By Joshua D. Scroggin

FILE PHOTO BY MARK SMITH

Jordan Hasay was unbeatable against high school competitors on the track in 2007. She won the 1,500 meters at the U.S. Track and Field Junior National Championships and finished second in the 1,500 meters in the World Junior Championships.

For Jordan Hasay, 2007 practically began with a terrorist threat and ended with the first athletic injury of her career.

But sandwiched in between was perhaps the finest track and field season a San Luis Obispo County athlete has ever had, and it made her The Tribune’s top local sports story of the year.

Hasay’s year included a revenge win in a national cross country event, a second straight state championship on the track, a third straight state and regional win in cross country and an impressive debut on the international stage.

But the Mission Prep star’s favorite moment of 2007 was her record-smashing performance at the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis in June.

Competing in a 19-and-under 1,500- meter race that included college freshmen, the then 15-year-old Hasay finished first in 4 minutes, 16.98 seconds—a time that blew away the previous meet record by more than two seconds and gave her a “B” qualifying mark for the 2008 Olympic Trials.

Hasay will get an invite to the Olympic Trials unless 30 or more women qualify with an “A” time in the event. But she’s also on record as saying she’ll try to qualify in the 5,000 meters as well.

Considered to be more proficient in the longer distances, the Indianapolis win set a new a national high school sophomore record and ended the idea that Hasay could only compete in the 3,000-meter-and-up races.

It also set the stage for Hasay’s first international competition in the 1,500- meter race at the IAAF World Youth Track and Field Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic in July.

She certainly did not disappoint, winning her heat on the first day of the meet and taking second place overall in 4:17.24 in the final.

The international appearance came three months later than originally planned.

Initially, Hasay intended to debut in the IAAF World Junior Cross Country Championships in Mombasa, Kenya, in March, but a perceived terrorist threat by a Muslim group in Kenya was a key factor leading to Hasay skipping the event.

She had been looking forward to the meet since being held out of an international track and field event because of her young age the previos ummer.

But simply making it to the world cross country meet was a triumph in itself.

Hasay qualified for the meet by winning the USATF Junior Cross Country Nationals in Boulder, Colo. The victory came after a disappointing 10th-place finish in defense of the Foot Locker Cross Country National championship she won as a freshman in 2005.

Hasay may not make it to the 2008 USATF junior national meet in San Diego thanks to a foot injury that flared up after a third-place finish at Foot Locker in December.

But she doesn’t estimate the foot bruise will stop her from going for a third straight CIF state track championship or her pursuit of an Olympic Trials appearance.