EUGENE, Ore. (NBC 26) — Alec Basten just keeps getting better.
At the NCAA Track and Field Championships on June 11, the Green Bay Southwest alumnus represented his Minnesota Golden Gophers well, taking second place in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. He set a new personal record of 8:29.03.
In Monday's semifinal race at the Olympic Trials, he took it to another level: 8:22.22 - nearly seconds better, and more than good enough to qualify him for Friday's final.
"I had no idea how fast we were running," Basten said. "I guess I came across the finish line and was pretty surprised by the time and obviously pretty happy with it."
Basten will need to shave at least .22 off that time on Friday. Fourteen runners will compete in the final race; the top three will advance to The Games, as long as their scores are all below the Olympic baseline of 8:22.
While Tokyo may be in his future, Basten credits his past at Green Bay Southwest for helping get him to this point.
"It all started there," he said. "The love for running and everything and I've been so fortunate at southwest to have coaches that really nurtured that passion and gave me the tools that I needed to be successful."
One of those coaches is Jerry Feldhausen, who spent six years as the cross country coach at Southwest. Basten was the best runner he coached.
"I texted him last night after the race and I told him I hope he had as much fun running and competing as I did watching it," Feldhausen said.
While he's been running track since he was young, Basten only ran one year of cross country in high school. After playing football in his first three years of high school, Basten switched to cross country his senior year.
"I made that transition from football to cross country that senior year and Feldhausen kind of took me under his wing a little bit," he said.
"He had quite a cross country season, he was undefeated until the state meet," Feldhausen said. "He finished second in the state meet his senior year."
While Feldhausen recognized Basten's potential right away, the longtime coach never pictured him making it this far.
"I would have said... I don't know if that's quite right," the coach laughed. "I (thought he was) going to have a good college career. But I (didn't) know if he would make it on that stage and he certainly is making it right now on that stage."
Basten will not be among the favorites Friday, but he's letting himself believe as he gets ready for the biggest race of his life.
"I'm taking it obviously one day at a time here and I'm just going to really put myself in the best position to succeed but anything can happen," he said. "So I'm not going take myself out of that running yet."
You can watch the Olympic Trials Friday night on NBC 26. Basten's race will not be televised, but we will keep you updated on his result.
