Ostberg's sub-12 bodes well for big season

 By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Alex Ostberg went to New York City looking for more competition and what he ended up with was a same-breath association with Edward Cheserek.

The Darien CT senior, ranked US#3, came to Van Cortlandt Park with confidence. A couple weeks earlier he became the first runner to break 16 minutes on the brutally hard Thetford Academy course in Vermont. And Manhattan was to be his next measuring stick.

Ostberg covered the 2.5-mile course at Van Cortlandt Park (a somewhat shorter starting area than what's used for Foot Locker Northeast) in 11:57.2 – joining Cheserek as the only runners to break 12 minutes on the course.

"I'm really proud of my effort and excited for what the time means in the context of the whole season," Ostberg said.

Ostberg's plan to win the Eastern States Championship race was to arrive at the top of the hill in first place and then work the downhill and flat section in the second half to widen the gap.

Bryce Millar moved to No. 3 on the all-time list with a stellar 12:02.3 and never completely let Ostberg get away.

"Since it's only a 12-minute race there's no time to relax," Ostberg said. "It was a hard effort right from the get-go. I wanted to establish the lead by the top of the hill but Bryce was always with me."

Ostberg runs plenty of hills during the week in practice but his ability to get up them was first put to the test in Vermont, where he crushed the course record at Thetford by 19 seconds.

"(Thetford) never really gives you a break," he said. "It's constantly rolling. Then you get slammed with a one-to-two minute incline when you're less than a mile away from the finish."

Those climbing skills will come in handy at Foot Locker, with its two sharp climbs at Balboa Park. The second hill there usually picks the winner. 

In the girls Eastern States race, Eritrean immigrant Weini Kelati of Heritage VA got a four-second victory over F-M's leader Annika Avery, in 14:20.6. But in another race, the Varsity C group, Jessica Lawson of Corning ran 14:18.8 for the fastest time of the day.

The team competition belonged to F-M, which put four girls in the top 11 and four boys in the top 19 on the way to smashing victories. The boys' race was particularly impressive because the team put four runners ahead of US#7 Christian Brothers Academy's second.

In California, at the Clovis Invitational, Great Oak continued its run of success with another team title sweep. Destiny Collins beat Davis Sr. standout Fiona O'Keeffe 16:57 to 17:07 in a meeting of the US#3 and 4 runners.

And Elijah Armstrong, who is always ready to travel somewhere to find competition, came down from Pocatello, Idaho and won the boys race at Woodward Park in a fine 15:01 (just outside of the top 30 of all time).

Read Erik Boal's recap for DyeStatCAL here.

In Washington, at the Richland Invitational, North Central (Spokane) senior Tanner Anderson put on a show with an eight-second course record at 14:36 on a hilly three-mile course.

"It was a really good effort and I was happy to run fast," Anderson said. "I just wanted a true test to see what I could do. That was the plan."

Anderson broke a record held by former teammate and 2013 NXN champion Kai Wilmot, who ran 14:44.8 as a junior in 2012.

Anderson attacked the downhills and flat sections of the course to shed time. He ran 14:54.3 for fourth place at Richland last year.

And the race also sets up a Greater Spokane League showdown with Mt. Spokane's John Dressel on Oct. 22. Dressel is US#4, Anderson US#7.

"I'm not sure if we'll race each other hard," Anderson said. "Yeah, it'd be nice to win but I don't want to race hard week in and week out."

It was also a good team performance by North Central, which had slipped out of the region top-five for the first time in at least five years. NC scored 64 points.

"I felt like the team had a really good effort and we made an improvement as a whole," Anderson said. "As coach said, we had all our oars in the water rowing together. It's all about progression to get where we want to be."

Lindsey Bradley of Richland ran a dominant 17:38.4 to win the varsity girls race.

In Oregon, US#2 Matthew Maton, US#10 Levi Thomet and US#13 Zach Alhamra squared off in a blockbuster boys elite race. Alhamra flew out from Colorado seeking a chance to run against a pair of Foot Locker finalists and held his own.

Alhamra pushed the pace in the first half of the race but Thomet and Maton stuck with him and the trio pulled away from the field together. Maton, of Summit OR, picked it up with 600 meters to go and got separation from the other two and won by about five seconds. Thomet, coming off his state meet up in Alaska, finished second and was due to move on to a recruiting visit at Oregon. Results are not yet available.

Meanwhile, Grant's Ella Donaghu ran mostly unopposed and won by about 25 seconds. 

Summit won the boys and girls team championships.

In Florida, at the FSU Pre-State Invitational, Sukhi Khosla of Leon ran roughly the same time he did last year – 14:59 – to win the boys title. For more on this meet, with videos and photos, check out DistancePreps.com. 

In Indiana, it was sectionals weekend but one of the biggest stories came from the meet at South Bend where Mishawaka senior Anna Rohrer competed in her first cross country race in more than a year -- and won in 18:54.2. Indiana Sectional Results 

In Pennsylvania, Shaler Area senior Brianna Schwartz got her season off to a great start with a win at Slipper Rock U's Mack Cooper Invitational. Schwartz ran 17:48.8 and won by almost a minute.