Ali Del Re Prepares For First and Final XC State Meet

In 2016, Jupiter's Ali Del Re made a gigantic leap onto the high school running scene. 

It was nothing the USATF Junior Olympic 3000m champion didn't know how to do. She blasted out onto the cross country scene her freshman year racing a 18:11 5k at the Spanish River Invitational. A few weeks later she was the sixth place Race of Champions finisher at the flrunners.com Invitational in a time of 18:04. 

Then injury struck -- a MRI confirming a stress fracture in her foot. 

"I was actually relieved when I found out that I had a stress fracture in my heel because for a while I didn't think my foot was going to get any better," Del Re told FLRunners in 2016. 

Read: Stress Fracture Ends Season For Jupiter Fr. Ali Del Re

Del Re was back on her feet come spring, determined to be one of the top in the state, and she did just that. The freshman jumped back right where she began and set a new 3200m PR of 10:46 at the FSU Relays and 5:08 1600m PR at her region meet.

Her season was smooth sailing and in May she capped it off with a fourth place 3200m and seventh place 1600m state medals.

Things were improving for Del Re from her devastating cross country season. She accomplished her goals, but she was hungry for more. 

In 2017, the now Jupiter sophomore capped her cross country season off with a 21:10.51 5k time. Running through and battling injuries seemed to surround Del Re off and on from the fall of 2017 to the spring of 2019. 

The 2019 cross country season rolled around and Del Re kicked her season off with a 22:08 -- nearly four minutes off what she started her season in 2016. This time though, she's healthy. Little by little, the senior has clicked off new season bests each week. She took her 22:08 in August down to a season best of 19:41 at her regional meet.

Her 19:41 earned her 10th place, state qualifying spot for the 4A state meet. So, for the first time ever, Del Re, will race at the cross country state championship. She'll do so as a recent UCF commit -- achieving a long time goal of running at the next level. 

The future Knight has the power of resilience on her side that will take her far. She joins the likes of Valerie Lastra, Mackenzie Czurak, Danielle Bess, Kiah Williams, and Ashserah Collins who are the start of UCF's 2020 recruiting class.