“I’m so excited,” Kosek said. “I was ranked fourth, and seeded second, so I knew if could pull off a solid race I could probably medal. And then the goal was to get to qualify for New Balance Nationals with a 10:52. I’m just so excited, and it was just such a good race, and I’m so happy.”

The top two pulled away from the chase pack early - Lewisburg’s Baylee Espinoza set a new state record with her winning time of 10:18.91 - as Kosek ran in fourth for the first half of the race.

“They pulled away a little earlier than I expected,” remarked Kosek. “I was happy that the girl that went out in third between the two of them and me, I was happy that there was a girl for me to try to stay behind instead of them being 30 seconds ahead.”

With three laps to go she moved up to third and never looked back.

“I was slowly catching her, and I was really hoping to be able to stay behind her for another lap,” said Kosek. “Because once I passed her I was actually in no man’s land. I wanted to wait a little longer, but at that point I knew if I could keep strong my time was going to be good.”

The cool temperature was perfect for a distance race, and Kosek didn’t feel the breeze at all - adding up to good conditions for the race.

She ended up running her second fastest lap last with a 1:16.57.

“It felt great,” she said. “After that last lap I knew even if I have a bad lap, this is probably about the time I’m going to run. I knew as long as closed decently my time would be good, so I was just running, and I could kind of see the clock. I was just like, ‘I need to sprint as hard as I can.’ I was hurting, but it was so good.”

Now the sophomore will be focused on getting a lower time at New Balance Nationals.

“I am so hyped,” she said. “I really went for New Balance at districts, and I didn’t have an amazing race, I kind of missed it all by a little bit. I knew this was pretty much my last chance. I was thinking less about the time, and more about just trying to race and medal, because, that’s what we’re here for. But, honestly, I’m shocked that I actually got New Balance.”

She can now run the 5K or the 3200, so there will be decisions that need to be made.

“I don’t know what I’m actually going to do, but I’m going to take this week to try to chill a little just because we’ve had three-plus weeks of where you have to be locked in,” explained Kosek. “So kind of chill out this next week, and then just get some quality workouts in, and hopefully be good for New Balance.”