A 2004 Moon Area High School grad has qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials.

Samantha Howard, who is a reading and social studies teacher a Manheim Township High School near Lancaster, will be one of 200 women from across the country to compete Jan. 14 in the 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon in Houston, according the Intelligencer Journal in Lancaster.

Howard qualified for the trials in November when she completed the Philadelphia Marathon at 2 hours 45 minutes and 45 seconds. The event marked her first marathon, and she clocked in just in time—the cutoff for qualifying in the trials is 2 hours and 46 minutes.

Howard ran cross country and track at Moon Area High School and Duquesne University. In August, she caught up with Patch during the Moon Area cross country team's annual alumni race, where she took on the course at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart with fellow Moon Area grads. 

The top three runners in the women's race in Houston will qualify for the 2012 London games.

Read more about Howard on LancasterOnline.