Lower Merion’s Hurst and Rumph Prepare for Districts

Two key Lower Merion high school seniors to watch for this Friday, May 21 at the PIAA AAA District One Track & Field Championships at Coatesville High School are seniors Jourdyn Rumph and Sarah Hurst.

“They’re both inspirational athletes - incredible examples for the rest of the team,” said Sandy Hoopes, Head Girls’ Track Coach of the LM Aces.

Rumph will throw the shotput and discus while Hurst will run the 1,600 meter and the 3,200 meter races.

“I really wanted to make this year count,” said Hurst. “This year was special because I lost my junior year.”

In her sophomore year, she competed in the 3,200 at Districts and finished ninth out of tenth in her preliminary heat. As a result, she failed to qualify for the next round. Last year, she was set to redeem herself, but unfortunately, she had to wait a whole year.

“I’m a stronger runner now than two years ago,” Hurst said. Then, she was running the 3,200 in the 11-minute 22-second (11:22) range. Now, she runs the 3,2000 in the 10:55 range.

Although the Lower Merion High School sports programs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus, it did not mean that the track team did nothing. Quite the contrary.

“Every day, I emailed the girls instructions on how I wanted them to warm up, what events I wanted them to practice and then certain types of cool-downs,” said Hoopes. “I also emailed them inspirational quotes and track & field videos to watch.”

Hoopes continued, “This year, we practice in person. You wear a mask and you try to social distance.”

This year, Hurst’s goal is to finish in the top five so that she can advance to the PIAA AAA State Track & Field Championships the following week. Hurst’s distance coach, Dennis Hagan, is confident that she will do well at Districts.

The coach said: "Sarah has worked very hard on building strength throughout the season. She is in the weight room 4-5 days a week. She pushes all her workouts to the max. She has made it so I have to adjust workouts to be more challenging so she can get the most out of them. Sarah is racing better than ever. She is being aggressive and pushing the pace for her races more than ever.”

Coach Hagan elaborated that sometimes she gets in her own way and over thinks things.

“She goes into races thinking she is not as fast as the other athletes or the pace that we set on trying to run is not attainable,” said Hagan. “This is something she has also improved on but it is an ongoing process. But the faster she runs, the more she believes she is one of the better athletes and she can run with anyone.”

Rumph also worked on developing her confidence this season. She thought that she would never be able to throw the shotput more than 33 feet, but at the Lower Merion High School Invitational this past May 8, she hit the 34 ft. mark.

“I was surprised because I got off to a bad start throwing the discus,” said Rumph.

She attributed her improvement in the shotput to making a turn before throwing it. She said that the Lower Merion High School Invitational was the first time that she made turns in a meet.

“It just felt like I need to try it that way,” said Rumph.

Her throwing coach, Jordan Brown added, “Jourdyn has the passion and dedication to excel in whatever sport she does. This lends itself to how she qualified for districts in both the shotput and the discus. She gives 1Her throwing coach, Jordan Brown added, “Jourdyn has the passion and dedication to excel in whatever sport she does. This lends itself to how she qualified for districts in both the shotput and the discus. She gives 100% in every throw, drill, and practice. She deserves to be where she is now.”