Hasay at Juniors

Junior track championships: She's fast for her age
16-year-old Hasay qualifies for world meet, keeps pace for 2012 Olympics
Monday, June 23, 2008 3:08 AM
By Ethan Ramsey

Jordan Hasay, right, had to rally down the stretch to beat Alex Kosinski in the 1,500. Hasay won in 4:18.44, about a second and a half slower than the personal best she set last year. The California native wasn't used to Ohio's humidity.

Jordan Hasay, who will be a senior at Mission College Preparatory High School in San Luis Obispo, Calif., talks with her mother, Teresa, after her win in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

COURTNEY HERGESHEIMER Dispatch

Jordan Hasay, who will be a senior at Mission College Preparatory High School in San Luis Obispo, Calif., talks with her mother, Teresa, after her win in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

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For more than three laps yesterday afternoon, all went according to plan for Jordan Hasay.

The 16-year-old American middle distance specialist and 2012 Olympic hopeful set the pace in the 1,500 meters at the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships and refused to relinquish the lead.

The race is three and three-quarters laps long, though.

Two women passed Hasay at the end of the backstretch in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Suddenly, the defending champion saw her reservation for the world junior championships next month in Poland fly by.

Not to worry.

Hasay found a new finishing kick. A kick that didn't exist when Sports Illustrated thrust her into the national consciousness with a 2006 article. A kick her coach knew she needed to develop to continue fulfilling her potential.

Hasay, her long, blonde ponytail swinging back and forth, zoomed by her two late antagonists to win by a stride.

"Probably the last two years, I would've given up," said Hasay, who will be a senior this fall at Mission College Preparatory High School in San Luis Obispo, Calif. "That last 100, I had to dig deep."

Her time of 4 minutes, 18.44 seconds was less than two seconds off last year's personal best of 4:16.98, the fastest mark ever by a 15-year-old and quickest by a high schooler in 25 years. Unaccustomed to the Midwest heat and wind (and Saturday's thunderstorms), she expressed no concern about her slower time yesterday.

Alex Kosinski, a sophomore at the University of Oregon, finished second at 4:19.22. Stephanie Morgan of Barnesville (Ohio) High School was third at 4:21.52.

The trip to Bydgoszcz, Poland, Hasay's season-long goal, is back on. She finished second last year in Prague, Czech Republic.

"Her tendency had been to go out fast and build a lead and hang on," Armando Siqueiros, Hasay's high school and personal coach, said. "That's not the way to race when you get to a certain level."

Hasay, only 5 feet 1, seems poised to reach a level most Americans never do. Most often compared with 1980s star Mary Decker, the American record-holder in numerous events, Hasay's list of accolades already goes on and on. The highlights:

• Three-time California state champion in the 3,200 meters, the last win with the second-fastest time by a high schooler ever (9:52.13).

• Second high school freshman to win the 5-kilometer Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

• Two-time winner in the mile at the Golden West Invitational.

What everyone in the track and field community wonders is whether she can keep it up.

"What we traditionally see with stars in younger age groups," Siqueiros said, "is that they fail to progress. They don't have the same type of success."

So far, so good. But Siqueiros, a doctor of internal medicine, said it will take several more years to know Hasay's true capabilities.

Unlike other sports such as figure skating or gymnastics that often showcase teenagers at the elite level, distance running requires years and years of building stamina, Siqueiros said. Hasay's body isn't fully developed in that respect yet.

She will likely qualify for the Olympic trials this year in the 1,500 (the top 30 make it), but only barely. Her first real shot at the Olympics should come in the 2012 London Games.

It is true that the buzz around her has dissipated since the 2005 Foot Locker win spawned Sports Illustrated's attention. As Siqueiros said, the headlines these days are less about her winning and more about how much she won by, if at all. Then it's an even bigger story.

But that doesn't mean there isn't anything positive about entering as the big favorite.

"It's kind of nice," Hasay said. "People have more respect for me as a runner. They know I'm going to be there."

eramsey@dispatch.com

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