Frosh Alexandra Kosinski Sets New Oregon Mile Record (4.39,54)

Freshman middle-distance runner Alexandra Kosinski continues to impress this winter after setting a University of Oregon indoor record in the mile run on Saturday at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships.

Kosinski, the 2007 Pac-10 Cross Country Newcomer of the Year, posted a winning time of 4.39,54 at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor Facility, and locked an automatic qualifying time into the NCAA Track and Field Indoor Championships to be held March 14-15 at the the University of Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville.

Leann Warren—the current U of O outdoor 1500m record holder at 4.05,88 (1982)—held the previous Duck indoor mile record of 4.40,6, set in 1985.

“She certainly was one of the high points today and she ran fantastic,” Associate Head Coach Dan Steele said.

“Nicole (Blood) deserves a lot of the credit for going out hard at the start of the race and taking Alex with her. But at the end, she (Alex) really looked great and ran away from the rest of the field.”

Kosinski had become used to dispensing quality fields while running for Oak Ridge High School. She set the USA National Prep Federation record in the 1600m run at last year's Meet of Champions in Sacramento—(4.38,15)—winning the first of two national list-leading races.

Kosinski's finishing drive demolished Mission Prep sophomore Jordan Hasay's kick and has gone down in the prep history books as one of the greatest two-person battles ever contested during the regular season. Kosinski doubled back to set a three-second personal best in the 800m, clocking 2.07,84.

Hasay and Kosinski would likely have squared off at the USATF Junior Nationals had Kosinski not been forced to halt her prep campaign one week before the California State Meet due to injury. Hasay went on to run 4.16,98 in the 1500m in Kosinski's absence, leaving many hard-core fans in want of what might have been.

Kosinski's prep stardom is a thing of the past, however, and the 18-year-old is capitalising on her speed, tenacity, and drive to make a great impact on the Oregon Duck program, and to become a national indoor contender in the mile.

Kosinski, a two-time Footlocker National Cross Country Championships qualifier in high school, is equal to Minnesota's Jamie Cheever for the fifth-fastest collegiate mile time in the country—though a few powerhouse conferences have their mile finals scheduled for today.

Michigan senior Nicole Edwards holds the national lead with a superlative 4.33,23—a time more than three seconds faster than runner-up Sarah Bowman of Tennessee (4.36,51).

Kosinski was the top freshman finisher in the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships, finishing 13th overall over the 6000m course to help Oregon finish runner-up to Stanford University for the national title.

 2008 MPSF Indoor Track & Field Championships