Eastern’s Kadence Dumas, a sophomore at Delaware, ran an 800 PR and the 5th-fastest time in school history over the weekend at the Raleigh Relays.
Dumas ran 2:08.72, dropping her PR from 2:08.90 from last year’s Coastal Athletic Association Championships at Elon, N.C.
Racing in the 14th of 18 sections, Dumas was out in 63.28 and back in 65.44. She’s No. 3 in the Coastal Athletic Association, behind two seniors – Jordan Mozie of Hampton [2:06.78] and Fajr Kelly of North Carolina A&T [2:07.08].
Her time is fastest by a Delaware half-miler in six years, since both Michaela Meyer [2:07.02 also in Raleigh] and Jeanette Bendolph [2:08.69 in Elon, N.C.] ran slightly faster. (Meyer transferred to Virginia and won the 800 at the 2021 NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., in 2:00.28. Post-collegiately, she’s run 1:58.55.)
At Eastern, Dumas won the 2023 outdoor Meet of Champions in Somerset 2:10.44. She also ran 55.90 and 5:03.12.
Delaware women’s track records held by South Jersey athletes: Halima Scott of Camden Big Picture Learning Academy [ran for Wilson] in the indoor 400 [53.97] and outdoor 400 [53.01], Lenape’s Carly Pettipaw in the 600 [1:32.59] and Asha Quant of Holy Cross in the long jump outdoors [19-11 ½].
Up next for the Blue Hens is their own Delaware Invitational Saturday at Grant Stadium in Newark.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 