After winning first career Big Ten individual cross country title and running 8:59.37 in indoor 3,000 meters, soft-spoken Hasz has potential to make plenty of noise for Gophers at upcoming conference and national championship meets 

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

Bethany Hasz is a fifth-year senior at the University of Minnesota and the spotlight is something she’s still not comfortable with, but has learned to tolerate over the years.

During a mid-February afternoon media interview, Hasz, with her midwestern twang, slight awkwardness, but genuine politeness, speaks softly about herself, but with a sharp conviction and passion about running and what it means to her. Call it “Minnesota nice.”

“I love it,” she said. “There’s no better feeling than doing a hard workout that you didn’t think you’d be able to finish well.”

From an early age, Hasz has always enjoyed the steady daily grind, and it’s a big reason why her name is finally shining a little brighter this year.

“We run a program here that gives kids the opportunity to be amazing, that’s what we do here in Alexandria,” said Travis Hochhalter, both the middle school and high school coach for Hasz.

“Bethany had the foundation to be a great runner from the beginning, she had a philosophy of, ‘Hey, I love to do this, I love to do this with my sister,’ and she’s super mentally tough.”

That progression demonstrated by Hasz is evident more than ever this winter, as she claimed the first individual Big Ten cross country title of her career and only the second in program history, clocking 20 minutes, 13.2 seconds on the 6-kilometer layout Jan. 30 at the Blue River course in Shelbyville, Ind. Two weeks later, she transitioned to the indoor track and reset her own 3,000-meter school record, clocking 8:59.37 at the Hawkeye B1G Invitational, her first time breaking the 9-minute barrier in the event.

And whether she likes it or not, more eyes will be on her as a packed postseason approaches.

The Big Ten Indoor Championships (Feb. 26-27 in Geneva, Ohio), the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships slated for March 11-13 in Fayetteville, Ark., followed by the NCAA Cross Country Championships set for March 15 in Stillwater, Okla., all present opportunities for Hasz’s efforts to continue to be elevated.

“She’s had a really remarkably consistent career,” Minnesota women’s coach Sarah Hopkins said. “I think she’s kind of flown under the radar of being really, really good, but maybe not mentioned in the names of sort of the greats in the NCAA, and some of that is due to her personality a little bit, but she’s always been second or third.”

From the small town of Alexandria, the University of Minnesota – about a two-hour drive – was the only school Bethany and her twin sister Megan Hasz officially visited. They felt an immediate connection to Hopkins’ team-first philosophy and blue-collar approach of hard work producing results.

“We kind of joked one time, I think two years into their career, they were mentioning something about recruiting and someone else goes, ‘Well these coaches called me.’ And they both said, ‘I think Oregon emailed us, but we weren’t interested, so we just didn’t respond.’ And then someone else jokes, ‘Yeah, I blew off Oregon, too,’” Hopkins said with a laugh. “But again, they kind of knew what they wanted and honed in on that early and it’s worked well for us, thankfully.”

It’s hard not to mention one without the other, but when distance runners Bethany and Megan arrived on campus, Hopkins intentionally had them intentionally train a little differently – Bethany focusing on the mile up to the 5,000-meter event, and Megan on the 5,000 and 10,000.

Bethany said it’s been nice to be able to do their own thing, but come together in the middle for easy runs and little workouts.

“I just felt like giving them places where they could excel and not have to be always head to head with each other would take a little bit of that, whether it’s rivalry or just the pressure of that, away,” Hopkins said. “Just giving them each their own little niche.”

For Bethany, who earned All-America status as a high schooler, finishing fifth at Nike Cross Nationals in 2015, it’s been a steady development from the cross country course to the track season, year after year.

It’s been nothing special – as Hopkins puts it, “just putting more tools in the toolbox.”

Bethany’s mileage has increased little by little, new elements to her training regimen have been added, and she’s done the extra things away from running to stay healthy along the way.

“That’s what you want to happen,” Hochhalter said of Bethany’s success. “It’s the opportunity to continue to get better. You know what? That’s why we’re doing this sport, we want those surprises, and we want that, no not surprised, this girl is talented.”

From her freshman year to now, the 5,000, her primary event, has seen the biggest leap. In her first indoor season, she clocked 16:24.06. In December 2019, a few months before the Coronavirus pandemic struck, she made huge strides, placing fifth in a season-opening race in Boston, running a personal-best 15:25.33.

“It's a really gratifying feeling knowing you’re putting in all the work and seeing it pay off every year,” Hasz said.

Her 3,000 timeline has had a similar trajectory. Hasz hovered around the 9:13-11 range for a few years, but broke the elusive 9-minute mark Feb. 13 when she ran 8:59.37, currently the sixth-fastest time in the country. Hopkins credits the effort produced by Hasz to her Big Ten cross country title victory, finally ripping the invisible bandaid off and proving to herself she’s capable of greatness.

“I feel like everything you accomplish kind of gives you more confidence, so you are willing to take a risk and give yourself an opportunity to have another big breakthrough,” Hasz said.

Hasz will look to have another big breakthrough this week and earn her first indoor individual Big Ten crown.

This entire year, cheering her along the way has been her ride or die from Day 1, identical sister Megan.

While the two finish one another's sentences, train together, both are now married, and do have the same major – Kinesiology and working towards an Sport/Exercise Science M.Ed – Hopkins said Bethany’s been able to separate herself athletically the past few years, as Megan’s dealt with the rollercoaster of injuries.

“It’s obviously been difficult for her dealing with injuries and she’s been frustrated not being able to compete at the level she should be,” Hasz said. “But she’s always super supportive of me, and probably more excited than I am.”

Away from running, Hopkins said it’s mind-boggling how close Bethany and Megan are. More go-with-the-flow-type personas, the two don’t seek out extra attention or advice from Hopkins daily, but value the genuine solid relationship they have established with their coach and teammates.

Like the daily grind of hard work and training, the two don’t require the glitz and glam, but rather simple pleasures. Hopkins said on team trips, the two would rather go to Walmart than Target – the store founded in Minneapolis.

“Bethany is totally content and super happy to go into Walmart and get our groceries,” Hopkins said with a laugh. “So when she got married this summer I got her a gift card to Walmart instead of Target, and I wrote in the card, “You are the only person I know that will drive past Target and prefers to go to Walmart.”

Added Hasz: “It’s a pretty classic midwestern thing, but if someone compliments you on something you say, ‘Oh, I got it on sale,’ which goes along with the Walmart thing.”

While Hasz, in her charming midwestern ways, said she’s not certain of her plans yet for the postseason – and whether that includes a focus on cross country, track or both – she’s said she’s feeling stronger than ever and more confident in her abilities with a mindset to take it one stride at a time.

“I think she’s kind of maintained that small-town Minnesota, blue-collar, ‘none of this is promised and I’m going to take full advantage of every opportunity’ attitude,” Hopkins said. “She’s just an awesome human, salt of the earth and lets her running do the talking.”