Middle Township junior Keira Phillips ran the No. 9 400-meter hurdles time in the state this year Wednesday at the Cape May County Championships at Ocean City.
Phillips won the 400IH in 1:04.44 in what appears to be her first major race this spring. It’s her first 400IH race on record since the 2019 Meet of Champions.
Phillips, 6th at the Group 3 states in 2019 with her previous PR of 1:05.03 ran XC this past fall but according to the MileSplit database didn’t run indoors in 2020 or 2021 and hasn’t run track since the spring of 2019.
That makes Phillips’ time – especially in a highly technical event like the intermediates – even more impressive!
Her time is No. 3 in South Jersey this spring, behind Clayton senior Amirah Sharpe (1:01.63) and Anne Rutledge of Egg Harbor Township (1:04.18). It’s fastest by any Cape May County runner since Rachel Stremme ran 1:03.82 to win the 2014 Cape-Atlantic Championships at EHT.
Phillips also won the 800 Wednesday unpressed by 40 meters with a time of 2:31.51. Her PR is 2:25.14 from 2019 Group 3 sectionals at Delsea.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 