Alaska’s Allie Ostrander finishes out of the running in steeplechase at U.S. Olympic Trials

Alaska runner Allie Ostrander won’t be going to the Paris Olympics.

The 27-year-old overcame a slow start in the finals of the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, on Thursday night to finish in seventh place out of 10 runners in 9 minutes, 21.82 seconds.

Not only was it a personal best for the three-time NCAA national steeplechase champion, who set her previous best earlier this season with a 9:24.70, it was also good enough to meet the Olympic qualifying standard of 9:23.00. She last attempted to qualify for the Olympics in 2021.

Unfortunately, she also needed to finish in the top three to punch her ticket to Paris. The three finishers who’ll represent the United States are Valerie Constien (9:03.22), Courtney Wayment (9:06.50) and Marisa Howard (9:07.14), all of whom also set personal bests. Constien’s first-place time also set a meet record in the event for the Olympic Trials.

In a postrace interview with LetsRun.com, Ostrander shared how she contracted COVID-19 two weeks ago, wasn’t sure if she’d be able to compete and had “mixed emotions” about her performance.

“I wanted to be further towards the front, but I just found myself like, pushed towards the back right away,” she said. “I made the most of it, but I didn’t run it tactically the way that I wanted to.”

Despite that, she described the race as her “best failure yet” in a social media post Friday.

“I didn’t run the race I dreamed of, but I did run a race I’m proud of. If you had told me 9 months ago that I’d not only make the final, but get 7th and run a PR, I would have been overjoyed,” she wrote on Instagram, adding that the “enjoyment and love I’ve felt through everything” has made this the best track season of her life.

“I’m so thankful to be in a place where that performance left me wanting more,” she wrote.

Ostrander, who was inducted into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame this year, hails from Soldotna and starred at the high school level for Kenai Central High School before doing the same at the collegiate level at Boise State. Earlier this year, she finished fourth at the U.S. Cross Country Championships and 30th at the World Championships.

After the steeplechase finals in Eugene, Ostrander expressed her appreciation for the family and friends who’ve supported her, and she kept her running performance in perspective.

“I am so happy I was able to do it and (COVID) ended up not impacting me too much,” Ostrander told LetsRun.com. “I do feel like it takes so much for the stars to align to be able to make a U.S. Olympic team. It’s incredibly difficult to do, and it didn’t happen this year, but I do think I’m capable of it.”