From 1987 to 1994, he earned 7 US top ten 800m rankings; his highest rankingbeing 2nd in 1990 in 1991.
His best of 1:44.00 set on June 24,1992 in New Orleans at the Olympic trials ranks him 11th among Americans All-Time. In that race, Kersh finished a heartbreaking 4th behind Johnny Gray (1:42.80), Mark Everett (1:43.67) and Jose Parilla(1:43.97) to just miss a trip to Barcelona, Spain.
Now 35 (Almost 36. July 3, 1968 birthdate), Kersh is an assistant coach at his alma mater, Pearl, MS. Kersh’s former coach, Woody Barnett, has amassed a dynasty there, accumulating a staggering 5 state titles and going undefeated against Mississippi competition since 1999. The team also boasts 100 members, grades 7-12, including Kersh’s son, a seventh grader last year.
He spoke during one of the rain delays at the Golden South Classic in Orlando, June 5. One of his track stars, Raymond Newell won the high jump there with a clearance of 6-08. Kersh still holds the Golden South mile record of 4:08.91 set in 1987.
RQ: What have you been up to all these years?
Kersh: Nothing much. Doing a little coaching. Doing a little running. Nothing major. Just running with my cross country and a few of my track kids. That’s about it.
RQ: You ended up back in your hometown, Pearl, MS.
Kersh: Oh yeah. Yeah. Back home. I have a family. I’ve been married for several years. I have a twelve year old son and an eight year old daughter. I’m enjoying being a father and my family. I’m slowly getting them involved with running. That’s what I’ve been doing.
RQ: Any potential in your kids?
Kersh: Maybe. You never know. My son is a jack of all trades. He can pretty much do anything. He had a pretty successful cross country season as a seventh grader. He did a pretty good job for his first time running. Hopefully, my girl will do some running in the near future. Slowly, trying to get them there. Not a rush. I’m letting them enjoy themselves also.
RQ: What kind of times did your son run last season?
Kersh: He ran 19:08 for 5k. Not bad for a seventh grader. We were pleased with it. He was always one of the top guys on the junior varsity. He was always there. He gets after it and works hard so you never know. You just never know. I’m just going to work with him every year and hopefully, he’ll become a good runner.
RQ: What do you try and tell these younger kids?
Kersh: Oh man…. I tell you what, focus. Stay focused and dedicate yourself to the sport. If you want to be successful, you got to dedicate yourself. There’s going to be some ups and downs and you have to take the good with the bad. That’s basically it.
You have to stay strong. You may not have a successful year the first year, but if you hang with it, you’re going to have some good races. Those good races are going to outweigh the bad by far. So just hang in there, knowing you are going to do well.
RQ: You must be a household name in Pearl. Do these kids know who you are?
Kersh: Yeah, they do. They do (laughing). We show them a few tapes and these kids, they don’t remember. Most weren’t even born when I was running. We’ll go and show them some tapes when I was running. Their eyes will pop. They’re shocked. I get out there and run with them and they say, “Ok, he can still run.”
RQ: What got you back to Pearl?
Kersh: I was out in Santa Monica and I just missed home. I went back and trained a little bit. I ran for a couple of more years.
My coach got me out there to help the Pearl team a little bit. I got the hang of it and started to loving it. I got on and have been on it ever since. It’s been wonderful to get out there and run with the kids and see them develop year after year and get faster and faster. Just try and motivate them and teach them a few things.
As a matter of fact, for cross country next year, just in the junior high alone, we have 80 to 90 signed up. We had a lot of runners last year and we only lost about 5 guys.
Keep them motivated and keep it fun. Do things for them and hopefully keep building.
We won the state cross country meet this year, both boys and girls and also won the boy’s track. We had an outstanding track and cross country season this year.
RQ: As an African American male, do you carry a different perspective into cross country and distance running that you can share with the kids?
Kersh: With the distance runners, you don’t get many blacks out. We do get a few of them out. Especially junior high kids. We’ll slowly get them out. They see that it’s for everybody. Anybody can do it, if they are well trained. You just have to motivate the kids and get them excited. In Mississippi, cross country and distance is not that big. If you keep them motivated and excited, they’ll stay out there. They have a little success. Once they have a little success, they’re going to hang in there. Get ‘em hooked. Once you do that, they’re going to believe in what you do.
RQ: Do you teach at Pearl?
Kersh: I handle detention. Kids that get in trouble, they come to my classroom and hang there because we can’t send them home nowadays unless they fight. If they get in trouble, they come to me and I talk to them. If we send them home, they can get into a lot more trouble so they stay with me. I try to motivate them and ask them if they are in sports or staying active. If not, I try to get them on my cross country or track team. That’s basically how I get some of them out.
RQ: Do you follow track or cross country anymore?
Kersh: Just at the high school level. Pretty much Mississippi. As far as track, I keep up with it a little bit on television and magazines and things if that nature. On a world class level, I don’t. Every once and while, college.
RQ: Not too many guys have run as fast as you did. What do you think the problem is?
Kersh: No idea. I went to the SEC meet two weeks ago and I saw some potential. I think in time that America will be there in the 800m again. It’s just a matter of time.
It just so happens that those couple of years, it was a great time for the 800m. In the early 80’s also. Earl Jones, James Robinson and those guys set the tone for us and kept it going. Hopefully, someone will step it up. I know in the past couple of years, we’ve faded, but once again, I saw some potential at the SEC meet. It’s just going to get a little bit better.
RQ: Who really struck you at the SEC meet?
Kersh: I think there was a freshman from Tennessee who ran 1:46[Paul Cross]. That was pretty amazing. Anytime you have a freshman running that fast, it’s just a matter of time for him to step it up and take charge of being the next great American half miler. There’s also another guy at Santa Monica [Khadavis Robinson] who’s still running pretty decent. In don’t know his name, but every now and then he runs 1:45. We still have a few guys, but just not at that top-notch level. But it’s just a matter of time. Not just yet, though, but they’ll be there.
RQ: What led to you stopping you’re competitive running?
Kersh: Got lazy[ laughing]. Family. Just family. Working and spending more time with my kids. I guess when you have a family, everything changes for you.
Every once in a while, the fire will flame up. I want to do it again. You just never know.
Last year, during cross country season, I went down to Foot Locker South regionals and ran a 5k. I ran 16, 16:15 for my first race. I was there my first two miles, but after that I just faded. It’s there. I just have to make up my mind and just do it. No guarantee. I’m just out there training with my younger runners and getting them over the hump and showing them what it takes to be a good runner. If it happens while I’m there and while I’m training with my runners, so be it. I’m not pushing it. If it happens, it happens.
RQ: Are you a little more interested in track since it’s the Olympic year?
Kersh: Oh yes. Everyone always comes out of the word work. Someone is going to surprise you here and there. I’ve been keeping an eye on whose going to make the trials and who are the favorites going into the trials.
It’s been interesting watching the news and the preparations for the Olympic in Athens. All the security and all that stuff.
You hear about all the people taking all the drugs and everything. People getting banned. You keep up with a little bit more.
RQ: What is your take on the drug situation?
Kersh: If you’re doing it, you need to be out of the sport. Point blank. If they are doing something illegal, they should be gone. That’s what I’ve always felt and I still feel that way.
They shouldn’t be doing it. I’m totally against it.
RQ: Was it as prevalent as when you were running?
Kersh: Not like it is now because they’ve come it with all these types if tests. A few years before I was running, they caught Ben Johnson. That was pretty big.
With all the runners getting caught now, it’s all coming back into the light. It started with the baseball thing and now it’s rolling on into track.
It’s a good thing. They’re on top of it and they are catching the people who are dirty.
RQ: Is Raymond Newell your first top level track athlete?
Kersh: In the high jump, yeah. Raymond came down last year with us. We also had Bianca Knight last year. They were on top last year for us and now we just have Raymond.
RQ: Any potential athletes that we may be seeing soon?
Kersh: You just never know [laughing]. Anything can happen if you work hard and stay focused. It may happen. We have a lot of good athletes at Pearl as far as runners. A lot of them have to commit to the sport if they are going to get to this level.
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