In the final minutes before her final high school cross-country race, Allie Ostrander never stopped moving. The Kenai High senior hopped up and down, she twisted on tiptoes, she shook one foot and then shook the other.

In the minutes immediately after her final high school cross-country race, Ostrander stood still for a long embrace with the woman who for 30 years has been the standard-bearer for Alaska girls.

“Nice to meet you,” a smiling Kristi Waythomas told Ostrander.

“You’re a legend,” replied an exhausted Ostrander.

Takes one to know one.

On a day when Alaska running stars from the past, present and, dare we say, the future gathered at Bartlett High for the state cross-country championships, Ostrander and Kodiak senior Levi Thomet went out in a blaze of glory, etching their names alongside the greats.

The pair won the Class 4A 5-kilometer races by landslides. Ostrander ran the 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes, 6 seconds for a 98-second victory, and Thomet finished in 15:10 for a 33-second victory.
It was the third straight title for both runners.