Northern Burlington senior Liliah Gordon cruised to another top-10 finish at Foot Locker Northeast Regionals Saturday morning, earning a 2nd consecutive trip to the National Championships in San Diego.
Gordon ran 18:01 over 5K at Franklin Park in Boston and placed 7th among the top runners in the Northeast U.S. The top 10 finishers qualify for Foot Locker Nationals in two weeks.
Gordon also placed 7th last year and she’s now the 5th South Jersey girl to qualify for Nationals more than once.
The only other South Jersey girls to qualify for Nationals twice are Brittany Sedberry of Ocean City, Chelsea Lea of Kingsway and Alyssa Aldridge of Mainland Regional.
Sedberry placed 2nd in 2003 and 10th in 2004, Ley was 10th in 2007, 5th in 2008 and 3rd in 2009, Gess placed 5th in both 2013 and 2015 and Aldridge was 6th in 2015 and 1st in 2016.
Virginia Kraus of Saucon Valley High in Lower Saucon Township outside Bethlehem, the Pennsylvania state champion, won the race in 17:35 and defending champ Zariel Macchia of William Floyd High in Mastic Beach, N.Y., ran 17:40 for second.
Allison Lee of West Windsor-Plainsboro North, who Gordon beat to win the state Group 3 title, finished two seconds ahead of Gordon in 6th and will also represent New Jersey in San Diego.
Gordon was out very fast in 5:26 through the first mile. She settled in the next two miles, splitting 6:03 for the second mile and then averaged 5:48 pace for the final 1.1 miles.
Gordon was the only South Jersey runner to compete in either the boys or girls championship races at Franklin Park Saturday.
Oddly, she’s the only South Jersey girl ever to finish 7th at Foot Locker Regionals and she’s now done it twice.
Gordon and Cherokee’s Megan Lacy, who was 3rd in 2010, are the only Burlington County girls to qualify for Nationals.
Gordon has had a remarkable senior cross country season, capped by her a 3rd consecutive state title, 4th straight Meet of Champions top-8 finish with a lifetime-best 2nd place and now a 2nd straight trip to Foot Locker Nationals.
Foot Locker Nationals will be held at Balboa Park in San Diego on Dec. 14, with the girls race scheduled for 9:15 a.m. PST, which is 12:15 p.m. EST.
Here’s a look at every South Jersey qualifier for Foot Locker Nationals since the meet’s inception:
2024
Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 7th [18:01]
2023
*Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 7th [17:51]
2016
Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 1st [17:40.3]
2015
Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 5th [17:44.2]
*Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg,.], 6th [17:47.8]
2013
*Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 5th [17:43.2]
2011
Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 4th [18:24.9]
2010
Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 3rd [18:08.0]
Megan Venables [Highland], 4th [18:11.0]
2009
Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 3rd [18:33.1]
Marielle Hall [Haddonfield], 5th [18:36.4]
2008
*Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 5th [18:08.3]
2007
**Chelsea Ley, [Kingsway], 10th [18:33.1]
2004
*Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 10th [18:33]
2003
**Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 2nd [18:16.4]
2001
Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 2nd [18:07.8]
1998
***Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 17th [18:36]
1982
Michelle Rowan [Washington Township] 2nd [17:28.7]
The long-awaited