View source for Denean Howard

{{Short description|American sprinter (born 1964)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name           = Denean Howard
| image          = Denean Howard.JPEG
| image_size     = <!--Only for images narrower than 220 pixels.-->
| caption        = 
| nationality    = {{USA}}
| residence      = 
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1964|10|05|mf=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Sherman, Texas]]
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| height         = {{convert|5|ft|4.5|in|m|2|abbr=on}}
| weight         = {{convert|121|lb|kg|abbr=on}}
| sport          = [[Running]]
| event          = [[Sprint (running)|Sprints]]
| collegeteam    = [[Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles]]
| club           = Puma and Energizer Track Club/Tyson
| coach          = 
| pb             = 
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport | Women's [[Athletics at the Summer Olympics|athletics]]}}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}}
{{MedalGold| [[1984 Summer Olympics|1984 Los Angeles]] | [[Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay|4 × 400 m relay]]}}
{{MedalSilver| [[1988 Summer Olympics|1988 Seoul]] | [[Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay|4 × 400 m relay]]}}
{{MedalSilver| [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona]] | [[Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay|4 × 400 m relay]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[IAAF World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalBronze |[[1987 World Championships in Athletics|1987 Rome]]|4 × 400 m relay}}
{{Medal|Competition|[[Pan American Games]]}}
{{Medal|Gold |[[1987 Pan American Games|1987 Indianapolis]]|[[Athletics at the 1987 Pan American Games|4 × 400 m relay]]}}
{{Medal|Bronze |[[1987 Pan American Games|1987 Indianapolis]]|[[Athletics at the 1987 Pan American Games|400 metres]]}}
| show-medals    = 
| updated        = 19 May 2016
}}

'''Denean Elizabeth Howard-Hill''' (born October 5, 1964) is an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres.

At the Olympics she competed as Miss Howard in 1984, as Mrs. Howard-Hill in 1988, and as Mrs. Hill in 1992.

She competed for the United States, winning a gold medal at the [[1984 Summer Olympics]] held in Los Angeles as a member of the 4 × 400 metres relay team, running in the preliminary rounds<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ho/denean-howard-hill-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418000858/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ho/denean-howard-hill-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 18, 2020 |title=Denean Howard-Hill Biography and Olympic Results &#124; Olympics at |publisher=Sports-reference.com |date=October 5, 1964 |access-date=October 18, 2011}}</ref> with her sister [[Sherri Howard|Sherri]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ho/sherri-howard-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418045247/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ho/sherri-howard-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 18, 2020 |title=Sherri Howard Biography and Olympic Results &#124; Olympics at |publisher=Sports-reference.com |date=June 1, 1962 |access-date=October 18, 2011}}</ref> running in the final. It was a reversal at the [[1988 Summer Olympics]] held in [[Seoul]], South Korea in the 4 × 400 metres relay, where both sisters won the silver medal, but Denean ran in the final with her teammates [[Diane Dixon]], [[Valerie Brisco-Hooks]] and [[Florence Griffith Joyner]]. The team set the current standing [[United States records in track and field|American Record]] in the event, which is still the second best time ever run behind the winning [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] team in that race.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=o/age=n/season=0/sex=W/all=y/legal=A/disc=4X4/detail.html |title=IAAF Al time list |publisher=Iaaf.org |access-date=October 18, 2011}}</ref>

She is married to boxer, [[Virgil Hill]]; her son Virgil was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2009 MLB Draft, currently playing for the Class-A [[Batavia Muckdogs]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.pe.com/sportsbreak/2009/08/84-olympics-sisters-share-the.html |title=Sports Southern California &#124; PE.com – The Press-Enterprise |publisher=Blogs.pe.com |date=November 19, 2010 |access-date=October 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108165604/http://blogs.pe.com/sportsbreak/2009/08/84-olympics-sisters-share-the.html |archive-date=January 8, 2010 |df=mdy }}</ref>

Denean Howard and her 3 sisters gained fame in 1979 when the four of them teamed up to set the [[United States high school national records in track and field|National High School record]] in the 4 × 440 yard relay for [[San Gorgonio High School]] in San Bernardino.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gritten |first=David |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20076100,00.html |title=Here Come the Howards, the Top Sister Act in U.S. Sports |work=People |date=March 24, 1980 |access-date=October 18, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-31-sp-422-story.html |title=THE '80s A DECADE REVISITED : Athletes who began their careers in the Valley over the past 10 years have gone on to win Olympic gold medals, Cy Young Awards and world boxing titles. Team achievements included improbable champions and record winning streaks. But fights, strikes and firings also made the news – Los Angeles Times |publisher=Articles.latimes.com |date=December 31, 1989 |access-date=October 18, 2011}}</ref> That distance is now rarely run as the [[National Federation of State High School Associations|NFHS]] converted to metric distances, so the record still stands today. Later teams with Denean broke the record for the slightly shorter [[4 × 400 metres relay]], after sister Atra graduated and the rest of the family moved to [[Kennedy High School (Los Angeles)]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dyestatcal.com/news/tr2008/January/28%20Stories%20Spr/Summ2.html |title=DyestatCal |publisher=DyestatCal |access-date=October 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929233924/http://www.dyestatcal.com/news/tr2008/January/28%20Stories%20Spr/Summ2.html |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Denean was the California High School Athlete of the Year at Kennedy in 1982, following in the footsteps of her sister [[Sherri Howard|Sherri]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://myespn.go.com/blogs/calhisports/0-9-11/Jordan-Hasay--08-09-State-Girls-Athlete-of-the-Year.html |title=ESPN |publisher=ESPN |access-date=October 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108031751/http://myespn.go.com/blogs/calhisports/0-9-11/Jordan-Hasay--08-09-State-Girls-Athlete-of-the-Year.html |archive-date=January 8, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Also following her sister, she was named the national Girl's "High School Athlete of the Year" by [[Track and Field News]], two years in a row.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/archive/HSAOYs.pdf |title=Track and Field News High School AOY |access-date=October 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111013091646/http://trackandfieldnews.com/archive/HSAOYs.pdf |archive-date=October 13, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref> Her 1982 52.39 was the [[National Federation of State High School Associations|NFHS]] national high school record for eighteen years, before it was beaten by [[Monique Henderson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nfhs.org/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=3247 |title=National High School Record Book |access-date=October 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927115642/http://www.nfhs.org/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=3247 |archive-date=September 27, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref> At age 15, she qualified for the ill-fated 1980 U.S. Olympic Team which was part of the [[1980 Summer Olympics boycott|1980 Olympic Boycott]]<ref>{{cite web|author=HP-Time.com;B.J. Phillips Monday, July 7, 1980 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952707-2,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428133138/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952707-2,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 28, 2007 |title=Time |date=July 7, 1980 |access-date=October 18, 2011}}</ref> finishing behind sister Sherri at the [[1980 United States Olympic Trials (track and field)|1980 Olympic Trials]], the first sisters to make the Olympic team simultaneously in the same event.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/champions/OlympicTrials/HistoryOfTheOlympicTrials.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=September 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327114422/http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/OlympicTrials/HistoryOfTheOlympicTrials.pdf |archive-date=March 27, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

She is currently an assistant coach at the [[College of the Canyons]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canyons.edu/offices/athletics/mtrack/2009/09mtrackcoachingstaff.html |title=Assistant Track and Field Coaching Staff |access-date=2012-05-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120801054345/http://www.canyons.edu/offices/athletics/mtrack/2009/09mtrackcoachingstaff.html |archive-date=August 1, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{World Athletics}}
* [http://www.dyestat.com/ATHLETICS//////TRACK/stat_rec.doc California State Records before 2000]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{databaseOlympics|HOWARDEN01|archive=20070219175213}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{Olympics.com profile}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 4x400 m Women}}
{{Footer Pan American Champions 4x400m Women}}
{{Footer Universiade Champions 400m Women}}
{{Footer Universiade Champions 4x400m Women}}
{{Footer US NC 400m Women}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1984 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1988 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1992 Summer Olympics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Denean}}
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American female sprinters]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships medalists]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from California]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade]]
[[Category:FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:Olympic female sprinters]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportswomen]]