Allie Ostrander delivered the steeplechase of her life Thursday night.

So did eight other runners.

Ostrander, the 27-year-old former Kenai Central athlete from Soldotna, slashed 2.88 seconds off her previous personal best (PB) to clock 9 minutes, 21.82 seconds and finish seventh at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore.

The top nine finishers all generated a PB.

The spots for the Paris Olympics were earned by Val Constien, whose 9:03.22 was a Trials record and an 11-second PB; Courtney Wayment, whose 9:06.50 was a PB by 3.41 seconds; and Marisa Howard, whose 9:07.14 was a startling 15-second improvement on her PB.

Ostrander’s result was particularly impressive given she revealed to reporters afterward that she tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks ago. (Men’s steeplechaser Isaac Updike of Ketchikan, who finished 12th earlier this week in Eugene, also endured COVID-19 in the lead-up to the Trials.)

“I wasn’t even sure I would be here,’’ Ostrander said. “I didn’t know if I’d recover in time. I’m so happy that I was able to do it and it ended up not impacting me too much.

“But I do feel like it takes so much for the stars to align and be able to make the U.S. Olympic Team. It didn’t happen this year, but I think I’m capable of it. A lot of people are capable of it, is the thing. You never know who will have that perfect day, but I’m not done trying.’’

Despite not racing a steeplechase since finishing eighth at the 2021 Trials – she was in treatment for an eating disorder when she raced those Trials — Ostrander this season in the space of five steeple races across two months hacked 5.14 seconds off her PB.

Ostrander’s race Thursday did not go well tactically. She started in Lane 1, but she couldn’t gain position off the line and was shuffled to the back of the 14-woman field. The field was quickly strung out and Ostrander ran much of the race in no-woman’s land, detached from the leading pack. That’s a difficult way to race – no one is breaking the wind or sharing the pace, so the racer in no-woman’s land carries a burden that requires mental toughness.

Ostrander passed that test. That’s not surprising from the recent inductee into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. Sponsored by NNormal and based in Seattle, she’s a three-time NCAA steeple champ (Boise State). She’s a former world mountain running junior champion and Mount Marathon legend. And she finished 30th (second among Americans) at the World Cross-Country Championships earlier this year. Ostrander knows tough, and how to race at her limit.

This was Ostrander’s third Olympic Trials and her highest finish. She finished eighth in the steeple at the 2021 Trials and eighth in the 5,000 meters at the 2016 Trials.