‘Wow, this is real.’ Boise runner surprises field with national title in steeplechase
High school track and field meets in the state of Idaho do not regularly offer the 2,000-meter steeplechase. But Boise High senior-to-be Noe Kemper wasn’t deterred by these limitations.
Racing in the event for the first time this year, Kemper won the boys steeplechase at the 2023 Nike Outdoor Nationals last weekend at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. His time of 6 minutes, 1.48 seconds in the first heat was the fastest of the day.
“It was a little unreal, but I was super excited,” Kemper said. “I was expecting to get All-American, which is top six, as I watched the race kind of develop, but it didn’t really hit me until the announcer was handing out the awards and I was like: ‘Wow, this is real. That was a national championship right there.’ ”
Running in the first heat — and slowest heat based on entry times — Kemper had to wait through two more heats to see if his time would stand up against the competition.
“After the race was over, I was staying down in the tunnel, and the officials brought me out to watch the last lap (of the fast heat),” Kemper said. “It was really down to the line with the fastest guy from the fastest heat running just two seconds behind me. It was a little unfortunate that those guys didn’t get to race against me and I didn’t get to race against them. I’m sure all of us would have gone a little faster.”
Garrett Mackey of Central Catholic in Portland, Oregon, took second, winning the third heat in 6:03.06. Kemper was the only runner from the first or second heat to finish among the Top 10, meaning he largely ran the race against himself.
“He ran alone after the first couple of laps,” Boise High coach Aaron Olswanger said. “And he goes off and wins the dang meet out of the first heat by himself.”
With few opportunities to test himself in a live steeplechase race, Kemper had to prepare for the national meet by running in other hurdle races. He ran a 400-meter hurdle race at one of the YMCA’s all-comer meets earlier this summer just to practice clearing the hurdles. Kemper’s dad ran the steeplechase in college, so he gave his son some pointers, too.
“Overall, I was feeling pretty confident that I could get over the barriers well enough and not fall,” Kemper said. “The main thing is just being more efficient and staying lower to the barriers. I wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t affect too much.”
