Hasay aims for another West title at Mt. SAC

If there is such a thing as success in moderation, Jordan Hasay will go after that Saturday.

Yes, the Arroyo Grande resident and Mission Prep junior wants to three-peat as Foot Locker West Regional champion. Yes, she wants a fast time on the 5,000-meter Mt. San Antonio College course.

No, she probably won't go after the course record which she tied with a 17:08 as a freshman.

“We talked about (the race),” said Hasay, meaning she and her coach, Dr. Armando Siqueiros. “I want to save a lot for the next week.”

The next week, the Foot Locker national championship race takes place. Hasay won that race as a freshman. She had an off day at the nationals last year and finished 10th.

Hasay and Arroyo Grande freshman Jana Hayashi, the PAC-7 League champion, will run in the girls seeded race that starts at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Hasay tried a new training regimen during the cross country season last year. She and Siqueiros didn't like the results, and Hasay went back to her freshman routine.

“I've been running the workouts faster than I was when I was a freshman, and I'm feeling just as good after them,” said Hasay. “I feel like I'm right where I want to be going in.”

The four-time prep All-American (twice in cross country, thanks to Foot Locker Nationals results, twice in track and field) had a blockbuster freshman cross country season. She set or tied a course record four straight times.

Though she successfully defended her West Regional title and lost just once, her sophomore cross country season was quiet by comparison. She made more noise in her races this season, setting three course records.

The last came at the CIF State Cross Country Meet at Woodward Park in Fresno last week. Her 17:05 is a girls Division V state meet record for the 5 K course.

Phelan Serrano senior Kauren Tarver figures to give Hasay the toughest competition of any other California runner. Last Saturday, Tarver won her fourth consecutive state division championship.

Hasay defeated Tarver handily at the last two West Regionals. Tarver, with a seventh-place finish, outran Hasay at the 2006 Foot Locker National Championships.

Three Arizona racers have been running particularly well.

Though Hasay won big in her race at the Mt. SAC Invitational (16:42 over the 2.91-mile course, her best time on it), Xavier Prep sophomore Jessica Tonn finished a strong second.

In the Arizona state meet, “The Bishton twins (Nadya and Nastia) beat her by more than 30 seconds,” said Hasay.

Nadya Bishton won the race in 17:28, a record at the 5 K Cave Creek Golf Course. Nastia Bishton was second in 17:30. Tonn ran third in 18:05. Tonn was a surprise third at the West Regional last year.

The Bishtons are seniors. “Nadya Bishton was at the Foot Locker national championship race last year,” said Hasay. “Nastia didn't qualify.”

Hasay likes the 2.91-mile Mt. SAC course, with its three storied big hills, a lot. She likes the longer one even better.

“That's mainly because you finish on a track,” Hasay said. “You run about the last 300 meters on a track.”

Hasay earned a silver medal in the women's 1,500 meters at the World Youth Championships at Ostrava, Czech Republic last July.

November 30, 2007