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Speck Blog April 27
Mega Mile Matchup - Kosinski v. Hasay
April 28, 2007 Sacramento CA
by Doug Speck, editor DyeStatCal
| Classic 4-lapper this weekend in California | Alex Kosinski
photos by John Dye
| Jordan Hasay
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Tale of the Tape for one of the sport’s recent classic match-ups.
Out in California this weekend at the strong Sacramento Meet of Champions competition they will have
one of those classic match-ups that adds so much to our sport. It will be a race of the quality that a real
track and field fan may wait years to see!
Hopefully a good number of far out west folks will hop in the
car so that they can view it in person at Hughes Stadium in the State Capitol this Saturday evening, but if
not, we will try to bring it to here at dyestat.com to you with video, audio, and in every manner other than
having the event plop down at your local track around the corner! The weather forecast is great as it
usually is in the evening in the Sac Joaquin Valley of the Golden State this time of year, so what is the
contest we are considering?
the matchup
Californians Jordan Hasay (Mission College Prep, San Luis Obispo) and Alex Kosinski (Oak Ridge, El
Dorado Hills) are about two of the nation’s top distance runners at the moment, with both deserving a
serious place in US prep distance running history before it is all over!
Jordan Hasay, who lives in the pleasant
California Central Coast seaside community of Arroyo Grande, burst forth on the prep scene last year
where she had the most outstanding frosh distance year ever by an American female prep. Two fall
seasons ago she left a talented group in her wake during the last half of an impressive Foot Locker
Cross-Country National Championship run, then marched through the spring 2006 track season, setting
Age-14 and National Frosh 3200 records of 10:07.56 in early April at Arcadia. She was finally run down
by someone of high school age at the Nike Outdoor Nationals last year over a mile by talented Danielle
Tauro of New Jersey, but heck, she was only a ninth grader! Jordan had a low-key Fall harrier season
earlier this school year, and had a rare “down” race at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Finals,
before bouncing back in early February to demolish a fine junior age level field at the USATF World
Cross Country Trials in Colorado. Hasay has had a fine early spring season, crushing a top group at
Arcadia once again at 10:07.65 for a full two miles, and adding a fine evenly paced 4:39.13 1600 to take
down the over 20 year old National Federation 1600 mark by Laura Matson (Michigan) from 1985. Jordan
appears this spring to have taken her act up a notch and lacks only for prep level competition–not many
people can cope with her sub 5 minute first mile during an eight lap event as she was at Arcadia!
Alex Kosinski lives in the golden foothills east of Sacramento,about a five hour drive away from Hasay,
with towns in Alex’s area catchy names like Gold Hill, Placerville, or Shingle Springs, as it is the general
neck of the woods where the great California gold rush of 1849 took place that first brought people in
good numbers to this part of the country. Alex, a senior bound for the University of Oregon next year,
has made steady progress in the fine Oak Ridge HS distance program, with an impressive come
though effort as a junior that put her in the 2005 Foot Locker National Cross Country Finals (she finished
20th), and she had a super 4:42.93 mile best during the 2006 spring track season for four laps, with the
local star managing to fall just short of national level headlines in second place efforts in the California
State Championships and Golden West Invitational (where she was a close second 4:42.21-4:42.93 for a
mile to Hasay last June).
A contrast in running style to Hasay, who is a full-foot striker and efficiently
pounds out the laps, Kosinski prances up off her toes and has parlayed that powerful stride to as quick
as 2:07 for 800 meters while relaying this spring, a few seconds faster than Jordan covered that event in
an open contest last year. Alex did suffer a foot injury this fall that her coaches were very careful with,
slowly coming back and racing to a fine 17:33 for second behind State Track 1600m champ Christine
Babcock (Woodbridge, Irvine) in the State Division II Cross Country 5k contest. Koskinski
once again impressively made the Foot Locker Nationals, finishing 36th in the San Diego Finals.
It was at March’s Nike Indoor Nationals where the perennial runner-up appeared to have finally had enough of
this second place stuff, blazing past everybody’s top ranked prep miler, Danielle Tauro of New Jersey,
on the way to a fine 4:45.18 mile win! Since that time she added a 4:40 (1600)/2:07 (800) relay double at
the Stanford Invitational, and charged out at Arcadia a few weeks back during a full mile with 66.4, 2:15.8,
3:26.8 lap splits before finishing at 4:43.34 for a mile, fully six seconds clear of a top field. The first
three laps at Arcadia were as daring an early pace as any prep has attempted to that point of the
season!
Both seem primed and ready
With Jordan already having the best time ever run in a regular-season Federation Sanctioned meet, and
Kosinski appearing in super shape through this point into the season, the race this weekend over four
laps will be a classic.
Jordan did win this meet last year over Kosinski 4:43.09-4:45.96. A 69, 2:24.7,
3:35.5 pace laid down by Hasay had the duo dead even with 300 meters to go. Jordan’s 67.5 final
400 gave her a comfortable win.
In the Nike Outdoor Nationals mile last June, Jordan
led during the start of the last lap after a 3:34.1 1320, but a mid 31 second final 200 by Danielle Tauro
(New Jersey) took the east coaster to the win at 4:39.25 over Anne St. Geme (Calif) 4:41.57 and Jordan’s
4:42.27.
Jordan has strength and conditioning unlike few preps in US History, able to push that tough
area from just past half-way of an event into the final lap of her distance races, a tactic that wilts about
all of the current crop of prep stars. How much strength Kosinski has added to her 2007 senior year act
will be interesting to see, with yours truly willing to invest a six hour drive just to find out! Tune in
dyestat.com Saturday evening for race reports with video to follow–it will be worth your time!!! These
classics only come along every few years and it is something you do not want to miss!!
All the track and cross-country stats aside, these are two super young people, so typical of the quality
teens in our sport from super families and schools who can represent in a quality manner any area of life,
on or off the track. They are very comfortable with themselves and all that they have accomplished, with
one sensing if they never ran another step they would be leaders in some other area of life. It is kind of
a privilege to observe such classy individuals with best of luck to both of them.
Videos on file
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