Rancocas Valley graduate Erika Kemp recorded her best finish ever at an outdoor U.S. National Championship Saturday night by placing 8th in the 10,000-meter run at the Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Kemp ran 32:21.84 in what was only her 4th track race since the 2021 Trials in Eugene.
She’s the first Rancocas Valley woman to place in the top eight at an outdoor U.S. Nationals since Tonya Lee was 7th in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1996 Olympic Trials in Atlanta.
Kemp races mainly on the roads these days and she won the 2021 U.S. title at 20 kilometers in New Haven, and she has road PRs of 15:25 for 5K, 32:18 for 10K, 1:09.10 for the half marathon and 2:33.57 in the marathon.
Her best previous finish in any U.S. meet on the track was an 8th in the two-mile indoors in 2019 at the Armory in New York.
Kemp is the 4th South Jersey woman to finish in the top eight in the 10,000 at U.S. Nationals.
Mindy Rowand of Sterling placed 7th in 33:19.37 in 1991, Laura Mason of Northern Burlington was 8th in 35:03.14 in 1998, Marielle Hall of Haddonfield was 3rd in 2016 in 31:54.77 and 2nd in 2018 in 31:56.68.
Kemp qualified for Trials with a PR 31:28.69 at Jserra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano in March. She’s run as fast as 15:10.10 on the track in the 5,000 and ran 15:20.29 earlier this month in Boston.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 