Jacobs High grad prepares for Olympic Trials
Editor's note: Evan Jager, a 2007 Jacobs High School grad, will be competing in the steeplechase preliminaries Monday at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. The final will take place Friday.
Three monumental occasions highlight what Evan Jager hopes is the year that was:
• An opportunity to claim a fifth straight steeplechase championship at the U.S. Olympic trials Friday at Eugene's Hayward Field, allowing him to gain one of three spots in the Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro.
• An opportunity to win a medal at Rio after finishing sixth, fifth and sixth in the event at the last three major international competitions since 2012.
• An opportunity to join Sofia Hellberg-Jonsen in matrimony Oct. 8 at Stockholm, Sweden.
That's quite a three-month stretch for anyone, but Jager is juiced for the trifecta.
"Hopefully, it's all good, and we can continue our celebrations on the honeymoon," said Jager, 27, who has lived in Portland since 2008 as a member of Nike's Bowerman Track Club.
Jager has gone from novice to the man to beat since he ran his first steeplechase in 2012 under the direction of coach Jerry Schumacher.
Two months after the former Wisconsin distance runner's first crack at the race, Jager won the steeplechase at the Olympic trials at Hayward in eight minutes, 17.40 seconds. Two weeks later, the Algonquin native broke the American record for the first time, clocking 8:06.81. Jager went on to finish sixth at the Olympic Games in 2012.
Since then, the 6-foot-2, 145-pound Jager has been dominant on the U.S. steeplechase front, claiming four straight U.S. titles while finishing fifth at the World Championships in 2013 and sixth in 2015.
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