Howard Lao
High School Honors
1 soccer letter.
4 track & field letters: Six-time All PIL champion — four years in the 110m hurdles; set state meet record of 14.32 as a senior. Two-time PIL 300m hurdles champion. Athlete of the meet senior year. All American for 7th place finish at the USTF Junior Olympics. Royal C as Track and Field MVP. Track team captain and scored 19 points in Cleveland’s 4th place state finish as a senior.
Two-time Scholar Athlete.
Post-High School Career
Two track and field letters at The University of Washington (#7 All-time in 60m indoor hurdles); 2x top-10 finishes at the PAC-10 Championships.
B.A. degree in Communications, 2015.
Hurdles coach at Cleveland High past 10 years; coached both a girl and boy in state hurdles finals last year (best team finish in school history). His award-winning sports photography has taken him to Olympic Trials three times and World Championships four imes.
Commentary
First and foremost I'd like to thank my support network for being there for me back in high school, and here with me today (at the 2025 induction banquet) to celebrate this wonderful achievement. My parents, grandparents, and cousins. Coaches Buse, Bibles, Fantroy, Nims. Friends Matt, Jason, and fellow HoF member, Daniel.
I had no plans on running track my freshman year, in fact, I was using it as an off-season training for soccer (my first love). The first day of practice they made us run one lap around the track, and about halfway through I was over it. Later that week I tried long jump. While I had a little more success, I really didn't like getting sand in my shoes. I was ready to go back to club soccer when the late Coach Bibles suggested I try hurdles, and that changed my life.
It's been ~20 years since I first went over a hurdle, and I can still feel that joy of flight & speed. Hurdling gave me the opportunity to be the first in my family to attend college. It's taught me about being patient with progress of goals. It gave me my current career as both a coach & sports photographer. I even met my wife through track, what a dream.
Thank you again for this recognition & induction into the PIL Hall of Fame.
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