Sports

Kenai Central running star lowers national mark

Kenai Central senior Allie Ostrander continues to bolster her claim to the title of the country's fastest female high school distance runner.

Ostrander broke her own Region III record in the 3,200-meter run Friday, running a time of nine minutes, 58.74 seconds to win the region title at the meet in Kenai. The time is believed to be the fastest run by a U.S. girl in 2015.

The time is a personal best for Ostrander, who earlier this season ran a 9:59.33 in an indoor exhibition race at The Dome and posted a 10:01.96 at last month's Kenai Invitational. Both times are faster than any high school girl has run this season, according to athletic.net. Her new time of 9:58.74 is the fastest run by a high school girl in the U.S. this season, according to national track and field websites athletic.net, milesplit.com and dyestat.com.

Ostrander's previous region record in the event was 10 minutes, 18 seconds. She ran virtually alone for the entire race -- her next closest competitor, Soldotna's Olivia Hutchings, finished 1:27.39 behind.

Ostrander will compete at her final high school meet next weekend at the ASAA Alaska Track and Field Championships at Dimond Alumni Field.

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