Soldotna's Ostrander, coming off injury, delivers at US Olympic Trials

An injury robbed Allie Ostrander of two months of training and she had not toed a starting line in four months when she lined up at storied Hayward Field for Thursday afternoon's semifinals of the women's 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

All she did, particularly considering those tenuous circumstances, was deliver another command performance.

The 19-year-old from Soldotna finished fourth in her heat, and posted the fourth-fastest time overall in Eugene, Oregon, to qualify for Sunday's final and earn a shot at becoming an Olympian before her teenage years are done.

Ostrander, who recently finished her freshman year at Boise State and was the only collegian among the 23 women who raced, did not betray a hint of rust. Wearing a white Boise State singlet, she clocked 15 minutes, 27.13 seconds.

"It felt awesome," Ostrander said by cellphone. "I didn't know what to expect going into the race, and I was happy I felt so good. It just felt natural."

Ostrander entered Thursday with the No. 12 time in the country in the 5,000 meters — she qualified for the Trials with her 15:21.85 indoors in January — and ran with the pack the entire race. Racing with temperatures in the mid-70s and a slight wind, she bounced between eighth place and 10th through 3,000 meters, then moved up to sixth with four laps to go and kept picking off runners.

"I just wanted to stay relaxed and let the race come to me, not force it," Ostrander said.

That Ostrander raced with such sharpness was impressive given her injury setback earlier this year. After finishing second at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, she pulled out midway through the 5,000 at the NCAA indoor nationals in Birmingham, Alabama, with a knee injury that had compromised her training.

Ostrander did not run for eight weeks, though she cross-trained diligently. She ran lightly for two to three weeks before putting in five weeks of solid training. Only in late June did Ostrander and her college coach, Corey Ihmels, determine she was healthy and fit enough to officially declare her intention to race at the Trials.

Runners generally prefer to prepare for events as monumental as the Trials with at least a few races that get their body accustomed to running at a fast, sustained pace that is more demanding than customary training. Such races also steel a runner mentally and prepare them for running in tightly packed quarters.

The upside of not having pre-Trials races, Ostrander said recently, was she arrived in Eugene with no expectations, and thus, no pressure.

She said she felt slight nerves Thursday, lining up with the nation's best, but nothing bothersome.

"I wasn't wrapped in fear, or drowning in my expectations or anyone's expectations," Ostrander said.

That was a considerable change for a runner who has spent her teenage years in the spotlight. Ostrander, who competed for Kenai Central, owns the Alaska prep records at 1,600 and 3,200 meters, seized three state cross-country titles, won a national cross-country race as a senior and was coveted by college recruiters. One of her suitors was mighty Oregon, home of Hayward Field.

Ostrander also burnished her credentials, and reputation, with six consecutive junior girls victories, and a girls record, on the steep slopes of Mount Marathon, where as a 17-year-old she also beat all the boys in the field. In her senior-division debut last year at Mount Marathon, Ostrander finished second to a world-class professional mountain runner and also broke Nancy Pease's iconic 25-year-old course record.

Ostrander is one of five Alaska-connected athletes who have competed in these Trials. Former Eielson star Janay DeLoach, the 2012 women's Olympic bronze medalist in the long jump, last week qualified for the Rio Olympics in dramatic fashion. DeLoach on her last jump delivered a season-best leap that moved her from seventh place to third.

DeLoach was entered in the 100-meter hurdles at the Trials but did not compete in Thursday's preliminary round. She said by text that it made more sense to concentrate on training for the long jump in Rio.

Ostrander in Sunday's final will face such luminaries as Olympian and U.S. 5,000-meter record-holder Molly Huddle, who won Ostrander's heat in 15:26.33, the fastest time of the day; Marielle Hall, second in the 5,000 at the national championships a year ago; and Abbey D'Agostino, who finished third at nationals in 2015.

Only three Alaskan track and field athletes have competed in the Olympics. DeLoach won her bronze medal in London in 2012. Anchorage doctor Chris Clark finished 19th in the women's marathon at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia. And former East High standout Don Clary ran the 5,000 at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

After cooling down following her race, Ostrander conducted a telephone interview while sitting in an ice bath. That is a restorative treatment athletes often undertake after competition to aid recovery after a hard effort. She said she's eager to race in Sunday's final.

"The final is honestly like a a bonus run for me, going in knowing I'm healthy and fit," Ostrander said. "I'm just excited to get out there and duke it out with the best in the nation."