Illinois Standout Could Become First Four-Time Winner At The Brooks PR Invitational Next Month

By David Woods for DyeStat

NORMAL, Ill. -- After years of chasing times, Ali Ince can chase history. It will be a relief.

“You have your best races when you don’t put that much pressure on yourself to hit a certain time,” she said.

Ince, a senior at Normal Community IL, will race for a four-year sweep of the 800 meters in the Brooks PR Invitational on June 12 at Renton, Wash. Meet record of 2:03.26 by Alexa Efraimson of Camas WA has stood since 2014.

The record is not Ince’s priority. Victory is.

 It is not something she would have contemplated as a freshman, when she ran 2:03.98 to beat Addy Wiley, then a junior at Huntington North IN.

“I was so young, I didn’t even know the significance of the meet at that age yet,” Ince said. “I was not planning on winning it all.

“To be able to win it that year was surreal. Now, looking back on that as a senior, I learned how special and unprecedented that was.”

Ever since that 2021 race, Ince acknowledged, she has been trying to lower times into the 2:02s. She nearly did so last year at the Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational, where she led every step until the last one. MacKenzie Browne of John W. North CA came from behind to beat her, 2:03.07 to 2:03.17.

This year could be the year of the 2:02s.

It might sound paradoxical, but the 5-foot-10 Ince is coming off her best winter training and best season of high school basketball.

“She is in better shape than she’s ever been in,” said Tom Patten, a longtime distance coach at Normal.

To think about sub-2:03 every day would take the joy out of running, Ince said. Basketball freshened her perspective.

She logged as many as 30 miles a week during a hoops season in which she averaged 10 points per game and was an all-conference selection. Normal Community finished 31-4 for a second straight season, reaching the Sweet 16 of Illinois’ Class 4A (largest class).

Ince’s parents, Tony Ince and Addie Ahlemeyer, were basketball stars at Mount Mercy (Iowa) College and Illinois College, respectively. Her father was an NAIA Division II All-American, and he once scored 45 and 38 in successive games.

Basketball coach Dave Feeney echoed comments about Ince made by the distance coach.

“Unbelievable kid, unbelievable teammate, but a phenomenal competitor,” Feeney said. “She’s just got a drive about her.”

Unbelievable range, for that matter. Ince has won two state titles in the 400 meters and run a three-mile cross-county race in 18 minutes.

Indoor fitness was manifested in a Feb. 4 mile at Boston, where she was fourth in 4:39.74, and a repeat 800-meter win at New Balance nationals in 2:03.85. A more flexible school schedule allowed for morning workouts, although Ince has never trained at high mileage. Patten said if he were to err, it would be to leave her under-trained.

“At the end of the day, you always want to be able to improve,” Ince said. “They (coaches) have been careful to make sure we don’t over-train. We don’t want to tap out my potential when I’m in high school.”

Ince is part of the nation’s top-rated distance recruiting class signed by Oregon. Also included are Texans Samantha Humphries (2:06.59/4:41.93 mile), Nicole Humphries (2:06.82/4:46.86 mile) and Isabel Conde de Frankenberg (2:05.61/4:38.55 mile), and Canada’s Charlotte Sinke (9:56.45 two-mile). Sinke was a Pan American under-20 silver medalist at 3,000 meters and Nike outdoor nationals runner-up in the two-mile.

Ince said she welcomed such training partners and liked presence of both male and female coaches, Jerry Schumacher and Shalane Flanagan. And there was another reason Ince chose Oregon.

“It’s TrackTown USA,” she said. “When you walk around the campus, track is special. A lot of the others, it’s football. At Oregon, they love it. I love track and field, and I want it to be part of my life for a long time.

“It’s kind of always been a dream to go to Oregon, since middle school.”

Her Illinois postseason is indeterminate, although she wants to supply Normal with as many team points as possible. Last year she won a 400/800/4x400 triple, and she anchored the 4x800 relay. She contributed to all 33 points by Normal, which was sixth in team standings. Her schedule featured eight races in 28 hours.

This year she might exchange the 400 for the 1,600. She is also aiming at the HOKA Festival of Miles, set for May 30 at St. Louis, and New Balance nationals.

“The sense is, she’s ready to do some big things outdoors,” Patten said.

Capped off, perhaps, by a Brooks PR grand slam.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.