Former Coach to Root for Moon Alumna in Olympic Trials

Larry Covelli, track and cross country coach, remembers a day more than a decade ago when a seventh-grader walked into his classroom and said she wanted to quit the track team. 

"She couldn't even make the warm-up lap," said Covelli of the student. "She walked in and told me that she wanted to quit."  

Covelli encouraged her to stick with the sport. At the next practice she made it around the track, jogging and walking to make it to the end. 

On Saturday, Covelli will watch that student compete in the Olympic Trials Marathon live on NBC. 

Samantha Howard, a 2004 Moon Area High School graduate, in November to compete in the trials after garnering a fifth-place finish in the Philadelphia Marathon.

"Honestly, when I found out she was going [to the Olympic Trials] it brought me to tears," Covelli said. "She's just a great kid." 

Howard, 25, teaches reading and social studies at the Manheim Township School District near Lancaster. She'll travel on Thursday to Houston to compete in the trials, bringing her parents, brother and two friends from her days at Duquesne University to cheer her on. 

"I'm really not too nervous," Howard said. "I've run in a lot of competitive races. I just want to get out there and do my best." 

At Moon, Howard racked up numerous WPIAL honors and ran at Duquesne University, where she set several school records but sometimes had injuries sideline her. 

"Coming out of running in college, I had a lot of injuries," she said. "I had it as a goal that I would keep running. I didn't know if I'd be able to stay healthy, but I've been running really well for the past year, and I figured this might be one of my last chances to qualify [for the Olympic Trials]." 

Philadelphia was Howard's first marathon. She ran it in 2 hours 45 minutes and 45 seconds—the cutoff time for qualifying in the trials is 2 hours and 46 minutes. 

Her former coach wasn't far away. Covelli said that weekend in November he traveled to his grandson's christening in Philadelphia. Just as he and his wife were getting ready to leave, he noticed a young runner crossing the marathon's finish line live on television. 

"I thought, jeez, she looks familiar, and later I get this call on my phone and it's from Sam," he said. 

For her part, Howard is realistic about the outcome of the race: Only the top three runners out of more than 190 women competing will qualify for the 2012 London games. She said she is content to enjoy the Olympic Trials experience. 

She runs 50 miles a week for training. 

"It's hard because I work full-time, so I can't always train, but after I go to work all day, I'll come back and train," she said. "I eat an average diet. I just eat a lot of carbs and typically go out and train after work." 

Her ninth-grade students are eager to see her compete in the race. 

"The newspaper out here did a story about it, so they've seen that," she said. "They're excited. I think they really think I'm going to go to the Olympics." 

After more than two decades coaching at Moon, Covelli said Howard is the first of his former runners to go to the Olympic Trials. During the holidays, the two took to the Moon Area High School track to train for the trials. 

"It's funny, you're out there calling her times, telling her to get her knees up," he said. "Just like when she was in school."

Watch Howard compete in the Olympic Trials Marathon live at 3 p.m. Saturday on NBC.