Allie Ostrander combined a strategic first four laps with a strong finishing push to pull away from the pack in the second qualifying race in the women’s 3000M steeplechase on Thursday at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Ostrander qualifies to the Women’s 3000M Steeplechase final on Saturday (the top five in each of two qualifers make up the field of 10 finalists). Ostrander posted a time of 9:44.22 and set a Mike A. Myers Stadium record for the 3000M steeplechase.
(Photo courtesy of Boise State Athletics)
Released from the Boise State Track & Field website….
“I thought Allie looked spectacular today – she did what she needed to do to get through, and in doing so looked really under control and relaxed,” head coach Corey Ihmels said. “I didn’t feel like she extended (her effort) too hard in any which way.”
Ostrander easily won her heat of the 3,000-meter steeplechase to grab one of her heat’s five automatic qualifiers. The redshirt junior, and two-time defending national champion in the event, reset the NCAA semifinal record she set last season in Eugene, running 9:44.32 to move one race closer to a three-peat.
The Kenai, Alaska, native held steady in the pack for the first half of the race, running with the leaders. Around the 1200-meter mark of the race, she slowly began to pull one second ahead of the rest of the field. Ostrander methodically increased her lead over the field, and she won her heat by three-seconds to also set the facility record in the event.
“The first race of NCAAs is always kind of nerve-racking,” Ostrander said. “It was nice to get through the prelims cleanly and focus my attention on the final.”
NCAA Race Schedule (Alaska Time Zone)
Ostrander will open action with the steeplechase at 2:54 p.m. (Alaska), and will run the 5,000-meter final 90 minutes later at 4:25 p.m. (Alaska) Saturday.
