CLEVELAND — Olivia Howell, a standout track and field distance runner at Solon High School, was named the winner of the Female High School Athlete of the Year Award at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards ceremony.
Howell was presented with the honor at the 19th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards dinner at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel Grand Ballroom Wednesday night.
Howell won the 2018 Division I State Championship and earned All-Ohio honors in the 1,600-meter run. The 2018 title was Howell’s second Division I State Championship.
Along with title in the mile, Howell placed in the 3,200-meter race at the 2018 Division I State Championship and was the runner up in the state cross-country meet.
Howell will continue her track and field and cross-country careers at the University of Illinois.
Howell won the award over Keystone High School softball standout Madi Nunez and Rocky River High School volleyball star Ava Rauser.
The 2018 Co-Miss Softball in Lorain County, Nunez will continue her softball career at Wright State University this spring. Nunez set the Lorain County record with 66 runs batted in during the 2018 season, where she scored 36 runs, registered 51 hits and smashed 11 home runs with a .531 batting average.
Nunez helped the Wildcats win the OHSAA Division II State Championship and hit four home runs in a Sectional Championship game. The four home runs tied the state and county all-time records.
A first-team all-district selection, Rauser helped the Pirates reach the OHSAA Division II State Championship Match, and will continue her volleyball career at Harvard University this coming fall.
The Female High School Athlete of the Year Award is presented annually to the athlete who best distinguishes the characteristics of athletic prowess and is in good academic standing at her respective school.
