2012 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships

The Foot Locker Curse and Jordan Hasay

The Foot Locker Curse and Jordan Hasay

Nov 13, 2012 by Mitch Kastoff
The Foot Locker Curse and Jordan Hasay

There is one empty space on Jordan Hasay’s trophy mantle. Even before she graduated high school, there were murmurs of Hasay winning the cross country individual national championship at Oregon. The whispers weren’t simply about her natural ability and potential; they were mostly said with a mixture of hope and doubt.

No female Foot Locker Champion has ever won the individual NCAA Cross Country title. The Oregon senior from Arroyo Grande, California will have one more shot to break the Foot Locker Curse.

Winning the Foot Locker National Championship in high school somehow magically prevents an athlete from replicating that success at the college level. Since its first running in 1979, no girl has been able to win another individual cross country title after high school. The curse has bested distance running greats such as Melody Fairchild (champion in 1989 and 1990), Julia Stamps, and Sara Bei (now Sara Hall).

It would seem it's Hasay’s destiny to break the prophecy. She placed 18th in 20:23.1 her freshman year, took 3rd in 20:13.0 her sophomore year, and was just out kicked by Villanova’s Sheila Reid last year when she settled for second in 19:41.8 last season.


You already had one title Sheila, you couldn't share?

Who will be the one to continue the curse?
Abbey D’Agostino’s personal best over 5000m is 17-seconds faster than Hasay’s, but she’s coming back from an injury. Betsy Saina has looked incredible on the track the spring, but has one loss this cross country season.

One of her main challengers is not an old rival, an NCAA champion, or even an overlooked dark horse. 

Enter Laura Hollander.

The Cal Poly freshman from Huntington Beach, California possesses the ability to carry on this tradition of disappointment. So far this season, Hollander’s course record runs have captivated the running world.

She established herself as a genuine national contender with her win over a national caliber field at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. Her winning time of 19:33 broke the previous course record of 19:53 set by Emily MacLeod of Michigan State.

Hollander proved that she was no fluke with her huge win a few weeks later at the Big West Conference Championship. Her finishing time of 19:12.6 shattered the previous course record of 19:57.


The rare moment at Big West when the photographer could take pictures of Hollander with other runners in the background.

Hollander and Hasay finally met for the first time ever at the West Regional Championship. Not only did their race not disappoint, but it set the tone for the next one as well.

As expected, Hollander quickly went to the front to set the early pace.
"The first kilometer was pretty quick," Hasay told armorytrack.com, "but not too drastic.” 

When Hollander passed 3000m in 9:36, she had roughly a five second lead on Hasay. However, the calm, collected, and race savvy Oregon senior slowly reeled in Hollander over the last few kilometers and pulled away for the win in 19:16. Hollander was second in 19:22. The two were well under the previous course record of 19:45.

So why the fuss about Hollander? There are certainly more experienced girls who could deny Hasay the title in Louisville. So why focus the attention on the Cal Poly freshman?

It’s because it’s only fitting that Hollander should be the one to block Hasay and continue the curse. Her rise to prominence has caught the majority of the running world with their pants down. Who would have thought that two years ago, the 27th place finisher at Nike Cross Nationals would be leading the front pack of the nation’s best collegiate runners.

That's the beauty of the scenario. It's not beginner's luck or naivete, but simply someone who cannot empathize with the situation because she is new to collegiate running.

Hasay has taken third and second at NCAA Cross Country Nationals, won two national titles indoors (mile and 3000m), and has gone toe to toe with the best the NCAA has to offer over the 6000m distance. It’s only fair that a new challenger arises from almost nowhere, right?


There's some kind of Queen Hasay and the Ducks of the Oregon Table joke around here somewhere.

We’ve profiled Hollander’s incredible rise from 11:29.51 3200m runner to a possible national champion, but there’s more to the curse than that.

Fans love an upset.

Even the etymology of the word “upset” has an interesting and semi-ironic background. Although the usage of the word dates back to the 1870s, the word gained popularity in 1919 through horse racing.

One of the greatest Thoroughbred racehorses of all time, Man O’ War, retired with a record of 20 wins and 1 loss. That one loss came at the Sanford Memorial Stakes, where after a bad start, he lost by a half-length.

The name of the horse that had beaten the undefeated horse? Upset.

While we could make the comparison between Thoroughbred horses and cross country runners, there are more obvious examples in the world of track and field.

Take for instance, one of the greatest upsets in the Olympic history, the 1964 Olympic Men’s 10,000m final. The world record holder, Ron Clarke of Australia, was favored to win the gold medal.

In steps the young Native American from South Dakota, Billy Mills. Mills had finished second at the U.S. Olympic Trials and was not expected to be any sort of threat during the race. Although his personal best was nearly a minute behind Clarke’s world record, when the two came around the bend for the penultimate time, everyone knew that something special was about to happen.

Mills valiantly hung on to Clarke and Mohammed Gammoudi of Tunisia over the last lap and unleashed a devastating finishing that earned the U.S. its first gold medal in the 10,000m. Mills’ winning time was 50-seconds faster than his personal best, an Olympic record, and produced one of the greatest moments in track and field commentary history.

No upset is without its small bit of irony. The American analyst for the race, Dick Bank, was fired for his outburst in the homestretch. “Look at Mills, look at Mills,” will forever be ingrained in the annals of track and field as a historic moment in American track and field history and as reminder that even when something exciting happens, it's important to keep your cool or else it'll be your job.

Hasay isn’t the only Foot Locker finalist that has a shot of reversing the curse in Louisville. Stanford is lead by senior Kathy Kroeger (2006 champion) and Aisling Cuffe (2010 champion), who have both been running exceptionally well this fall. Additionally, Washington junior Megan Goethals could be in the mix as it looks like she's past her injury woes.

Although the mystique of the curse primarily surrounds Hasay, it would be also be fitting for Kroeger to break the curse. Kroeger has already beaten Hasay once at the Pac-12 championships and finished a very close third at the West Regionals. Kroeger also was well under the previous course record of 19:45 at the West Regional Championship with 19:27 finish. If she can emulate her race results from conferences, she may be crowned as the Messiah of Lost Foot Locker Champions.

But the burden of the curse falls on Jordan Hasay. It seems that with any young phenom in any sport, the expectations for success are set in the clouds. If you’re breaking age-group records in high school, then you’re expected to break world records when you’re older.

That's why cross country is simply an unforgiving sport. There is no youth squad to foster the development of young athletes. There is no minor league to gain valuable experience for the future. There is no protection from the judging eyes of critics when you’re out in the middle of a never-ending field or synthetic track.

There are expectations to perform from fans, the media, teammates, and coaches. Then there are the expectations you set for yourself.

Jordan Hasay may very well break the Foot Locker Curse this Saturday. Although she started the season very slowly at the Bill Dellinger Invitational, she has improved from race to race throughout the season and appears to be peaking at the perfect time of the season.

Maybe she’s peaking at the perfect time in her college career.