Staff report

Former Kenai Central runner Taylor Ostrander claimed her first collegiate championship victory Saturday, Nov. 1, at the Northwest Conference Cross Country Championships at Bush’s Pasture Park in Salem, Oregon.

Ostrander, a 2012 Kenai Central graduate that currently runs for Willamette University, won the six-kilometer race in a time of 22 minutes, 25.2 seconds, tied in a photo finish with Bearcats teammate Olivia Mancl. Defending NWC champ Michaela Freeby finished third, just a tenth of a second behind her two teammates.

Ostrander led a pack of Willamette runners in a dominating 1-2-3-4-6 finish for the team, which was enough to cruise to the NWC team championship for a second consecutive year. The Willamette men’s team also took the team title.