School: Cheltenham
Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Gail Devers
Favorite team: Eagles
Most embarrassing moment competing in sports: "When I was seven years old, my track uniform was a body suit. I had to go to the bathroom really bad, but I couldn't get my uniform down, so I (wet) myself."
Music on my iPod: Lots of Gospel, R&B, Hip-Hop, Rap, basically most types of music
Future plans: Go to college and study pre-med to become a pediatrician
Favorite motto: "Pain is weakness leaving the body."
One thing people don't know about me: "I have a hidden talent: singing."
By Nate Oxman
Typically, it would have been a lengthy celebration among Brittney Howell, her teammates and coaches, and her family, with her mother and No. 1 fan close by.
Howell had just been crowned the indoor state long jump champion after reaching a then PR 18 feet, four and three-quarters inches on her final jump. But before the celebration could get into full swing,
Howell was whisked away.
What could possibly have been important enough to interrupt Howell in mid-celebration?
Why another event of course.
The Cheltenham junior, whose lightning-quick and powerful legs provide the base for a set of skills that allows her to compete in a plethora of events both on the track and in the field, had recently just added one more to her impressive repertoire—the hurdles.
It was only natural that a talented athlete like Howell would wander over from the long jump pit to the hurdles. And after just a short summer of experimenting with her Mt. Airy Track Club, Howell found herself competing in the 60-meter hurdles this past winter at the state indoor meet.
“At first it was hard,” said Howell. “Getting the three steps down was difficult. But as I progressed I learned to love it and I think that made me better at it.”
So when Howell was called back to the track following her long jump heroics, she hardly had time to recompose. Still, she mustered a fourth-place finish after a PR time of 9.06 seconds.
“I jumped the winning jump on my last jump in the finals,” said Howell. “I just couldn’t believe it. Everybody was cheering for me and then I had to go right to the hurdles. It was a lot of fun and I think my adrenaline just made it even better.”
“She was crying afterward and very emotional and then she had to refuel and refocus and she did it,” added Jensen.
Thanks to some high-quality genes handed down from her parents, Rosemarie and Shane (the same genes that helped older brother Shane, 20, have successful football and track careers at Cheltenham), both sprinters back in their home country of Jamaica before arriving in the United States after college, as well as an inherently unmatched work ethic, Howell has elevated her abilities again and again since she first got her start in the sport with the Mt. Airy Track Club at age seven.
She didn’t let a pair of painful injuries – a fractured hip as a freshman and an appendicitis as a sophomore – keep her from reaching the high level of success that she enjoyed this past winter and that she could very well have in store for the remainder of a promising career.
“She’s a very good athlete,” said Jensen. “She took to the hurdles very easily. She understands the tempo. She was three-stepping immediately. So it’s all come to her quite quickly. But she’s a young lady who has matured. I think she’s matured into herself and she is understanding what she can do. She’s a great kid to work with. She’s a hard worker and she understands what is needed to be done to get to the top. She does all the right things.”
An honors student as well as a team captain, Howell also sets a strong example for her Panthers’ teammates.
“She leads by example,” said Jensen. “If she sees somebody slacking off, she’ll go and gently talk to them. I have a really good group of kids this year, about five or six who kind of monitor the team, and she’s probably the leader of that group.”
“I always try to make sure that I set a good example for them because I know that whatever I do, they’re going to see and follow,” said Howell. “So no matter what I do, I always try to stay positive and keep them motivated so they can do their best.”
Under Jensen’s guidance this spring, Howell has progressed perfectly as her workload has increased in order to ideally reach peak condition by the time the postseason comes around.
“We really haven’t jumped her that much this year,” said Howell. “I just don’t believe in jumping kids a lot in the early and middle parts of the season. We’ve just been working on getting her steps.”
Howell, who plans to continue her career at the collegiate level, competed well in the long jump at last week’s Penn Relays, reaching the finals and finishing eighth (17-11.5) among some of the strongest jumpers in the country, as well as Jamaica.
“I definitely was happy because I went in knowing that there was going to be a lot of competition,” said Howell. “I wanted to make the finals and I did that so I was very happy.”
Howell’s progression reached another rung last Thursday at the Montgomery Memorial at William Tennent after jumping a season-best 18-11, where she finished second behind Courtney Kedra of Phoenixville’s mark of 19-5.5.
“That was the farthest I’ve jumped so far this season so I was pretty excited about it, but I still think I’m getting stronger so I’m happy about that,” said Howell.
Although individual titles are legitimately within reach at both the district and state meets, Howell is also looking forward to contributing on a Cheltenham team that also has the potential to place high in the team rankings thanks to a well-balanced unit, which includes fellow hurdler Caitlin Stuetz and shot-putter Dayna McCrewell.
Howell will do her part by competing in both the 60- and 100-meter hurdles, anchoring both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays, running the 200 meters, as well as dabbling in the shot put, and in her favorite event: the long jump.
“She’ll do whatever is needed for the team,” said Jensen. “She definitely puts the team first. She’s somebody who could all of a sudden become very selfish and focused on herself, but that’s not her style. She’s just a very giving and caring person. She’s developing as both a person and as an athlete, which is really what it’s all about.”
When it comes time for Howell to celebrate once again, she knows her mom will be right in the mix.
“My mom is always there,” said Howell. “She comes to every meet and anyone will tell you that she is always the loudest one. She’s always there supporting me.”
She’ll be there in support as Howell’s talents continue to carry her upward.
“She has a lot of upside,” said Jensen. “She has good foot speed and she’s powerful. I can’t say how fast she’ll go in the hurdles but she can be one of the top hurdlers in the state and in the long jump as well. And maybe there’s a third event out there that we haven’t discovered yet. I think we’re still discovering everything that she can do.”
