The possibility exists that one of Oregon’s most talented female distance runners could have never even made it to the track.
She might not have gotten past the field.
“Growing up, I always thought I’d be playing soccer,” sophomore Alex Kosinski said. “I started playing soccer when I was five. I thought I’d be playing soccer in college.”
Kosinski, from El Dorado Hills, Calif., is one of two women’s cross country All-Americans and a rising star in the Oregon track program. She qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field meet in the 1,500-meter dash in the spring and finished 13th at the NCAA Cross Country championships, earning All-American status along with junior Nicole Blood. After finishing third at the Pacific-10 Conference championships, Kosinski garnered a spot on the All-Pac-10 first team and the accolade of Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year.
Kosinski’s meteoric rise was partly a matter of good timing. Soccer season and track season at Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills overlapped, and scheduling issues compelled Kosinski to choose between sports.
“I was always better at soccer conditioning than I was at soccer,” Kosinski said. “Once I figured out I could run pretty well, I just did it because I was better at it.”
As a sophomore at the California state cross country meet, Kosinski finished fifth in the field. She finished 20th in the Foot Locker Championships, an elite prep cross country meet, in her junior season and also repeated her fifth-place finish at the state meet. Recruiting letters began pouring in. With the increased involvement came a burgeoning interest in the sport.
“I knew I wanted to run in college. I started getting pretty serious my junior, senior year,” Kosinski said.
Her senior year featured a second-place finish at the California state meet and official visits to colleges. Upon coming to Eugene, Kosinski was hooked on the Ducks.
“I knew if I wanted to be the best runner I could be I wanted to come here,” Kosinski said. “The athletic facilities were really nice, Hayward Field was really nice, the whole ‘Track Town’ feel of it, all the running trails and stuff … I really liked it here and I really wanted to come to Oregon after the visit.”
After overcoming a torn plantar fascia in her left foot suffered before the season, Kosinski helped guide the women to a second-place finish nationally – their best performance in 20 years.
“No one expected us to come out of nowhere like we did,” Kosinski said.
Kosinski’s successes are aided by a freedom from pressure – which she attributes to the differences in cross country courses – and a wealth of support. Her parents, Jim and Jeanne Kosinski, drive to home track and cross country meets to cheer on their only child.
Oregon’s last women’s cross country national championship was in 1987, and the Ducks this year return six of the seven women who raced in the NCAA meet. After a standout freshman year, Kosinski, who sees a future for herself in post-collegiate running, sees the potential for team and individual success in 2008.
“I want to finish higher than I did last year. I want to be top-10 this year,” she said.
“I just want to be the best that I can be. I know that if I get out and train and do what I have to do and do what my coaches tell me, then it’s all gonna help me.”
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