Back of the Pack
May 10, 2004 11:08 PM | General
May 10, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Jennifer Kemp just can’t stand being out front in races. It seems like every time West Virginia University’s budding track star runs the 800 these days she’s always coming from behind.
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| Junior Jen Kemp is ranked 25th in the country in the 800-meter run heading into the ECAC championships this weekend. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Sometimes coming from the back of the pack can be a good thing. Other times it’s not.
Take this year’s Big East outdoor 800-meter championship for example. A creature of habit, Kemp was in the back stalking Villanova’s Marina Muncan. As the race progressed, Kemp thought she was within reach of Muncan and was ready to make her kick toward the finish line when she found herself boxed in by three slower runners.
Kemp had to make a quick stutter step and dart quickly to the outside for the final 200 yards. By that time Muncan had gotten too far ahead and hit the tape first with a time of 2:07.61. Jen was a mere two seconds behind her and gaining ground when she reached the finish line.
“I should have left earlier and I could have caught the girl but I let her go first and then I tried to catch her and that cost me winning it,” admitted Kemp.
Perhaps the way Kemp runs races best reflects her usual laid-back personality. It’s almost as if she doesn’t want to lead from the start of a race because it would only draw more attention to her. Better to just stay back and do the chasing.
Kemp gives a good first impression of being reserved and somewhat shy. But West Virginia women's coach Jeff Huntoon says she has a mischievous smile and a twinkle in her eye that shows that there's more to her than she sometimes lets on. And she also isn’t afraid to speak her mind when she feels she has to.
That side of her personality also comes out on the track.
“She’s just tenacious,” says Huntoon. “She’s a competitor.”
The Edmonton, Alberta, resident lets out a nervous giggle when asked to explain what it takes to be an elite runner like teammate Megan Metcalfe, already a seven-time NCAA All-American and one of the school’s best-ever middle-distance runners.
“You definitely need the self-confidence and the ability to be able to win a race,” she said after a long pause. “I think I have self-confidence but sometimes I get a little nervous before races.”
To those who watch Kemp work out everyday and see her will herself around the track, self-confidence is the only remaining ingredient she needs to be in Metcalfe’s league. Huntoon admits Kemp has some technical flaws in her running stride that probably can’t be corrected. But sheer willpower and a lot of natural ability has helped her overcome it.
Kemp just missed making the outdoor 800-meter finals at nationals last year as a sophomore and is ranked 25th in the country heading into the ECAC championships this weekend at Yale. But mention her with big-name college runners like LSU’s Neisha Bernard-Thomas and Tennessee’s Kameisha Bennett, the nation’s top two half-milers with sub-2:03 times, and Kemp practically winces.
“I don’t know if I’m a top runner (like them),” she says.
Yet Huntoon, West Virginia's Zen master of postive thinking, believes the junior is closer to them than she either believes or is willing to admit. Jen ran a personal-best 2:05.09 at NCAA regionals last year to qualify for nationals and has what Huntoon calls “one of the best kicks in the country.”
“She doesn’t always put herself in the best position during a race but she figures a way of getting out of it,” he said.
“I need to stay closer to the front of the pack and make sure that I’m on the outside of the box so I don’t get trapped when it gets down to the end,” is how Kemp self-critique's herself.
She took up track in the eighth grade and became a national-class runner in Canada by age 15. She was a member of the Canadian National Team that competed in the Cayman Islands in 1998, and she also ran in the World Youth Championships in Poland and the Pan-American Games in Argentina.
Like most top Canadian runners, Kemp looked south to the United States to find a place to keep running and also get her college education paid for. Kemp knew about Metcalfe at West Virginia and also considered Michigan and Mississippi State before eventually choosing WVU in May of her senior year.
“I was looking at a few schools in the States because I knew I needed to go to the States for a scholarship in track,” she said. “I knew Megan was on the team here and I came on a recruiting trip, liked it, and decided to sign.”
Kemp came to West Virginia with 800 times consistently in the 2:14 to 2:12 range. She now says she comfortably runs 2:08 and has gone as fast at 2:05.
“I’m really happy with the way my career has gone because I’ve dropped my times down a lot,” she said. “I’ve also learned to run with better competition.”
As a freshman in 2002 Kemp finished third at ECAC championships and finished second last year as a sophomore. She broke the school 800-meter record three different times last season before turning in a 2:05.38 clocking in the 800-meter preliminaries at nationals. Kemp has already earned All-America honors twice as a member of West Virginia’s indoor distance medley relay team. This year the team placed fifth.
A nagging injury at Christmas time put her a little behind in the 800, but once again she has found her stride and is charging hard to the finish. Kemp crossed the tape first at the James Madison Invitational last weekend with a time of 2:07.61, her best performance this season.
She has the fifth-fastest time in the East this year and is three seconds off Buffalo’s Allison Laske’s top clocking of 2:04.81 heading into ECACs. Huntoon believes Kemp is right where she needs to be.
“Christmas kind of set her back but now she is starting to round into shape at the right time,” he said.
Kemp agrees, “I think I’m peaking at the right time.”
With final examinations finished and the burden of worrying about taking tests behind her, the human nutrition major says she’s now completely focused on track.
“It is stressful when you know you have a bunch of tests coming up,” she admitted.
Kemp’s standing at NCAA regionals in Gainesville, Fla., is already secured but she would like to improve her time. The top five performers in each of the four NCAA regionals advance to nationals. Eight extra runners are picked after that based on the best times. Therefore a 2:05 or even a 2:06 would assure Kemp a spot in nationals.
“Either way I think she’s going to be in,” said Huntoon.
Huntoon also believes Kemp has enough ability to continue her running career after college, though the 1,500 may eventually be her best event.
“Does she have a future post-college? Yes,” said Huntoon. “Does she want to compete after college? I think so.
“In time she’s going to be an excellent miler and possibly even world class,” he added. “She’s run in the 4:20s and could run a 4:10 or maybe even a faster time than that. You put that same 800 kick at the end of a 1,500 race … ooh.”
By running the 1,500 Kemp can actually spend more time in the back scanning the field knowing she has more time to make up the distance. Of course being in the back of the pack is where she’s most comfortable anyway.
