Hasay makes it through first round

The soon-to-be senior at Mission Prep finishes fifth in the fastest of three first-round heats with a time of 4:20.82 to reach Sunday’s finals
By Joshua D. Scroggin
San Luis Obispo Tribune

Sat. July 12, 2008

PHOTO BY MARK YLEN
Jordan Hasay, seen running at last week’s U. S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, is now at the World Junior Championships.

Some semblance of a Hayward hangover may have caught up with Jordan Hasay.

After wowing the crowd at Oregon’s Hayward Field and capturing the attention of a nationwide audience during last week’s U. S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore., the 16-year-old Mission Prep senior-to-be lost some ground on her 1,500-meter race time Friday.

Hasay finished fifth in the fastest of three first-round heats at the World Junior Championships in Bogdyszcz, Poland. Her time of 4 minutes, 20.82 seconds was off the personal best and national high school record 4:14.5 she set in a banner trials semifinal but was more than good enough to earn a berth in Sunday’s final.

Because of her extended run in Eugene, Hasay arrived in Bogdyszcz a few days later than the rest of the U. S. team. Possibly still recovering from the three grueling races at the trials, she said she was more concentrated on advancing to the final than posting an impressive time.

“My legs felt a little flat, just a little tired,” Hasay said in a phone interview Friday morning, “but I think it was just kind of jet lag a little bit still. And the race was really, really aggressive. It was really rough. It was really hard to get into that rhythm.”

The three overall fastest times at the 19-and-under meet came from Hasay’s heat, which was won by Ethiopia’s Asmerawork Bekele in 4:17.05. Two of the runners who finished in front of Hasay, Russia’s Ioana Doaga and Kenya’s Stay Ndiwa, each posted career bests.

Fellow American Alex Kosinski won the first heat in a personal- best 4:19.14. Ethiopia’s Kalkidan Gezahegne won the slowest heat in 4:19.60.