Road To Moscow: Evan Jager

Evan Jager has come a long way from his days at Jacobs High School in Elgonquin, Illinois. Jager is one of the top American distance runners and steeplechasers. We take a look back at his road to the professional ranks as he prepares for the World Championships in Moscow.

High School: Jacobs ‘07
College: University of Wisconsin
Pro: Nike (Jerry Schumacher)

 

High School –

One of the more decorated athletes in Illinois history, Jager collected a state title in the 1600m back in 2006 running 4:11.32.  The following year he beat out junior Chris Derrick for the 3200m title in the fastest race in state meet history since Donald Sage in 1999.  The Jacobs star also added one of the fastest times in Detweiller course history, running 14:07 to win a state title his senior year.   Jager also added bests of 4:05 for the full mile and 8:47 for two miles at New Balance his senior year.

College –

His first exposure to now coach Jerry Schumacher, Jager placed 8th in the 1500m at NCAA Outdoor’s as only a freshman.  With Schumacher leaving for Portland, Jager followed his coach and cut his college career short.

Pro –

In his first year as a pro and only two years after graduating from Jacobs, Jager made his first US Senior team, finishing third at the USATF Outdoor Championships in the 5000m.  After an injury that kept him out of much of the following seasons, Jager made a successful transition to the 3000m Steeplechase in 2012.  In his first race for the event he ran 8:26.14 to win at the Mt. Sac Relays.  He won the US Olympic Trials in this event in 8:17.40 to punch his ticket to London.  At the Herculis Monaco meet later that year he ran a personal best 8:06.81 which is the American Record.  2013 has seen Jager drop his 5K to 13:33 to 13:14 (Payton Jordan) before returning to the steeple where he ran 8:08.60 at the Pre Classic in late May.  It was no surprise Jager added another US title in the steeple, running 8:20 for the victory in Des Moines. Two weeks ago Jager tuned up for Worlds with a 7:43 3000m at the Spitzen Leichtathleik Luzern meet.