"It's not a pretty sport," she said.
Maybe not pretty. But pretty wild.
The state championships brought drama and trauma to the Bartlett trails, where all four races were decided in the final 400 meters of the 5-kilometer course and where three times an ambulance was needed to cart off runners.
One of those leaving in an ambulance was Kenai freshman Allie Ostrander, who had been so dominant this season she had been all but crowned champion before the day began.
The leader through three kilometers, Ostrander began to fade while ascending a hill and was so dizzy by the time she got to the top of it, "she was running in S's," coach D'Anna Gibson said.
Instead of blowing away the Class 4A girls field as so many had expected, Ostrander, walking slowly and with help, arrived at the finish line about 15 minutes after the last official finisher. Few noticed what was happening at first, but by the time Ostrander reached the straightaway for the final 100 meters, a crowd gathered to usher her to the finish line with cheers and ringing cowbells. There, she was helped to the ground and remained prone for several long minutes while EMTs tended to her before an ambulance arrived.
Gibson said exhaustion was probably to blame, or maybe cold weather, or maybe the onset of a cold. "Maybe we should have had her wear some UnderArmor," the coach said.
Earlier, Peter Noon of West Valley was taken to the hospital with what coach Dan Callahan suspected was exhaustion and Kayla Hamme of Craig left via ambulance after falling and hitting her head hard. Hamme's fall happened in the third race of the day and it delayed the final race by 12 minutes because EMTs needed time to move her off the course.
Even after all the competition had ended, EMTs stayed busy. A West Valley girl hyperventilated and nearly passed out in a Bartlett High hallway minutes before the awards ceremony, but after being treated outside a school entryway, she returned to the gym on her own power.
"These kids are real competitive," said Callahan, attempting to explain all the carnage, "and sometimes their minds tell them to do something their bodies aren't ready for."
Of course, the vast majority of the nearly 400 runners survived the championship unscathed. And then there was those who thrived:
• Arnold nipped three-time champion Kailey Wilson of Kenny Lake at the finish line to claim a one-second victory in the Class 1-2-3A girls race and help Grace Christian to its fourth consecutive sweep of the small-school team titles;
• Miles Knotek of Seward broke away from Delta Junction's Andrey Ionashku in the final 200 meters to claim the 1-2-3A boys title, winning by nine seconds;
• Lathrop's Megan Edic held off West's Lydia Blanchet for a three-second victory and Wasilla edged West for the team title in the Class 4A girls race;
• And Kuba Grzeda of West Valley outdueled Service's Max Romey by three seconds in the Class 4A boys race. Romey was joined by four teammates in the top 18 as the Cougars captured their third straight team championship.
Class 1-2-3A girls
In her bid to make Alaska history by winning a fourth straight state championship, Kailey Wilson of Kenny Lake came up short by one second. Then she acted like a champ by talking at length about it.
"Your body changes," said the senior, who has been offered a scholarship to run at Cal State-Stanislaus, a Division II college. "My freshman and sophomore years, I was still smaller, and then your junior year comes around and it's a little harder.
"...High school is great, but this isn't something that's going to effect me the rest of my life. Everyone makes a big improvement in college, and I think being in a competitive atmosphere all the time will make me better. It won't be easy, though."
Wilson all but invented cross country and track at Kenny Lake, a town of about 400 that didn't compete in either sport until Wilson came along. This year, three other Kenny Lake runners qualified for the state meet with her.
Wilson and Arnold traded places a number of times at the end of the race and were separated by one second at the finish, with Arnold clocking 19 minutes, 25 seconds and Wilson registering 19:26.
Wilson said she spent the final few meters of her high school cross country career second-guessing herself: "I was thinking, 'Where could I have made up that extra step?' ''
The race was so close the public-address announcer reported the results, because so many were uncertain which had one. Asked if she knew she had won before the announcement, Arnold grinned.
"Yeah," she said. "Well, no. I had her on the (last) downhill and she was breathing down my neck. Then she passed me and I knew I had to pump my arms really hard."
Arnold, second to Wilson last year, worked hard through her final stride to deprive Wilson a place in Alaska sports history. Only two runners have won four straight cross country championships -- the great Kristi Klinnert of Kodiak and Emily Ransom of Seward.
Class 1-2-3A boys
Miles Knotek enjoyed the day's widest margin of victory -- nine seconds -- but didn't seize control of his race until he broke away from Andrey Ionashku of Delta in the last 200 meters.
Both runners were surprised how the end unfolded, because Knotek says he has no kick and Ionashku says he usually has a dependable kick.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," Knotek (16:23) said when asked what kind of finishing kick he has.
"Normally better than this," Ionashku (16:32) said when asked the same question. "This was the only one where I couldn't move my legs.
"...I was gonna try for the inside lane, so I slowed down a little, and I couldn't get back up with him. I was just done.'
Knotek, a junior, said the last two kilometers was a three-man race between him, Ionashku and Sitka's Niko Friedman (third in 16:41).
"The whole time I was thinking 'I can win. No, I can't win.' '' he said. Ultimately, he prevailed on a hilly course that played to his strengths. As the defending Mount Marathon junior boys champion, Knotek knows hills.
Just like Grace Christian knows championships. Grace's boys, led by defending champion John Klein (fourth in 16:58) and Daniel Servanti (sixth in 17:15) won their fourth straight title. It was the sixth straight title for the Grace girls, who had three other girls -- Bethanne Davis, Claire Trujillo and Cheyenne Applegate -- in the top seven with Arnold.
"They love the sport of running and they love encouraging each other," Grace Christian coach Nate Davis said of the two teams, which include about 50 runners -- or one-fourth of the school's enrollment.
Class 4A girls
Minutes after edging West freshman Lydia Blanchet by three seconds, Lathrop's Megan Edic was grinning in disbelief.
"I still can't believe what happened," the senior said. "It's what I've been working for all year."
Edic said she didn't know that Ostrander had dropped out of the race, but she was well aware of Blanchet.
"Coming around the (stadium) I could hear people cheering and I heard, 'Go Lydia!" and I thought, 'No!' I thought I want this. I want this so bad. Being in first place I thought, I can't give this up, but hearing Lydia breathing down my neck I was so scared."
Edic clocked 18:38, Blanchet 18:41.
Blanchet said she didn't feel sharp when the race started. "Suddenly I found myself in second place," she said. "I'm really jazzed."
Blanchet helped West to second place behind Wasilla, which repeated as state champs by putting five runners in the top 23, a group led by eighth-place Mariah Burroughs. West and Kenai both hoped to challenge the Warriors for the team title, but West's chances dimmed when Katie Weddleton, usually the team's No. 3 runner, was hobbled by an injury and couldn't finish. Kenai's chances vanished when Ostrander, the winner of every race this season and the junior girls record-holder at Mount Marathon, dropped out.
Ostrander was still determined to cross the finish line, although because she had help from teammates and coaches, she was not an official finisher. Still, the sight of her making the slow journey around the stadium produced as much drama as all of the close races.
"It made me cry," Gibson said.
Class 4A boys
In the day's most competitive individual race, victory could have gone to maybe half a dozen runners -- the top four were separated by just seven seconds -- but in the end West Valley's Kuba Grzeda pulled away from Max Romey of Service, David Francis of Juneau and Cole Christianson of Kodiak.
Francis led coming into the stadium for the final 400 meters and was in second place with about 300 meters to go before Romey passed him. I knew they had more potent kicks," Francis said.
Grzeda -- dressed for Fairbanks weather in long sleeves, a knit hat and gloves -- broke away from Romey to win in 16:01.
"He's a very good kicker," said Callahan, the West Valley coach. "I knew that once he was inside this stadium, if someone was with him he should be able to beat them."
Romey clocked 16:04 and said he gave everything he had.
"That's the most painful thing I've done to date," he said. "I hurt the whole way.
"There's something really special about having your whole body hurt after a race. Given the choice, it's better running the best I can and getting second rather than having something left in the tank and finishing first."
As it turned out, Romey got to enjoy first place too. He helped Service to a dominating win in the team standings and was joined in the top 10 by teammates Garth Schultz and Lucas Schlemme.
The Cougars lost a pair of top-3 runners to graduation last year -- Silas Talbot and Jani Lane -- but they didn't rebuild from that, they merely reloaded.
"It's a self-generating machine," Romey said.
Allie Ostrander, of Kenai, was favored to win the 4A race but collapsed at the 3k mark, then got up and walked to the finish line in front of a cheering crowd. (Video by ERIK HILL / Anchorage Daily News)
Reach Beth Bragg at bbragg@adn.com or 257-4335.
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