Ostrander guns for 3rd straight All-American double at NCAAs
Allie Ostrander
Allie Ostrander of Kenai will gladly pull double duty at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The Boise State University redshirt junior will compete in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meter run when the national meet takes place June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.
Ostrander will be gunning for her third NCAA championship in the steeplechase and her third consecutive All-American finish in the 5,000.
The finals for the two races are run on the same day, usually about 90 minutes apart. It’s brutal, but she gladly accepts the challenger year after year.
Ostrander, of Kenai Central High fame, won the second heat of the national quarterfinal in Sacramento, California, to secure one of the automatic qualifying times for the national championship.
BYU’s Erica Birk ran a nation-leading mark in the first heat of the event, but Ostrander was able to regain her national mark in the second heat, winning in 9:40.05.
“It was great to get through the first round and advance to nationals,” Ostrander said. “Advancing through these races always brings out great performances. It was always the plan to run that race, and it’s great to look forward to the next round.”
In the 5,000, she took top honors was able to pull ahead of Stanford’s Olivia O’Keefe in the final mile to win in 15:30.94.
Ostrander is just the second Alaskan to win multiple NCAA D1 track and field national championships, joining Anchorage’s Jordan Clarke, who won four titles in the shot put with the Arizona State University between 2009 and 2013.