She makes it a clean sweep for track in this year's state athlete of the year selections. Like German Fernandez, the track world can't seem to get enough of her, a sensation similar to previous track standouts from California like Alyson Felix and Marion Jones. And Jordan still has one more year to go.

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Written by Harold Abend

Posted by Deputy Editor Mark Tennis

She makes it a clean sweep for track in this year's state athlete of the year selections. Like German Fernandez, the track world can't seem to get enough of her, a sensation similar to previous track standouts from California like Alyson Felix and Marion Jones. And Jordan still has one more year to go.

To say big things come in small packages would be an understatement when it comes to Jordan Hasay from Mission Prep of San Luis Obispo, who today has been named the 2007-08 CalHiSports.com State Girls Athlete of the Year.

Even before the 5-foot-2 phenom's July 13 fourth-place finish in the 1500 at the World Junior Track Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, the first top eight finish ever for an American girl, Hasay has been the dominant force nationally the past three years in girls' high school long-distance running.

Any attempt at cataloging Hasay's achievements and records would take an entire book, so we'll give you a thumbnail sketch and send you to DyeStat.com or DyeStatCal.com where her entire career is chronicled.

While the finish at the World Junior's was exceptional, her performance at the Olympic Trials in Oregon in early July may be even more outstanding.

Hasay attended the event held at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field basically as a spectator with her family. Then after someone withdrew from the 1500, USA Track & Field invited the incoming high school senior to compete.

Not only did she compete, but after she finished fifth in her semi and set a national high school record of 4 minutes 14.50 seconds to qualify for final on time, the folks from USA Track & Field had to assist her in rearranging her schedule so she could delay leaving for the World Juniors in Poland in order to run in the July 6 final.

In that race, won by former Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Francisco star Shannon Rowbury, Hasay finished in 10th place.

According to her blog on the Los Angeles Times web site, Hasay told reporters afterward she was really happy with the way she performed those three days, and she learned she could compete at that level without being intimidated.

Being intimidated at the high school level or even before that has never been a problem for the diminutive runner.

Even before entering high school, Hasay twice set USATF Junior Olympics records in the 1500 meters as well as the 3000.

As a high school freshman in 2005, she became only the second freshman to ever win the prestigious Foot Locker Cross Country championships with a 17.05 time over the 5K course, the fastest winning time in four years.

Hasay also won the Division V cross country state title in her frosh season as well the 3200 meter race at the 2006 CIF state track meet in a time of 10:13.55.

At the 2006 Golden West Invitational high school track & field all-star meet, Hasay won the mile in a time of 4:42.21, just .21 off the all time high school freshman mile record of 4:42.0 set by Mary Decker in 1973.

Decker, who went to California high schools but didn't compete scholastically, is the last runner to have been named state athlete of the year. The last single-sport track athlete to gain the honor was Alyson Felix for 2002-03, but Felix won after her senior year. Hasay now has a chance to be the first to repeat as state athlete of the year for girls since Marion Jones won three times from 1991 to 1993.

In her sophomore year, Hasay won the 2007 USATF Junior Cross Country Championship race in a time of 21:44 over six kilometers, leading wire-to-wire and winning by 14 seconds. She also won a second consecutive state cross country title as well as the 3200 meter race at the 2007 state meet in a time of 10:06.76.

At the Golden West Invitational, Hasay won for the second straight year in a time of 4:43.34. She also won the 1500 meter race at the 2007 USATF Junior Championship in a meet record time of 4:16.98, the fourth fastest prep 1500 of all time, the fastest ever by an American 15-year-old, fastest ever by a sophomore, and the fastest high school time in 25 years.

For her efforts, Hasay was selected by Track and Field News magazine as both the best high school miler and two-miler in 2007 (the first girls mile/two-mile double winner since Santa Rosa's Julia Stamps in 1997), and also the 5th best overall and top sophomore girls high school track and field athlete in the nation for 2007.

Finally, this season as a high school junior, Hasay won her third straight CIF state cross country title in a time of 17:05 as well as the USATF Cross Country Championships Junior Women's 6K with a time of 20:32 at Mission Bay Park in San Diego.

At this year's CIF state meet at Cerritos College, Hasay held off senior Laurynne Chetelat (Davis) in the final strides to win her third consecutive 3200 state title in a meet record of 9:52.13, the second fastest 3200 time run by a high school girl ever and the first (along with Chetelat) under 10 minutes since Caitlin Chock in 2004. She also successfully defended her national junior 1500 title in June.

Jordan Hasay may not be a multi-sport star as many state athletes of the year, but her track accomplishments on a national and international level speak for themselves.

We wonder what she will do for an encore this coming cross country and track season and whether some sights of London, host city of the 2012 Olympics, will be in her future.

For comments or corrections, email mark@studentsports.com and be sure to leave comments on this site as well.