Jordan Hasay said by phone Wednesday night that it won’t be until the Foot Locker National Championship race that it will hit her that her high school cross country career is closing.

Still, “Yeah, it’s a little bit sad,” that her state championship cross country racing is almost done, the Arroyo Grande resident and Mission Prep senior said.

Hasay will run in her fourth, and last, Division V state race at 1:20 p.m. Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. She’s a prohibitive favorite to win the girls Division V race at the CIF State Cross Country Championships for the fourth time.

Senior Karlee Owens leads Arroyo Grande’s girls into the first state meet for an Arroyo Grande girls cross country squad since 1991. Pioneer Valley boys basketball coach Greg DeNike was the Eagles’ coach then. The Eagles will run in the Girls Division II race at 10:05 a.m. Saturday.

Nipomo junior Andrew Garcia qualified for the Division IV boys state meet as an individual. He’ll run at 12:45 p.m. All state meet races will be at Woodward Park.

Boys and girls races will be 5 kilometers. The Eagles’ girls squad at the state meet figures to include Owens, Hannah Stevens (freshman), McKenzie Goldman (junior), Katie Lewis (junior), Haley MacDonald (sophomore), Hannah Goldman (freshman) and Amanda Trescartin (sophomore).

Arroyo Grande’s squad took the seventh, and final, qualifying spot in its section finals race. The Eagles did beat eighth-place Canyon Country Canyon by 20 points.

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Hasay is the prep girls national 1,500-meters record holder (4:14.50) She said she’ll go after the course record of 16:43 Saturday.

“This will be just my fourth race this year, because I’m really focusing on the Foot Locker Nationals,” where she’ll try to re-claim the national title she won as a freshman in 2005, said Hasay. Hasay was third at the 2007 Foot Locker Nationals.

She said, “I’m going to go hard and hopefully get the course record,” Saturday. Hasay ran 17:01 as a freshman there and 17:05 as a junior.

“I’m a little sad that it’s my last state meet, but I’m happy that I won’t be running that course anymore,” Hasay said with a laugh. “I like Woodward Park. It’s just that I’ve run it so many times.”

Ten times, in fact. Hasay’s run four section finals races, three state meet races and three Clovis Invitational races there.

Hasay led Mission Prep to its 11th consecutive Central Section Division V girls cross country title earlier this month. The Royals have been in the top five in the CIF State division V each of Hasay’s first three years at Mission Prep.

“We’re ranked fourth this year,” she said. “Hopefully we can get that or higher.”

Owens is an 800 and 1,500-meter specialist in track. She considers track her best sport. She’s been plenty impressive in cross country this year, however.

She took her first three races this season. Owens won the PAC-7 League finals race going away and then ran what coach Sean Ricketts described as “the perfect race for her,” in the Toyota CIF Southern Section Division II Finals last Saturday. Owens finished fourth over the 3-mile course at Mt. San Antonio College.

She ran a 17:42, her personal best on the course by 20 seconds.

Garcia has had an impressive season, too. He won the boys race at the PAC-7 League finals. Garcia finished a solid ninth at the section finals, in 16:12. That was his best at the Mt. SAC course by 10 seconds.

Hasay said, “I think the state meet and (Foot Locker) regionals will help me prepare for the nationals. I want to do well at the state meet, but if I don’t do as well as I’d like, that’s OK because I just want to do well at nationals.”

Hasay is the three-time defending Foot Locker West Regionals champion. The West Regionals is a qualifier for the national finals.

Hasay was rated second in a recent Dyestat.com national poll to defending Foot Locker National champion Ashley Brasovan. Brasovan is a senior from Florida.

“They’re still giving Ashley the number one ranking, but that’s OK,” said Hasay. “She definitely deserves it. Ashley set the (prep) national 5,000 meters record at the Nike Outdoor Nationals (last summer). That’s pretty amazing.”

Hasay said she doesn’t know yet whether she will try to defend the Junior Cross Country Nationals championship she won in 2006 and 2007. That race will be in Baltimore this winter.

November 28, 2008