Chelsea Alicia Hayes (born February 9, 1988) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competes primarily in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

. Her personal records for the events are and 11.15 seconds, respectively. In 2012, she was runner up at the NCAA Indoor Championship in long jump and finished third at the Outdoor Championships. She won the 2011–12 Joe Kearney Award, an award given to the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

's top student-athlete. At the 2012 US Olympic Trials, she jumped a new personal best en route to a second-place finish. In so doing, she became the first ever track and field athlete from

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

to represent the United States at the Olympics.

Early life

Chelsea Alicia Hayes was born February 9, 1988, in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

to mother Joyce Hayes. She has three brothers - Shawn, Keegan and Kenji Hayes. For high school, Chelsea attended

Marion Abramson Senior High School Marion Abramson Senior High was a high school in the New Orleans East area of New Orleans, United States.basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and competed in

, only taking up the latter for the first time in her junior year. Displaced by

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

, she attended high school in multiple states during her senior year before graduating from Marion Abramson. She received MVP honors for track. After high school, Hayes attended

Butler Community College Butler Community College (BCC) is a public community college in El Dorado, Kansas. Campus There are a number of branch campuses throughout the area, in Andover, Council Grove, Marion, McConnell, Rose Hill, and a number of distance-learning ...

for two years before transferring to

, where she graduated in 2012 with a degree in nursing.

Athletic career

During her college career, Hayes set eight school records at Butler Community College. At Louisiana Tech, she was a 14-time

(WAC) champion in track and field and 15-time first team All-WAC member. She was named "WAC Female Track Athlete of the Year" four times and set nine conference records. She is the only athlete in history to win both the WAC "track athlete of the week" and "field athlete of week" simultaneously, and did so twice. By graduation, she owned all ten of LA Tech's ten longest long jumps in history, and nine of the ten fastest 100-meter runs. In 2011 and 2012, she was named a first team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n in the indoor long jump. She was a second team All-American in the

60 meters 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

and outdoor long jump. In 2012, Hayes was runner up t the NCAA Indoor Championship in long jump with a mark of . At the Outdoor Championships, she placed third in the event with a distance of . She finished seventh in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.58s. At the end of the season, she was named All-Louisiana in five events: the 100-meters, the 200-meters, the 4x100-meter relay, the 4x400-meter relay, and the long jump. Additionally, she won the 2011-12 Joe Kearney Award, the WAC's top award, given yearly to the top student-athlete. She was the first Louisiana Tech student to win the award. Hayes qualified for the 2012 US Olympic Trials, but was not expected to do much; a commentator for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

called her "unheralded and unknown". She advanced to the finals of the long jump, and was in fifth place when the field was cut to eight with three jumps to go. She remained in fifth until her final attempt, when she scored . The distance exceeded her personal best by nearly one and half feet (half a meter) and won her second place. Additionally, the jump was the fourth longest in the world for the year, up until that point. Hayes qualified for the Olympic team, becoming the first ever track and field athlete from Louisiana Tech to represent the United States at the Olympics. Previously, fellow LA Tech alumna

Olivia McKoy Olivia Celia McKoy (born 1 December 1973) is a retired female shot put, weights, hammer, javelin, and discus thrower from Jamaica West Indies. Olivia McKoy also competes in the local 5K, 10K, & 1/2 Marathon Road Races. She won gold and bronze at ...

represented Jamaica during the 2000 and 2008 Games. Two days later, she remarked, "I'm still in shock about it ... Words can't explain it. I'm so excited. It's crazy." Hayes also competed in the 100-meter dash at the Trials, but failed to make the finals. Her trip to London for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

will be Hayes' first ever trip outside the United States. She competed in the qualifying round of the long jump on August 7 but did not progress to the final. Also in 2012, Hayes was named the "Field Athlete of the Year" by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. She is coached by Shawn Jackson.

References

External links

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Chelsea Hayes
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Chelsea 1988 births Living people American female long jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Track and field athletes from New Orleans Louisiana Tech University alumni Butler Community College alumni 21st-century American women