Hollensteiner is Nike Outdoor All-American

EUGENE, Ore. — William Hollensteiner, Flathead’s standout sprinter and jumper, is now an All-American after finishing sixth in the boys 400 meters at the Nike Outdoor Nationals Saturday.

Coming off a record-setting performance at the State AA meet in Kalispell in late May, Hollensteiner ran in the sixth of seven heats at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. He won the heat in 47.30 seconds and ended up behind five athletes from the seventh and final heat. 

Jayden Horton-Mims won in 45.58; Keayari Thompson of Atlanta was second at 46.42. Two more runners, Valin Wittenburg and Sylus West-Gaither, broke 47 seconds.  

Davis DeGroot was fifth at 47.11, and then came Hollensteiner, who didn’t run far off his Montana all-class state record of 47.22, set at Legends Stadium on May 23. 

“Super fun, exciting race,” Hollensteiner, who will be a senior this fall, said. “I was pretty nervous, honestly, going into it. Especially being in Lane 8.” 

In the final 100 meters South Carolina’s Aden Price, running from the inside, led briefly before Hollensteiner passed him. Price clocked 47.77, good for 10th overall. 

“I didn’t PR, but the weather conditions aren’t great,” Hollensteiner said. “It’s pouring rain here. So I’m super happy with that race.” 

Hollensteiner is one of four western Montana athletes competing: Flathead’s Alivia Rinehart clocked 14.47 seconds in the girls 100 hurdles Saturday, which left her four spots out of the finals (the top time, from San Diego’s Anisa Bowen-Fontenot, was 13.69).  

Glacier distance runner Owen Thiel is also competing in the championship mile on Sunday. Rinehart is set to run the championship 200 trials on Sunday morning. 

Whitefish distance man Simon Douglas was 14th in the Emerging Elite boys 800, hitting a personal-record 1:54.39. He’s set to run the Emergine Elite mile on Sunday. 

Hollensteiner wasn’t done competing. He was to run the 200-meter dash and 300-meter hurdles on Sunday, the latter in the Emerging Elite class.