Liliah Gordon placed 23rd among the top cross country runners in the country Saturday at the Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego.
Gordon, a senior at Northern Burlington, ran 18:33.5 with the best finish by a South Jersey girl at Foot Locker since Alyssa Aldridge of Mainland Regional placed 13th in 2016. Her finish is best ever by a Burlington County girl at Foot Locker. Cherokee’s Megan Lacy placed 24th in 2010.
Sadie Krueger of Hawaii, who like Gordon attended Northern Burlington Middle School, placed 36th in 19:21.9 as one of just two freshmen in the entire race. Krueger’s family moved to Hawaii after she finished 8th grade, and she’s now a freshman at Moanalua High School in Honolulu.
Gordon placed 7th in the Northeast Regional in Boston two weeks ago and Krueger placed 6th in the West Regional in Walnut, Calif., last weekend. The top 10 runners in each of four regions qualify for the National Championships over 5,000 meters at Balboa Park in San Diego.
Other than Gordon, the only other qualifier from New Jersey was Allison Lee of West Windsor-Plainsboro North. Lee placed 29th in 18:50.3. Gordon and Lee placed 1-2 in the state Group 3 race at Holmdel County Park last month.
Gordon placed 33rd last year in 18:49. She’s the 12 New Jersey girl in the meet’s 45-year history to qualify for Nationals in consecutive years, joining Janet Smith of J.P. Stevens [1981, 1982, 1983], Jodi Bilotta [1985, 1986, 1987] and Anne Letko [1985, 1986] of North Hunterdon, Christi Constantin of Kittatinny Regional [1987, 1988], Monal Chokshi of Bridgewater-Raritan [1989, 1990, 1991], Ocean City’s Brittany Sedberry [2003, 2004], Kingsway’s Chelsea Ley [2007, 2008, 2009], Caroline Kellner of West Windsor-Plainsboro South [2010, 2011], Aldridge [2015, 2016], Abby Loveys of Randolph [2017, 2018] and Nicole Vanasse of Pingry [2018, 2019]
Here’s a look at every South Jersey girl to race at Foot Locker [previously known as Kinney, Eastbay and Champs]:
1982
Michelle Rowan [Washington Twp.], 2nd [17:02.3]
1998
Erin Donohue [Haddonfield], 17th [18:36.91]
2003
Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 30th [19:23]
2004
Brittany Sedberry [Ocean City], 37th [19:45]
2007
Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 18th [18:04]
2008
Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 8th [17:49]
2009
Chelsea Ley [Kingsway], 7th [17:37]
2010
Megan Venables [Highland Regional], 5th [17:35]
Megan Lacy [Cherokee], 24th [18:17]
2011
Holly Bischof [Bishop Eustace], 28th [18:18]
2013
Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 13th [17:52]
2015
Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg,], 23rd [18:20.5]
Briana Gess [Haddonfield], 29th [18:25.5]
2016
Alyssa Aldridge [Mainland Reg.], 13th [17:55.2]
2023
Liliah Gordon [Northern Burlington], 33rd [18:49.8]
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 