Standout Sophomore Millie Howard Left England to Find Her Parliament

One is such a lonely number, and alone is often how distance runner Millie Howard found herself in training back home in North Yorkshire, England. She had plenty of reasons for wanting to attend college in the United States, but chief among them was the chance to train and compete, day in and day out, with her peers.

While the most famous Parliament may be back in Howard's home country of Great Britain, she and her teammates now constitute their own Parliament (of Owls) right here on North Broad Street.

"At first it was a bit of a shock to the system," says Howard about having a team here at Temple. "It was a positive shock, but it was different. What's really great is that on bad days, where normally at home I'd be kind of struggling, now I have teammates around to help me get through."

Howard's results were among the most impressive in middle distance running in Europe at the time she was being recruited, and she had her pick of teams to join in the States.

"I found Millie from her results in grade 11 and reached out through Facebook, just kind of a general ask to see if she was interested in the United States," said Temple cross country coach James Snyder. "She was very receptive, and she was also highly recruited. Her final three were Temple, Cal Berkeley and Duke. She just loved Philly and felt right at home here. The girls on our team provided a friendly atmosphere, the flight home is easier, and she has access to a great city."

The decision to attend Temple wasn't the one Howard had thought she would make.

"I came to Philadelphia not really expecting to like Temple or the city as much as I did," she said. "I was looking at Berkeley and they were so different, and I was definitely more in the Berkeley kind of camp when I visited. But then I came here and instantly knew that it was going to suit me. I loved the city. Coach Snyder and all the people were fantastic, and I just knew my gut was telling me to be here so I went for it."

Howard, a serious dancer growing up, came late to the sport of running and stumbled into it almost by accident as a freshman in high school after a friend dropped out of a 1500 meter race and the coach needed a replacement. By not spending as many of her formative years taxing her body with mileage, Howard has avoided some of the pitfalls and injuries that tend to occur as a result.

"Dancing gave me great core strength, and my muscles have always been strong," she said. "I think transitioning from a sport like dancing, to running, has really helped because I have that baseline strength which has meant that I can take a lot of miles and take a lot of weightlifting."

Snyder gives a lot of credit to Howard's high school coach, Kieron Hall, for training her and for being a vital part of Millie's recruiting journey.

"Kieron was heavily involved in that process," said Snyder, "and was always very willing to send along updates and be a great resource for us. He also started Millie in weight training during her last year or two at home, something we've taken further with Coach Kendra (Miller) at Temple. We really aim to make all our runners stronger, more powerful and less susceptible to injury."

While dancing is no longer part of Howard's life on a regular basis, she took a recent foray back into it, with mixed results.

"I actually went back to my old studio over the summer and took a class. I was rubbish," laughs Howard. "I've lost all my flexibility, but I still really loved it."

Growing up as a dancer, Howard proved early on that she had many talents. In addition to her running prowess, she excels in the classroom and was named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team for the 2016-17 school year.

The educational component played a huge role in Howard's decision to attend Temple. She is majoring in economics in the Fox School of Business, ranked among the Top 50 undergraduate business schools in the nation.

"We really pushed the academics here," said Snyder. "The Fox School holds its weight against any other schools she was considering, and she's actually on an academic scholarship. She's a great student, had a 4.0 GPA last year and earned national academic honors."

While her strengths still lie primarily in middle distance running, Howard has made a name for herself on the cross country course since starting at Temple. She placed in the top 10 in three of the six races she competed in as a freshman in 2016, capped by a 20th-place finish at the American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships.

Early in the 2017 indoor track season, Howard set a school record in the 1000 meter run at the Artie O'Connor Invitational in New York, placing third in a time of 2:52.02. She advanced to the finals in the mile run at the American Indoor Championships where she took sixth place overall, and carried that momentum into the outdoor season. After helping the distance medley relay set a school record at the famed Penn Relays, Howard took home the bronze in the 800 meter run at the American Outdoor Championships.

Howard's 800 meter time of 2:08.32 was good enough to earn her a spot at the NCAA East Preliminaries among the top 45 runners in the region. Although she was unable to advance from there, it's on her list of achievements to conquer in the future.

"I would love to be a professional runner when I leave," says Howard. "Traveling the world and running is something I really want to do. While I'm still here, at some point I want to qualify for the NCAA Finals in Oregon in track, as well as qualify indoors. I want to keep running faster, and I want to keep helping the team grow and become better. We're definitely on the right track at the moment, but I think we can become even better than we already are."

If the beginning of the 2017 cross country season is any indication, Howard and the Owls are well on their way. The team placed first at the Temple Invitational on Sept. 1, and Howard surprised herself with a second-place finish individually.

"I was never good at cross country," she says, almost certainly underestimating her previous abilities, "but in my first season opener actually competing, I finished first for Temple and second overall…We have a talented group of girls (this season) and I am looking forward to what we can do."

While Howard was the lone international runner on the team last season, this year the Owls have two freshmen from overseas in Lucy Jones (England) and Helene Gottlieb (Denmark).

"It means a lot to me (to have Lucy and Helene on the team)," said Howard. "I think I would have really benefited from having someone older than me on the team who wasn't from America. Especially with Lucy, being from England, she's feeling kind of exactly the way I was feeling. It's really nice to look after them because I know it's really helping them a lot and it's going to make them better in the long term."

In addition to running, studying and being a great teammate, Howard somehow finds time for other interests.

Her "Millie in Philly" blog, although admittedly not updated as often as she had planned, is one such outside interest. One recent post doles out advice that reads mature beyond her years, in areas such as interpersonal relationships, the high-pressure world of social media and about always taking the opportunity to try new things.

"I've never viewed myself as a writer," she said. "I actually am in the middle of a new blog post at the moment about women and their involvement in the sport. I've been incorporating some of my teammates' ideas into it. I think the goal for the blog is just to help others in my position back home or in other countries, to give them advice and tips and let them know they really can do this. My mom is a writer so I guess I get some of that from her."

Philadelphia holds unlimited new experiences for Howard, who loves spending time in the city that she found so attractive on her first visit.

"I like going down to Old City," she said. "I like seeing all the independent shops. Every time I go down there I stumble upon something different. That's what I love about this city. It's different to every other American city that I've been to. With it having so much history and culture, that's why it really appeals to me. There's always so much going on."

Clearly, Howard has found a real home in Philadelphia, at Temple, and with her "parliament" of Owls.

"We all get along so well," says Howard of her fellow teammates. "It's funny because we're all very different in a lot of ways even though we have running in common. We all have our quirks but we just work together really well…we have a lot of different strengths and weaknesses – that's what makes us great I think."

Temple University Athletics

Standout Sophomore Millie Howard Left England to Find Her Parliament

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