It’s not too far-fetched to think that in the next few weeks Connecticut could have two national champions.
Those two runners – Darien senior Alex Ostberg and Staples’ junior Hannah DeBalsi - were front and center Saturday afternoon at the New England Championships. Not surprisingly, both had dominating victories on Wickham Park’s challenging five-kilometer course.
Ostberg couldn’t quite match his sub 15-minute effort from a week earlier at the State Open meet, but he still looked razor sharp with his winning clocking of 15:07. His time was nine seconds from his course record of 14:58, set at the states.
“The goal was to win. I ran a little slower. The course was a little sloppy today. We have gotten a lot of rain the last week. That’s what happens in cross country. The conditions really do have an effect,” said the Stanford-bound runner, who is ranked No. 3 nationally. “I am really happy that I capitalized on the opportunity last week to break 15 minutes because it was harder today. The course was definitely in worse shape. The race plan today was to come in and win. Whatever the time was, it wasn’t as much a factor.”
Just as he has done during his unbeaten season this fall, Ostberg dictated the pace from the opening gun. By the time he reached the steep, quarter-mile incline (or Green Monster) at the halfway mark, he already held a sizable gap on eventual second-place finisher, Ari Klou of William Hall, who finished with a time of 15:39.
“The race went out hard, probably a little too hard in hindsight because I started to feel it the second and third mile,” he said. “But I felt good. I was struggling a little bit with a side stitch halfway through the race. That slowed me down a little bit today. I can’t complain. I am coming away as a New England champion so I am really happy with how it went today.”
The red-headed Ostberg is prepping for the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals, which will be held on Nov. 29 at New York’s Van Cortlandt Park. Based on what he’s done over the last few months, the Darien standout is among the favorites to take home gold and advance to the nationals out in San Diego on Dec. 7.
Last year he was third at the regionals and was 11th at the nationals.
“I am really looking forward to Foot Locker Regionals. As each meet comes and goes they are getting more and more important,” he said. “I need to mentally prepare myself for a hard race. It’s not going to be as easy as the win today. I will have the competition right on my tail there. I am just looking forward to hopefully continued success in the next two races.”
Defending Foot Locker champion, Grant Fisher of Grand Blanc, Mich., is ranked No. 1 in the country and will have the target on his back at the nationals. Darien coach Tyson Kazcmarek, who saw his star runner become only the second runner to ever break 12 minutes at the Manhattan Invitational last month, feels Ostberg has the potential to make things happen in the coming weeks.
“I think he can win the regional meet and go under 15 minutes. Just based on how he ran there last year and based on what he’s done prior to that race, I think under 15 is more than feasible at Van Cortlandt,” he said. “Fisher is unbelievable. He’s run 4:01 mile and I don’t think he lost a race his junior year. Alex is a 4:06 miler. I wouldn’t say he has elite-like speed like Grant Fisher has, but I think he could finish in the top three at the national meet.”
DeBalsi dipped a second under her winning effort at the Open meet with a first-place time of 17:58 at the New England’s. New Fairfield senior Gabriele Richichi was second in 18:23 and New Hampshire’s Maegan Doody of Oyster Bay was third at 18:26.
The NE meet was just DeBalsi’s third race of the season.
“I was pretty tired today,” she said. “I had a setback this season and lost a few weeks of training. Time-wise, I am not where I want to be but I am still in the building stage to make up what I lost and be tougher for Foot Locker.”
DeBalsi pace was a little inconsistent on Saturday.
“I kind of lost my focus in the middle,” she said. “I was a little messed up mentally. I don’t know what happened.”
“All and all, I thought she looked strong, she looked comfortable,” said Staples coach Amanda Morgan. “I was hoping someone might challenge her a little longer in the race just to get a little more practice running in a pack for Foot Locker regionals. No matter how great a race she has, there are going to be people with her the whole way there. It would have been a good opportunity to have a little more elbows, but that’s okay. She’s happy. She defended her title. I thought she ran great. She’s had a great season so far.”
Both runner and coach are eyeing a strong performance at Foot Locker. Last year, DeBalsi was a runner-up to Abington Heights senior Tessa Barrett at the nationals.
“We have still been doing some high volume and intensity,” Morgan said. “She hasn’t done a lot of speed yet just because we want to wait as long as possible to be as sharp as possible for the regional meet and the national meet. She has looked really good in practice. She has done a lot more lifting and strength training this year than she has before. She is really excited about the nationals.”
“I am excited,” DeBalsi said. “I have been looking forward to it for the last six months.”
