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Eastern Illinois Athletics was scheduled to hold its 2020 Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony this Saturday, November 6.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the ceremony has been moved to a later date in in 2021.   EIU will be featuring each of the 2020 Hall of Fame selections this week.

Listen to EIUPanthers Podcast Episode with Olivia Klaus

When Olivia Klaus received the call that she had been selected as one of five members of the 2020 Eastern Illinois Athletic Hall of Fame Class, it took some convincing from her husband that she really did deserve the honor.
 
"It was definitely an honor for me and a shock.  All of these emotions mixed together.  It really took me back to my time at Eastern, thinking about all the competitions and races.  Just thinking of the impact I had on it," said Klaus (now Morris).  "For me looking at my career, I never thought I hit that elite level.  My husband then told me, 'Olivia, you got medal after medal.  You were one of the only athletes on the team that could double and triple at a meet.'  Overall, just an honor and a shock."
 
Her husband Graham Morris would know, he was there first-hand for part of her success as a former member of the EIU track and cross country team before transferring to finish his academic program and athletic career at the University of Illinois.
 
Klaus did bring home medal after medal, not only on the track where she was a multiple time All-OVC performer, but also on the cross country course where she became the first EIU women's athlete to earn All-Ohio Valley Conference honors all four seasons.   
 
However, her story does not begin at Eastern Illinois.  A multi-sport athlete at Eureka High School and the first-ever IHSA Class 1A Girl's Cross Country State Champion, Klaus started her collegiate career at Miami (Ohio) University.  As she admits, the recruiting process was not a primary focus as it was all new to her.
 
"I was the first one in my family to go away to school.  We didn't really know how it worked, how many to look at.  I was so focused on my senior year being a three sport athlete, that I just wanted to keep in the moment.  Miami reached out and I had a great visit.  Oxford is a small town like Eureka and they have great academics."
 
Klaus went to Miami after being recruited by then head coach Dr. Richard Ceronie.   He would leave to take a position at New Mexico.  That departure of the coach that recruited her along with an injury to start the cross country season, and finding out that she would have to take additional tests to be a teacher in Illinois, prompted Klaus to look for a new home.
 
Eastern Illinois, which had not recruited her out of high school, was a potential destination as she decided to transfer closer to home.  She ran cross country and track her first season for Geoff Masanet (cross country) and Tom Akers (track).  
 
Her final three years came under the tutelage of current EIU cross country coach Erin Howarth.
 
"When I met Coach Erin, I was probably in one of my lows.  You have highs and lows in sports and when I met her for the first time, I was at a low.  I had run one year at Miami (Ohio) and one year at EIU.  I didn't have a connection with those coaches. My confidence was low in terms of coming back from an injury, I had never done it before. I didn't really have that for about two years and I wasn't running for a purpose.  I'm the type of person that if I don't have a purpose then I'm not into it.  Running was something I was super passionate about and, in my life, it was at a low.  With Coach Erin, it brought back the love for the sport."
 
The relationship with Howarth helped rekindle a love for running that Klaus had not seen since her high school days.  The results over the final three years of her EIU cross country career resulted in three straight first team All-OVC finishes including a runner-up finish as a senior.   She then set a school record time in the 6K and still ranks second on the Panthers career charts in the 5K.    On the track, she helped the Panthers win six OVC team championships between Indoor and Outdoor Track with several podium finishes.  
 
As a junior, she was a catalyst for the women's team cross country team winning the OVC Championship, only the second in program history and a moment she says was the highlight of her time at Eastern.
 
The other highlight for Klaus from her time at EIU was the mentorship that Howarth provided. Now a cross country and track coach herself along with teaching 9thgrade math; Klaus folds those lessons into her own coaching style.
 
"Coaching is always something I wanted to do.  I always had a positive experience with coaches that have coached me.  My coaches were driven on success as an athlete, but they were equally driven for you to have success in life.  You are never going to compete at your highest level if you are not happy and confident on where you are going with your life.  I had good experiences with that, so that was my goal.  I want to talk to them 10 or 15 years from now and have those relationships."
 
For Klaus those relationships may now have an extra twist when she returns with her team to Charleston where several meets are held at EIU.  As a member of the EIU 2020 Hall of Fame Class, she will have her name, photo and accomplishments enshrined in the athletic building for those young people to see.
 
"It's pretty surreal.  I will probably use it to start conversations with the athletes.  Tell them that you don't have to be the star athlete and still can see success.  I was not a champion all the time, but I was consistent over my career.  Tell them to look at the other athletes in the Hall of Fame.  Someone going in with me like Chandra Golden, from U-High.  Schools we know.  You can do this.  It sparks a conversation about what it's like to go from an athlete that just shows up, to an athlete that sets goals."