It was a difficult day for South Jersey’s two entries in the 10,000-meter run Saturday morning at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore.
With temperatures in the mid-80s, Mount Laurel’s Marielle Hall, a 2016 Olympian and a Haddonfield graduate, ran 34:35.79 and Mount Holly’s Erika Kemp, a Rancocas Valley graduate, dropped out after 6,400 meters at Hayward Field.
Hall has a 10,000 PR of 31:05.71 from the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, and has a season-best 31:21.78 this year from a meet at Serra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., in February.
Kemp has run 31:35.63 for 10,000 meters – also at Serra Catholic but in December of 2020. This was her first 10,000 of 2021.
Hall ranks No. 8 in U.S. history at 10,000 meters and Kemp is No. 34.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 