Jason Bowen
Makenna Howes’ cross country career is not over after all.
Howes did not run cross country during her senior year, but the former four-year SHS runner is back in the sport after signing to run collegiately at Northeast Alabama Community College in Rainsville.
Howes, the recent 2024 SHS graduate who was a multi-year starter for the Scottsboro soccer team, said she’s excited to be back in cross country.
“When (NACC) coach (Patrick) Laney offered me a cross country scholarship, I was thrilled to get back into running,” Howes said.
Laney was Howes’ soccer head coach for five years (2019-23) and was an assistant coach with for the Scottsboro cross country program during Howes’ high school running career.
“She is a multi-sport athlete with a championship pedigree,” Laney said of Howes. “She has been on a state title team in cross country. While she did not do cross country last year, she remains in fantastic aerobic shape. She is going to come in ready to compete and not burned out on running. I wanted to sign her because she is super competitive. She races better in traffic than in open space. She likes to beat people. She will do everything she is asked and still has an edge about her. You don’t easily find that combination of skills. We will have five girls next year who played soccer in high school and she will be the most experienced of them and be able to help lead them.”
NACC is entering its second season of cross country this fall, and Howes wants to help the program continue to grow.
“Getting back in cross country training mode was a little hard at the beginning, but running cross country four years prior helped me get back into it pretty quickly,” Howes said. “I’m a very competitive athlete and I’m looking forward to racing at the collegiate level… I’m thankful for this opportunity to run for NACC. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish as a team.”
NACC, which returns just two runners, signed nine runners ahead of the 2024 season. Laney expects Howes to make an immediate impact for the Mustangs.
“She can be a Top-5 runner for us while giving us all the intangibles we need,” Laney said. “We only have two women returning, so it will be nice to have a third person who already knows how I operate and set expectations.”
