Former Arizona Prep Great Dani Jones Turns Professional


Dani Jones, a four-time NCAA champion at the University of Colorado and 2015 Desert Vista High School graduate, has turned professional by signing with Hawi Management, the agency announced on Monday.

Jones, a nine-time state champion across cross country and track and field for the Thunder and a former two-time All-American at NXN, has yet to announce a shoe sponsor but did announce on her Instagram that she will be joining the Boulder-based training group headlined by Emma Coburn.



The 2018 NCAA Cross Country individual champion is the second high profile collegiate track and field athlete to go pro in 2020 after the indoor season was cut short and the outdoor campaign canceled due to COVID-19. Wisconsin's Alicia Monson signed with Total Sports last month.

Jones, like the rest of Division I spring sport athletes, had the option to return to school for a sixth year to run her final season of outdoor track in 2021. Ultimately, however, the senior decided to wade into the professional world, albeit one that is facing uncertainties like many other economies across the globe.

"We have to be as patient as we can, focus on training, and be hopeful that opportunities will present themselves," Jones said in a Fast Women newsletter.

Along with her crowning achievement in 2018, Jones won national titles in the 2019 outdoor 5,000m as well as the 2017 indoor 3,000m and distance medley relay. Her 4:27.88 mile and 15:17.11 5,000m from this past indoor season are both top 10 marks in NCAA history.