Trevor Howard was named the head coach of the University of St. Francis men’s & women’s cross country programs before the 2023 season. The 2025-26 season will mark Howard’s third year as head coach.
Howard began his tenure as head coach at University St. Francis after assisting the program for six seasons from 2017-2022. During that time, both the men’s and women’s programs saw tremendous success with the assistance of his instruction. Howard aided in guiding both programs to six CCAC titles and six national meet appearances, including securing the NAIA national title with a first-place finish on the women’s side in 2020. In total, he helped 20 runners boast NAIA All-American status (13 women, 7 men) during his time as an assistant coach.
In his first year as head coach in 2023, Howard was named both the men’s and women’s Chicagoland College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after helping guide both programs in capturing the first-place title at the CCAC Championships and leading his teams to a seventh-place (women) and twenty-first-place (men) finish at the NAIA national meet. Six women and five men earned All-CCAC honors that year, including Alexia Bibakis who secured CCAC Runner of the Year accolades and Michael Reif who claimed NAIA All-American status. In 2024, Howard led the men’s team to a second CCAC conference championship title while also securing the men’s CCAC Coach of the Year honors. Both the men’s and women’s team qualified for national berths with the women finishing twentieth in the nation and the men finishing fifteenth overall. Five women and five men earned All-CCAC honors in 2024, including Allison Ramsey and Michael Reif, who each earned All-American accolades.
In total, under Howard’s tutelage, 21 athletes (11 women, 10 men) have earned CCAC All-Conference honors, with one being named Conference Runner of the Year (one woman), and three having gained All-American status (one woman, two men). He has seen a combined 13 CCAC Runner of the Week honors (seven women, six men). On the academic side, 13 women and eight men were named to the CCAC All-Academic team, while 11 women and three men gained NAIA Scholar Athlete status.
In 2015, Howard first stepped into the collegiate ranks when he was named the head coach for both the men’s and women’s cross country programs at Waubonsee Community College. Over his three seasons as head coach, he led the Chiefs to three national meets where his teams placed 20th (2015), 25th (2016), and 26th (2017). He helped guide 14 runners to All-Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) status and 12 to All-Region honors. Howard also received a combined three Coach of the Year honors for his team’s performances.
Howard graduated from the University of St. Francis (Ill.) in May of 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and holds a USA Track and Field Level 1 coaching certification. He spent the 2014 season as an assistant cross country coach at Gardner South-Wilmington High School, helping one of his Lady Panthers’ cross country runners place second at the Illinois State Class ‘A’ Finals. Howard was also an assistant Track and Field coach at Dwight High School from 2015-2017 where he helped guide 19 student-athletes to All-State status, including the boy’s 800 meter Class A State Champion in 2016. From 2017-2023, Howard assisted with three different high school programs (Tri State Co-Operative (2017), Alameda Unified School District (2020-2021), and Riverside Brookfield High School (2022-23), where he created individual workouts for athletes in hurdles, sprints, relays, high jump, as well as mid-distance and distance events.
In 2009, Howard graduated from Wilmington High School where he was a three-sport athlete. He went on to excel on the track and the cross country course for the University of St. Francis (Ill.). Howard ran at the NAIA Indoor National Championships in 2011 as part of the Fighting Saints’ distance medley relay and ran the marathon at the 2014 NAIA Outdoor National Championship, finishing 14th in the nation. He was also a member of St. Francis’ 2012 NAIA National Championship Cross Country team. In the classroom, he earned the distinction of track and field NAIA-scholar athlete three times and cross country NAIA-scholar athlete status once.
