Desert Vista runner Dani Jones looking for history

When Dani Jones came to the starting line in May for the race that would pave her future, her coach sat in the stands, letting Sara Gorton-Slattery know her record may be about to fall.

"I said, 'I don't want to burst your bubble but I think she has a shot at breaking one of your records, and she's thinking Colorado, too,' " Phoenix Desert Vista track and field coach Chris Hanson said. "She thought it was a cool deal."

After Jones completed the 1,600-meter run in 4 minutes, 48.73 seconds for a state record, Gorton-Slattery, the former Colorado runner, who held the record at 4:49.11 since leaving Phoenix Mountain Pointe in 1999, handed Jones the gold medal at the Division I state championships at Mesa Community College.

"We started talking, and it was because of her I decided to go to Colorado," Jones said.

Jones, who signed in November with Colorado, is following Gorton-Slattery's lead not only to college, but as the next big girls distance runner carrying the torch as the greatest girl miler in Arizona prep history.

What Jones did last season to break a record that was thought to be unbreakable was nothing short of remarkable. Her season was put on pause the first six weeks while rehabilitating from a stress fracture in her leg.

Now, under the training of distance coach Jeff Messer, Jones is injury-free coming into her senior season and ready to bust out more records. The first big meets are this weekend with the Aztec Invitational on Friday at Tempe Corona del Sol and the Rattler Invite on Saturday at Phoenix North Canyon.

Jones, who will probably begin her season running in just the 800 meters at the Aztec, will really get it going March 13-15 in the New Balance Nationals Indoor in New York. Her sister, Baylee, a sophomore, who could be pushing Dani this season, will run the 2-mile.

Last June, Dani Jones smashed her own state record for 1,600 by nearly 8 seconds in the Adidas Dream Mile in New York. She finished third in the country in the Dream Mile at 4:43.40, but she also was clocked in the 1,600 with a time of 4:41.

"Dani's preseason preparation has been consistent, precise and progressive," Messer said. "She is intently focused on concluding her high school career at the highest possible level. She looks forward to the challenge of continuing to progress."

Jones is expected to be a runaway favorite in not only the 1,600 but the 800 and the 3,200 this season.

Her biggest rival, Gilbert Highland's Lauren Ellsworth, underwent knee surgery in November for a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Last season, Ellsworth caught Jones down the stretch in the 800 for the state title in a state-record 2:07.61.

"Practices have been going well," Jones said. "I'm really looking forward to being in the Chandler Rotary this time. The last two haven't gone well. It will be great to be healthy for that meet for a change."

The Chandler Rotary is the biggest meet of the season and held on March 20 and 21 at Chandler High.

Two years ago, Jones ran ill at the Chandler Rotary and finished 16th in the 1,600 at 5:21.54. She bounced back with state titles in the 1,600 (4:51.17) and 800 (2:12.08) and a runner-up finish in the 3,200 (10:48.23).

Last year, Jones was rehabilitating the first six weeks, before running in her first meet in Arcadia, Calif., on April 12. It was a smashing season debut, finishing second among some of the nation's top distance runners in the mile at 4:50.81.

She captured the state title in the 3,200 at 10:34.16.

Three state records aren't out of the question this May for Jones, who is always finding new ways to motivate.

"She's a rock," Hanson said. "She sets the tone every day in practice. She sets the tone on a daily basis. It's all business. A lot of kids knowing they've got a scholarship in their back pocket shut it down. She gets hungrier by the day.

"We may never see another runner like her, not just in our school but in the state, in the distances for a long time."

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD

KEY DATES: Aztec Invitational, Friday, at Tempe Corona del Sol; Rattler Invite, Saturday, at Phoenix North Canyon; Chandler Rotary, March 20, at Chandler; Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational, April 10-11; Sun Angel Classic, April 9-10, at Arizona State; State Meets, May 6, 8, 9, at Mesa Community College.

GIRLS

TOP TEAMS: Desert Vista, Chandler, Phoenix Xavier Prep, Gilbert Highland, Tucson Catalina Foothills, Buckeye Youngker, Cottonwood Mingus, Scottsdale Prep, Tempe Prep, Chandler Valley Christian, Phoenix North Canyon.