SEATTLE – As a three-time NCAA women's steeplechase champion and now competing professionally with the ultimate goal of making a United States Olympic team, Allie Ostrander has plenty to keep her busy.
 
But she wanted even more. She wanted to get into coaching.

 

Now, the 23-year-old standout is doing just that – and Seattle Pacific is her initial stop.
 
Ostrander recently joined the Falcons as a volunteer assistant, and already is working with associate head coach Chris Reed and the SPU distance runners as scaled-down practice sessions have gotten started.
 
"(Coaching) is kind of my career ambition outside of professional running," Ostrander said. "I thought it would be a great opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes and be involved and learn from a really quality coach."
 
Reed is just as happy have her on board.
 
 

"She has been a great help to me, and even more so a great help to our student-athletes," he said. "Not only are they inspired by what she has been able to do, she brings a lot to the coaching side, too. She has plenty to offer as far as instruction and perspective. She is extremely driven, and it's great to have that presence."
 
A native of Kenai, Alaska, 160 miles southwest of Anchorage on the shores of the Cook Inlet, Ostrander ran cross country and track, and played basketball at Kenai Central High School. She won the Nike National Cross Country Championships as a senior in 2014.
 
That success continued at Boise State. She won the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA Division I West Region cross country titles as a freshman in 2015, and was second at nationals. On the indoor track in the winter of 2016, Ostrander ran the 1600-meter anchor leg on the Broncos' distance medley relay that won the Mountain West championship. But an injury kept her away from outdoor track that spring.
 
Back on the outdoor oval In the spring of 2017, she won what would be the first of her three consecutive NCAA 3000-meter steeplechase titles.
 
"I going to have to say the first one was the most special," said Ostrander, who, like most steeplers, didn't get started with that event until college. "I was an underdog, and I'd had an injury (stress fracture) right before that season. So it was a really cool moment. I was a bit of an unknown just because it was my first year running it."
 
Although she says that event is her specialty, "I'm not married to the steeple. If an opportunity presented itself in another event, by all means, I would pursue it."
 
Indeed, during each of those three years that she won the NCAA steeple (2017, 2018, and 2019), she also ran the 5000 meters, making the podium as a freshman (fourth) and sophomore (eighth).
 
 

"We're thrilled that an athlete the caliber of Allie Ostrander would reach out and want to give back to the sport," SPU head coach and program director Karl Lerum said. "I think Allie is going to give us, as coaches, a fresh perspective. She'll also be able to model a little bit to our current student-athletes what it takes to be as accomplished of an athlete as she is.
 
"There's no better way to learn about greatness than to be around people who have done it and are continuing to pursue it," Lerum added.
 
In the early summer of 2019, Ostrander made the decision to go pro and forego her final year of college eligibility. She joined the Seattle-based Brooks Beasts. (The Brooks company headquarters are located just 1¼ miles from the SPU campus.)
 
"It was difficult," she said of that decision. "I had an entire year of eligibility left, so I knew I was giving up quite a bit. But I felt like I was ready to move on. I really wanted to challenge myself and set myself up the best I could for an Olympic year."
 
When she's not training, racing, or coaching, Ostrander's favorite place to be is in her kitchen. She even put together her own Instagram food page.

"I enjoy posting recipes and things about food that I eat," she said. "A lot of people would direct-message me on my personal page and ask for recipes. So I said, 'I'm just going to make a separate page for this.' It has been fun just playing around with it."