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girls distance | 08-09 most outstanding performers

This is the first of a series of DyeStat year-end awards for 2008-09. The DyeStat Most Outstanding Performers series, which precedes the DyeStat Athlete of the Year awards, includes top honors for boys and girls distances, sprints/hurdles, jumps, throws, relays, and multi-events. Selections are made by DyeStat editors and are based a combination of multiple major victories/honors won and performances on all-time and yearly lists. Performances from outdoor track, indoor track, and cross-country are taken into account..

Text by SteveU - Photos by John Dye and John Nepolitan


Jordan Hasay

It’s hard to believe that Hasay will soon be running the last race that will count as part of her prep career.  If it seems like she’s been running HS track and XC forever, it might be because she has set a new standard for consistency among the ultra elite – especially since she started on top as a freshman Foot Locker National Champion.  So many are the young female distance prodigies who have flamed out – for many reasons – before their senior year.  Not Hasay.  The Mission Prep CA senior began her career as the best and ends it as the best.  She alone can make such a claim. 

Going into 2008-09, Hasay had the bounty and the burden of trying to top a junior year that – thanks to setting the USR and making the final in the Olympic Trials 1500 – had taken her popularity way beyond the prep distance community and into the sports mainstream.  Her focus, though, was regaining that Foot Locker Finals title.  First, she swept through the state season unbeaten, including victories at Mt. SAC and the D5 state meet; other than a DNF at Stanford in 2005, she was unbeaten in her career during in-season competition.  She then won her fourth straight Foot Locker West title.  Finally, with a perfectly timed finishing kick, she conquered the field in San Diego for perfect bookends on her XC career.

On to track.  Only for Hasay could a season with state, NIN, and USATF Jr titles, and times like 4:16 for 1500 and 10:05 for 3200, be considered less than hoped for, but in a career relatively free of injury and illness, she had just enough of that to keep her from peak form.  Still … in the only career indoor race, she dominated the NIN 2-mile, her 10:10.89 short of Melody Fairchild’s USR, but still #6 all-time.  Outdoors, illness kept her from four-peating at Arcadia, but she had a pair of 4:16 1500s (including US#1 4:16.80) against the elites at Stanford and Carson.  At state, she launched a 3200 record assault, but a too-fast early pace held her to “only” 10:05.29, still the US#1.

In the USATF Sr 1500, the kicker’s pace didn’t work for Jordan and she faded to 4:19.61 and out of the final, but she bounced back to win her 3rd straight Junior 1500 (4:18.99, her 4th sub-4:20 in ’09) and a trip to the upcoming Jr Pan Ams.  While an assessment of her career – and her place among the all-time greats – deserves a longer treatment, Hasay’s most recent victory highlights one of her greatest, though undervalued, achievements: her USATF Junior record.  Winning one or two Jr titles in a career is impressive for any great prep, but Jordan has won SIX: three 1500s, one 3k, and two in XC.  Count it as one of the many ways that Jordan Hasay is a living legend in our sport.


Chelsey Sveinsson

Believe it or not, coming into 2008-09, Sveinsson was a question mark of sorts.  Yes, she had won two NIN titles as a freshman and had great times of 2:08.46 and 4:43.51y early outdoors, but injury had stunted the end of her track season and, outside of her inner circle, who really knew what to expect?  Could anyone have predicted that by the end of June, the Greenhill School TX soph would have three more national titles and be considered the heir apparent to Jordan Hasay?

Sveinsson’s XC season began innocuously enough; while she won a pair of early-season meets, her times didn’t get even regional attention.  But in October, she dominated the Cowboy Jamboree and the Chile Pepper Invite, establishing herself as a solid post-season contender.  At NXN South, she defeated Texas 5A champ Sarah Andrews, showing a patient racing style that was in marked contrast to the way she ran as a frosh and establishing herself as one of the top runners in the country.  Two weeks later in Portland, despite attempting the difficult NXN-Foot Locker double (she had been 3rd at FL South and would take 4th at FL Finals), she rolled to a course record 17:26 and won by 9 seconds.

After bypassing indoors, Sveinsson exploded on the outdoor scene with a pair of then-US#1s (10:12.11 3200, 4:46.47 1600) at the Texas Relays, then captured the Penn Relays mile in 4:46.85, another #1 at the time.  Then came an invite for the Reebok Grand Prix 1500 in New York, where she was 15th, but ran 4:18.13, good for #9 all-time.  At NON, she fashioned one of the great distance doubles ever, dominating the 1M and 2M in US#1s of 10:04.85 and 4:40.24, both soph records and #7 and #9 all-time.  Finally, she concluded with a World Youth Trials 1500 win and 4th in the World Youth Champs.  One of the true shames of the 2009 track season is that Sveinsson and Hasay didn’t race, but unless proven otherwise, the Texan will be the girl to beat nationally for the second half of her prep career.
 
Honorable Mention

Jillian Smith – Though Smith’s 2008-09 resume was a bit compromised by the fact that she didn’t compete in an individual event at indoor nationals, and had a DNF in outdoor nationals due to injury, it was still strong enough to earn her mention in this category.  Undercover, the Southern Regional NJ sr led the nation at 1600 (4:48.23), repeated at Millrose in 4:51.88y, and ran the #4 all-time performance in the 1000 (2:46.09) at NB Collegiate.  Then at NIN, she anchored history’s #2 4x800 (8:54.11 with a 2:06.5) and #3 DMR (11:41.12 with a 4:44.7) to victories.  Outdoors, she ran a US#1 2:04.67 at the NJ MOC, then at NON anchored history’s #6 4x800 (8:52.80 with a 2:04.31) before a calf cramp ended her bid to repeat as individual 800 champ.

Claudia Francis – 2009 looked like it should be an incredible year in the girls 800, with four returnees under 2:06.  But promise and reality don’t always match up; only one of those four ran that fast this spring (Jillian Smith, 2:04.67) and none of them were in a position to top Francis when she took 2009’s best half-miles.  While Smith was felled by a calf cramp at NON, the Benjamin Cardozo NY soph surged away in the final 200 to take the deep field down in US#2 2:05.47.  The World Youth Trials 800 was also loaded and, again, it was Francis who made the final move to win in 2:05.94.  Though she didn’t run as well when she got to Italy, look for the New Yorker to be a force for two years to come.

Shelby Greany – The turning point in Greany’s senior year came before Foot Locker Northeast, when she willed herself to let go of a lot of pressure she had been carrying and freed herself to enjoy it and let her abilities take over.  The result was 2nd at Vanny and then 7th at the Finals in San Diego, both far exceeding what she had done in three previous FL appearances.  In track, it was more of the same.  In the NIN 2M, she ran a PR for 2nd at 10:24.11, then was 3rd in the Penn 3k at 9:35.42.  At heart, though, the Suffern NY senior is a steepler and when she lined up for her specialty at the Cornwall Steeplefest, the results was a USR 6:33.7h.  She followed that with a 6:36.90 to win state.  The only blemish on the season was a 5th at the NON 5k.

Emily Sisson – While Sisson, having run for three schools in three years, has struggled to keep improving in XC after a spectacular freshman year, she has kept pushing the envelope in track.  The Parkway Central MO jr qualified for Foot Locker Finals for the 3rd straight year, taking 29th.  But after taking some time off and addressing some health issues, she made a low-key (nationally speaking) start in track, including a 10:15.8 3200 PR in her conference meet, a PR 4:49.18 1600 in her section meet, and strong doubles at Kansas Relays and her state meet.  Against a fine 5000 field at NON, she surged away for a PR triumph in 16:34.36, perhaps the biggest win of her career.  In the USATF Jrs 3k, she was a solid 2nd in 9:55.31.

Laura Roesler – With a 2:03.08 800 and Olympic Trials semifinal appearance as a soph, Roesler had a tough standard to top her junior year, but she came pretty close.  One thing she achieved in 2008-09 that was a first, though, was a national title, which was forged with a 2:08.80 at NIN.  Her outdoor campaign included her 4th straight state meet quadruple, as well as an impressive 24.55 200 win at Howard Wood.  In the half, she got her time down to 2:06.20 at the Dakota Elite, but that was as far as she could get.  At the USATF Juniors, though, she was 2nd overall and first prep behind U of Tennessee’s Chanelle Price in 2:07.41 – which gives her one more chance for a big performance at the upcoming Pan Am Juniors.

Ashley Brasovan – Injuries ended Brasovan’s senior track season before it could really get going – a 10:31.38 2M for 5th at NIN was her only significant race – but that followed another outstanding (and extended) cross-country season for the Wellington FL grad.  She won the flrunners.com Invitational, repeated at Great American, and won her 4th straight state title before making her bid to repeat as Foot Locker champ.  Despite a fall, she got through the treacherous Foot Locker South race (4th), then in San Diego executed a near-perfect race plan.  The result was a runner-up finish (17:25) as Jordan Hasay’s kick was just too much.  Brasovan continued on to the USATF Junior XC, where she overcame a nagging injury to take 2nd, and then 26th at the World Champs in Amman, Jordan.

Chelsea Ley – Ley started 2008-09 on fire, tearing up the XC courses in NJ, including a 17:43 at Holmdel at the Shore Coaches meet.  She would eventually get 2nd to Melanie Thompson at both Groups and MOC, but followed with 5th at Foot Locker NE and a big jump into the top 10 at FL Finals for 8th.  The Kingsway Regional jr’s favorite meet, though, is probably NSIC.  Following a 2nd in the 5k in 07 (US frosh record), and a 1st (5k) and 5th (2M) in 08, Ley came to The Armory this March and picked up two national titles with a 17:17.03 5k and a 10:33.02 2M.  Outdoors, she had another strong season, running a PR 10:19.31 3200 to win the NJ MOC, then taking 3rd at the NON 5k (17:07.92).

Megan Goethals – Goethals may have been in the conversation as one of the best runners in Michigan at the start of 2008-09, but hardly the nation.  But it’s amazing what someone can do when injury slows them down, but then they have several months of good training.  The Rochester junior started winning everything in the Wolverine state and by Foot Locker MW, she was one of the favorites.  Even then, few thought she would win there and place as high as third at the Finals, which she did.  In track, she started in-state and low-key, but a PR 4:47.04 1600 got national attention in May.  Then she came to NON for the 2M/1M double and finished a very strong 2nd in both (10:20.25/4:51.33).  After Chelsey Sveinsson, she will be the girl to beat this coming year.

Charlene Lipsey – With 400 to 1-mile range to rival anyone in the country, Lipsey ran well and all over the map, both indoors and outdoors.  Undercover, her 1:29.85 600 win at NB Collegiate led the nation, but she also ran as fast as 4:55.82 for the mile, which won the big NB Games race.  Nationally, she was runner-up in the NSIC 800.  Outdoors, she ran a US#1 (at the time) 2:05.83 800 at St. Anthony’s that would hold up for #3 at season’s end.  She was 3rd in the Penn mile at 5:00.50.  Lipsey won the tough NY state 800, but that race was without Claudia Francis, who would again make Lipsey the bridesmaid in the NON 800, despite a very good 2:06.89 for the Hempstead senior.


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