SHE HAS SIMPLY “felt it” dozens of times during her 3-year career at Boise State. The “it” for Allie Ostrander is when to move; when to step up the pace; when to go for the win. Everyone knows it’s coming. Her opponents all expect it; they just don’t know when. And neither does she.
In Austin, “it” happened with just over 2 laps remaining. The Boise State junior had been biding her time in the middle of the pack, then, quickly, efficiently, she just sped into the lead and had opened a 5-meter gap by the next backstretch over New Mexico junior Charlotte Prouse. Prouse, the ’18 runner-up behind Ostrander, saw the inevitable happening again as the favorite went on to win easily, 9:37.73–9:44.50, PRs for both.
It was a significant win for the Alaska native as she became the first to capture 3 straight steeple titles. Jenny Barringer (now Simpson) of Colorado won a trio, but not consecutively. “I’ve been working on my kick,” said Ostrander. “The West Regional was really strong, and I wanted to be ready. The heat wasn’t really a factor for me in Austin—I just focus on the barriers, and that keeps my mind off the weather.”
Said Prouse, “I tried to stay close, just so I would have a chance to do something. Allie ran a great race. When she sped up, it shook everyone.” After Ostrander’s breakaway and Prouse’s step-up, the rest of the field did some basic reshuffling for a lap or so. On the final lap, Hannah Steelman of Wofford went to her knees in the water jump. As a result, BYU’s Erica Birk and New Mexico’s Adva Cohen sped past. Gathering herself, Steelman gave chase and caught both with about 15m left to take 3rd in a PR 9:46.08. Cohen surged in the final meters to nip Birk 9:46.36– 9:46.47.
Ostrander’s last lap of 77.38—on an exterior waterjump course—ran away from the rest of the contenders, but it wasn’t the fastest finishing circuit. Rather it was Wichita State’s Rebekah Topham who was in last for the first 4 laps and finished in 76.18. That propelled her to 8th.
NCAA WOMEN’S STEEPLE RESULTS
FINAL
(June 08; exterior waterjump)
1. *Allie Ostrander (Boise) 9:37.73 PR (6, 9 NCAA)
(pace—87.13 [1:27.13], 83.84 [2:50.97], 82.58 [4:13.55], 83.51 [5:37.06], 82.94 [7:00.00], 80.36 [8:20.36], 77.37) (finish—77.37, 2:37.73, 4:00.67, 5:24.18);
2. *Charlotte Prouse’ (NM) 9:44.50 PR (79.43, 2:43.88, 4:07.64, 5:31.16);
3. **Hannah Steelman (Woff) 9:46.08 PR;
4. **Adva Cohen’ (NM) 9:46.36;
5. *Erica Birk (BYU) 9:46.47;
6. Val Constien (Co) 9:51.22;
7. *Devin Clark (Ar) 9:55.22;
8. *Rebekah Topham (Wich) 9:57.80;
9. *Gabrielle Jennings (Furm) 9:58.83;
10. Bri Ilarda’ (Prov) 10:11.63;
11. **Alissa Niggemann (Wi) 10:25.60;
12. Nell Crosby (NCSt) 10:35.47.
SEMIS
(June 06)
I–1. Steelman 9:49.51 PR; 2. Niggemann 9:51.60 PR; 3. Birk 9:52.43; 4. Cohen’ 9:53.72; 5. Crosby 9:58.09 PR; 6. Ilarda’ 10:00.39; 7. Emily Hamlin (Wa) 10:11.42; 8. **Lisa Vogelgesang’ (Ms) 10:15.29; 9. *Karrigan Smith (MiSt) 10:16.17; 10. Cierra Simmons (UtSt) 10:23.90; 11. Rachel King (SDSt) 10:29.77; 12. *Emily Borchers (Day) 168.39.
II–1. Ostrander 9:44.32 (fastest Q ever);
2. Jennings 9:47.84 PR; 3. Prouse’ 9:52.00; 4. Constien 9:52.04; 5. Clark 9:54.93; 6. Topham 9:57.06; 7. **Joyce Kimeli’ (Aub) 10:04.71; 8. **Kristlin Gear (Furm) 10:15.07; 9. Briar Brumley (Corn) 10:21.03; 10. Anna McDonald (Tx) 10:22.87; 11. Jessica Scheriff (Iona) 10:43.79; 12. Mackenzie Andrews’ (Akr) 10:46.23.◻︎
