Dumas Wins 800 In NJ Record, Completes Stunning Triple At NB

There has never been anyone quite like Natalie Dumas, not in New Jersey and perhaps not in the country on the scholastic level!!! 

Dumas, the indefatigable junior at Eastern, showcased her breathtaking talent once again on Sunday by sending the high school track and field world into an absolute frenzy by completing probably the greatest triple by a U.S. high school girl with yet another head-spinning victory at the New Balance National Championships at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

Dumas, who already won the 400 hurdles on Friday (a meet record 55.99 ) and the flat 400 on Saturday (a meet and NJ record 51.14), pulled off another stunning performance in the 800 when she used a quick burst right before the finish line to win in heart-pounding fashion, stopping the clock at 2:00.11, which smashed the meet and NJ records and is No. 5 in U.S. history!!!! 

That’s right – Dumas went 3 for 3 with 3 meet records and 2 NJ records over the past 3 days! This is a trifecta for the ages!!!!! 

Oh, and she also earned All-American honors with a fast anchor split in the SMR!! So she is a quadruple All-American!

This is the National Championships!!!!! No one is supposed to be able to do that!!!! 

We will be throwing a lot of numbers and stats at you about Dumas, which almost don’t seem real. But first a look at how the 800 played out.     

Dumas was locked in a great battle with national leader Emmry Ross of Michigan, who led after a 58.85 opening 400, but Dumas stayed on her heels with a 59.08 quarter.

Dumas didn’t want to sit and kick, so she took the lead with about 300 to go and opened a 5-meter lead on Ross. But Ross refused to go away, fighting back and drawing just about even with Dumas with around 50 meters left and looked like she might take the lead. But Dumas, with Ross on to her right shoulder, did what she always does, finding something deep down in her tank to make one final surge to get just a stride ahead of Ross to secure the victory. Ross was second in 2:00.25, No. 6 in U.S. history.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

No let’s get into all the numbers and stats for Dumas.

With her times of 55.99 in the 400 hurdles, No. 6 in U.S. history, 51.14 in the 400, also No. 6 in U.S. history and her 2:00.11 in the 800, Dumas is the first girl in U.S. high school history to run sub-52, sub-56 and sub-2:01!!!

In the span of less than 24 hours, Dumas broke state records held by two of the greatest athletes in U.S. history, NJ legends Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Ajee’ Wilson. 

When Dumas burned her 51.14 to win the 400, she broke the NJ record of 51.87 that she shared with McLaughlin-Levrone, who ran that time as a junior at Union Catholic at the 2016 Meet of Champions. McLaughlin-Levrone is a 4-time Olympic gold medalist and the current World Record holder in the 400 hurdles.   

With her 2:00.11 in the 800 on Sunday, Dumas broke the NJ record of 2:00.91 set by the great Ajee’ Wilson of Neptune when she won 2-lapper at the the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships. Wilson is a 2-time Olympian, is the current American Indoor Record holder in the 800, and she won the 800 at the World Indoor Championships in 2022.

Dumas is now the second fastest junior in U.S. history in the 800. The only junior to go faster is Mary Cain of New York, who went 1:59.51 at the 2013 Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Oregon.

The 2:00.11 by Dumas would have placed her sixth at the NCAA Division 1 Championships!

Oh, I almost forgot, about 2 hours after she won the 400 on Saturday Dumas split 2:03.90 to rally Eastern from sixth to second in a NJ No. 4 and U.S. No. 12 all-time 3:53.15!

WHERE DOES THIS RANK?

There has already been plenty chatter about where this jaw-dropping performance by Dumas ranks all-time in U.S. high school history.

Well, I think it’s fair to say that McLaughlin-Levrone making the 2016 U.S. Olympic team in the 400 hurdles as a 16-year-old at Union Catholic is the greatest single-race performance we’ve ever seen by a girl in U.S. high school history. 

I also think it’s equally fair to call this hat trick by Dumas, with the SMR anchor to go with it, the greatest all-round performance we’ve ever seen by a U.S. high school girl.  There just isn’t anyone who can match the kind of range that Dumas has. She’s also run 4:55.66 for 1,600, 24.02 for 200, and she ran 20:26 for 5K at Holmdel Park last fall!!!      

And she has one more year left!!!!