For all of 2015 Kenai Central graduate Allie Ostrander’s running success, it’s easy to forget she also showed she could bounce back from a withering body shot on the soccer field or an elbow to the face on the basketball court as a Kardinal.
The 2017 Mount Marathon women’s champion put her toughness on display in winning the Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday in her return to racing for the Boise State cross-country team after nearly two years away.
Teri Ostrander, Allie’s mother, said via text message that Allie had her heel stepped on in the dash from the starting line at EP “Tom” Sawyer Park, partially removing her shoe. The Soldotna runner and redshirt sophomore ran with the bad shoe until about four kilometers into the five-kilometer race, when it finally came off her left foot.
Teri said Allie’s foot was a bit bloody when she finished at 16 minutes, 28.15 seconds, to defeat runner-up Charlotte Imer of Eastern Kentucky and her time of 16:36.07.
As the only Broncos runner to place in the top 10, Ostrander also played a key role in leading Boise State to the team title. With all scorers in the top 25, the Broncos scored 74 points to top the 101 of runner-up Wisconsin. Teri said there was initially some confusion with the results when Allie was not included in the team scores, but that was cleared up due to a photo of Allie winning the race.
At the same park in 2015 during her freshman campaign, Ostrander finished second at the NCAA cross-country nationals. But she lost her 2016 cross-country season to a sacral stress fracture.
Ostrander came back for the 2017 outdoor season to win a national title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She also won Mount Marathon in Seward with the second-fastest time in race history in July, setting her up for Saturday’s triumphant return.
