Multi-Sport Standout Finds A Home In Track, Where She Can Showcase Her Array Of Talents

By David Woods for DyeStat

Kevin Dorsey photos

NORMAL, Ill. – Considering her passion for soccer, family legacy in basketball and height for volleyball, Ali Ince was not always destined to be a runner.

The 5-foot-10 junior from Normal Community High did all the sports. Then running became something not only in which she excelled, but that filled her soul. That is irrespective of the times or the victories or the medals or the accolades.

“It’s fun to win races and get PRs and everything,” Ince said. “But I feel running is so much more than that. I genuinely do love just getting up and being able to get out the door on a run.

“It’s so good for your mind. And honestly, the people, too, that you can go on runs with and the conversations on those runs. That’s what really makes it special.

“I just really love running for what it is.”

INTERVIEW

Few high school runners have been so versatile or so elite for so long. Ince has won Illinois state championships at both 400 and 1,600 meters.

Her specialty is the 800, in which she won at New Balance indoor nationals just two weeks removed from basketball season. She will run for a third straight Brooks PR Invitational victory Wednesday at Renton, Wash.

WATCH THE BROOKS PR INVITATIONAL FREE ON RUNNERSPACE ON JUNE 14 

She won at Brooks in 2:03.98 in 2021 and 2:04.14 in 2022. She carries a 2:03.17 US#2 into this week's race.

Ince is coming off a state meet in which she won a 400/800/4x400 triple, and 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.

“She is willing to sacrifice individual success in exchange for helping her relay partners,” Normal distance coach Tom Patten said. “Especially given her talent, her willingness to put aside her own accomplishments for the benefit of relay teams is amazing.

“She really is something special.”

Ince’s PB came April 8 at Arcadia, Calif., 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 (US#1) to 2:03.17.

Ince, who ran the first 400 in 60.4, conceded some frustration with the outcome. Nonetheless, it was her first PB at 800 meters in 21 months.

She plans another fast first lap – 58 or 59 seconds – at Brooks. Never know what will happen unless she tries, she said.

“I haven’t run an 800 in a while where that’s the only thing I’m focusing on,” Ince said. “I’m excited to go out there and see how fast I can go.

“Brooks is pretty electric. Just so many fast people.”

Also among entries are Madison Shults, Niwot CO, 2:04.28 (third at Arcadia); Gretchen Farley, Park Tudor IN, 2:04.95, and Kate Putman, Cicero-North Syracuse NY, 2:05.25.

Meet record is 2:03.26 by Alexa Efraimson of Camas WA in 2014.

Ince might have chosen to concentrate on basketball. Her length, athleticism, defense and 3-point accuracy (42%) would attract offers.

Her 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, averaging 21 points per game in 1992-93, and once scored 45 and 38 in successive games.

In Ali’s junior hoops season, she was a second-team all-conference wing. Normal (31-4) lost to eventual 4A state champion O’Fallon 60-42 in a sectional final.

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

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

It is a drive that allows Ince to find joy in running all the months of the year.

She loved the mile tests in school classes, the summer fun runs, the middle-school races. She was a state champion as a seventh grader, but the pandemic shut down eighth grade season in 2020.

“There was nothing else to do except run,” said Ince, who trained with younger brother AJ, also a basketball player and runner.

Ince doesn’t exceed 35 miles a week and said her training is more speed- than mileage-based.

She finished sixth in the mile in 4:43.67 at the HOKA Festival of Miles. She led the June 1 race at St. Louis until less than 200 meters remained.

The 800 meters is altogether different. Ince said she envisions what she will do, 200 meters at a time.

“I usually treat the last lap of the 800 like a 400,” she said.

At the state meet, a 54.68 anchor – an eighth race over 28 hours, remember – carried Normal from fourth place to first. In 400-meter finals since she was a freshman, she is 12-0.

One thing Ince can take from basketball: When she aims at a goal, she usually hits it.

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