Anita Ann Howard Prather (born March 22, 1969), née Anita Ann Howard, is a former American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who specialized in the

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

. Howard received an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where she was a member of the Florida Gators track and field team from 1988 to 1991. She graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1993, and was inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Gator Great" in 2007. Howard won a silver medal in the

4 × 400 meters relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

at the 1997 World Indoor Championships in Paris, together with teammates

Shanelle Porter Shanelle Porter (born January 20, 1972) is a retired American sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. Representing the Nebraska Cornhuskers track and field team, Porter won the 1991 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in th ...

, Natasha Kaiser-Brown and

Jearl Miles Clark Jearl Atawa Miles Clark (née Miles; born September 4, 1966 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 and 800 meters. She held the American record in the women's 800 m at 1:56.40. She competed for the ...

. The team set a new North American indoor record of 3:27.66 minutes. Her personal best in the 400 meters was a time of 51.01 seconds, which she ran in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

in June 1992.World women's all-time best 400m
(last updated 2001) Anita Howard now works for Lennard Highschool as a HOPE Teacher.

References

1969 births Living people American female sprinters Florida Gators women's track and field athletes World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medalists at the 1989 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1991 Summer Universiade Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) 20th-century American sportswomen {{US-sprint-athletics-bio-stub

See also

References