Jordan Hasay, who went from being a U.S. Olympic Trials finalist as a California high school girl to being a two-time NCAA champion and 18-time All-American at the University of Oregon, has signed a professional contract with the Nike Oregon Project and will be coached by Alberto Salazar. The 10,000-meter run at tonight’s USA Track & Field Championships in Des Moines will be her professional debut.
In a tweet, Hasay declared she is “honored and excited to join” the Oregon Project. In a press release from her agent Ricky Simms – who also represents the Project’s double Olympic champion Mo Farah of Great Britain – she said, “I hope to add to the incredible legacy of such an already distinguished group of athletes.” Besides Farah, that group includes Olympic 10,000-meter silver medalist Galen Rupp; three-time Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein, whose 2:07:47 was the fastest American marathon time of 2012; and Treniere Moser, who’ll be one of the favorites in the women’s 1500-meter run in Des Moines.
"We're thrilled that Jordan is joining the Oregon Project and are looking forward to building off the foundation laid by [coach] Maurica Powell and the University of Oregon track program,” said Salazar. “I have no doubt Jordan will become one of the preeminent American female distance runner at the international level."
Hasay, with her trademark blonde ponytail, became a star in her native California even before high school, setting USATF Junior Olympics youth records in the 1500 and 3000 in 2004. In 2005, she won her first of two Foot Locker Cross Country crowns as a high school freshman in Arroyo Grande, where she attended Mission Prep. She set a national high school 1500-meter record of 4:14.50 in the semi-finals of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, going on to finish tenth in the Trials final.
Hasay was a high school sensation of proportions nearly equal to what Mary Cain experiences today. She set the bar for her race results so high that even though her agent Simms’ press release can justly call her “the University of Oregon’s most decorated female athlete,” her collegiate career was, in relative terms, viewed as a disappointment. She won NCAA indoor titles in the mile and 3000 as a sophomore, but was thwarted in NCAA cross country, finishing second in 2011 and third on two other occasions. Her best NCAA placings in outdoor track were three thirds, including her final college race this spring, a 5000 won by Abbey D’Agostino of Dartmouth.
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