Soldotna women show off their speed at NCAA track championships

Fastest peninsula on the planet? On Saturday, you could have made a case for the Kenai Peninsula.

On the last day of the NCAA indoor track and field championships, one Soldotna woman sped to a Division II national championship and another missed claiming a Division I title by less than one second.

Dani McCormick, a junior at UAA, captured the 800-meter victory at the Division II meet in Pittsburg, Kansas. Allie Ostrander, a sophomore at Boise State, finished a close second in the 3,000 meters at the Division I meet in College Station, Texas.

McCormick surged into the lead after the final curve to become the first UAA woman to win a national championships in track and field.

After sitting in second or third place for much of the race, McCormick smoked the final 150 meters to win in 2 minutes, 7.79 seconds. She passed Rachael Walters of Grand Valley State in the homestretch to win by .34 of a second.

"Dani's plan was to be at or near the lead and capable of responding when the pace quickened," UAA coach Michael Friess said in a press release from the school. "Certainly she did just that. When you place yourself in proper position, you give yourself a chance."

McCormick is the fifth UAA athlete to win a national championship in track and field. All of the others are men, a list led by three-time national champion Micah Chelimo, who won indoor titles in the 5,000 (2013) and 3,000 (2014) and an outdoor title in the 5,000 (2012). David Registe won a long jump title in 2008, Cody Parker took a javelin title in 2013 and Cody Thomas won the decathlon in 2016.

Ostrander, who won the NCAA steeplechase title at last year's outdoor championships, came close to winning another national crown in Saturday's 3,000 meters.

She finished .99 of a second behind Missouri's Karissa Schweizer, a senior who won her second national title in as many days (she won Friday's 5,000 meters) and her fifth overall.

Schweizer triumphed in 8:53.36, with Ostrander right behind in 8:54.35. Oregon's Jessica Hull was third in 9:01.96.

Ostrander raced with the lead pack the whole way and got stronger as the race got longer. In the final seven 200-meter splits, she had the fastest times in four of them.

Ostrander and McCormick were rivals in high school, with Ostrander starring at Kenai Central and McCormick competing for Soldotna High.

In the 800-meter race the 2014 state track championships, Ostrander was the winner and McCormick placed third. At the 2014 state cross-country championships, Ostrander placed first and McCormick was fourth.