Soldotna’s Allie Ostrander continued to raise the bar for Alaskan women Friday with a jaw-dropping performance at the UW Invite at the Dempsey Indoor in Seattle, Washington.
Ostrander, a freshman at Boise State, posted a time of 15 minutes, 21.85 seconds, in the women’s 5,000-meter race, which ranks seventh-fastest in NCAA indoor track history. The result was good for second place in a stacked field of college stars and seasoned professionals.
The only woman that beat her? 2012 Olympian Kim Conley, who won with a time of 15:09.31.
The 2015 Kenai Central graduate soared into new territory for Kenai Peninsula women, as her time was also below the 2016 United States Olympic Trials 5K qualifying time of 15:25. Ostrander’s previous personal best at the 5K distance was a 16:40 set at the 2014 Palmer Invite during the high school cross-country season.
The performance shattered the previous Boise State school record and Mountain West region records as well, both held by former Broncos runner Emma Bates at 15:50.78.
The Dempsey Indoor meet features an oversized 307-meter track, which means Ostrander’s time will not count for the collegiate all-time 5,000-meter list. Among oversized track performances, her race ranks third all-time.
