on the table, Howard was ready to tackle the challenge of leading a first-year program with a first-time head coach. It turned out to be a phenomenal decision for all involved as Howard became the very first cross country National Qualifier in school history.
"Everyone was really nice, and I liked the energy here," Howard said of his decision to attend Wilberforce. "I learned how we could build a really good program in my first year."
Howard holds Wilberforce's school record in both the 5K and 8K races and officially put his mark on the program with a fifth-place finish at the HBCUAC Cross Country Championships on October 17. Now more than a month later, the freshman harrier is ready to tackle some of NAIA's best when he toes the starting line 9:30 a.m. Friday.
"It means the world to see him reach this point," said Wilberforce University Head Coach Dean Freitag. "I told him the day he signed on with Wilberforce, standing in his high school that I believed come November 21st, he would be standing in Tallahassee Florida as a national qualifier. To see all the work he's put to make that happen, and the trust he has to allow me to lead him down this path means so much."
For Howard to reach this point of his career is even more spectacular when you consider he didn't start running cross country until his junior year of high school, and self admittedly, didn't really take the sport seriously until August.
The decision to join the cross country team only came after Howard hung up the hoop dreams and wanted to do something in the fall.
"I wasn't extremely serious until I got here and was like 'okay I am in college time to get serious and workout'," said Howard. "I started running more, taking practice seriously, and immediately I felt the improvements. It's just been so much of a better experience in terms of improving and getting better."
After improving his 8K time by 30 seconds at the HBCUAC Championships, Howard believes with his training and his focus he can cut another 40 seconds off the school record and get under 29 minutes.