ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – After setting five school records as a first year in 2014, Allison Kosobud spent much of the summer and her sophomore cross country season in a pair of walking casts. She started training near the end of cross country season in order to prepare for her second year with the College of Saint Benedict track and field team.
Kosobud hit the track for the first time Jan. 31 for the Blazers’ alumnae meet where she took second in the mile. This past weekend, Kosobud ran her signature race for the first time since 2014.
In her first meet competing against someone other than her Blazer teammates, Kosobud excelled. She finished second in the 800-meter run at the Lake Superior Challenge and posted the best time in the MIAC so far this season. For her performance, Kosobud has been named the Blazer Athlete of the Week.
Kosobud, who already owns the school record in the indoor and outdoor 800 races, finished Saturday in 2:18.85 at the meet, hosted by St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. That time is just five second off of her current record of 2:13.5, set at the 2014 MIAC Championships. It is also the best 800 time in the conference so far this season and the 33
rd best time in the NCAA Division III.
Kosobud, a Brainerd, Minn., time, finished just ahead of three Division II runners in her race. Clara Churchill (Northern Michigan), Jordan Gray (Concordia-St. Paul) and Samantha Ekman (Minnesota-Duluth) finished third through fifth, respectively. Churchill took third in 2:30.2, more than 10 seconds behind Kosobud. Kosobud finished behind only St. Scholastica’s Brianna Buske, who won the race in 2:18.37, the 27
th-best time in Division III.
Kosobud heads into the 2015 season looking to add to her five records. Along with the two 800 records, she also owns the school indoor records in the 1,000 and the mile, and is part of the distance medley relay team that set the school record. Kosobud won MIAC titles in the 800 and 1,000-meter runs at the MIAC Indoor Championships last winter.
The Blazers are back in action this Saturday, Feb. 14, when they host the CSB Triangular starting at 1:30 p.m. at the McNeely Spectrum on the SJU campus.
