Eastern junior Natalie Dumas took advantage of the South Jersey Open Saturday to run a rare 200, and she turned in the 11th-fastest time in South Jersey history.
In her first outdoor non-dual-meet 200 in a year, Dumas ran 24.06, missing Olympic gold medalist English Gardner’s school record by only 2-100ths of a second. Gardner ran 24.04 when she won the state Group 4 title at Egg Harbor in 2010.
Dumas’s previous 200 PR was 24.41 indoors at the Ott Center in January. Her outdoor PR was 25.29 at last year’s Camden County Championships at Haddon Township. Her 24.06 is 3rd-fastest in New Jersey this year, behind South Jersey sprinters Ryan Jennings of Timber Creek [23.46 in Walnut, Calif.] and Sianni Wynn [23.57 at Delsea].
She also won the 100 in 12.23 in her first venture ever at that distance. That’s No. 5 in South Jersey this year.
Dumas has quite possibly the greatest elite range of any athlete in South Jersey history. Who else has ever run flat races from 100 to 1,600 in 12.23, 24.06, 53.16, 2:07.68 and 5:05.92? In addition to 58.32 and a national title in the 400 hurdles?
Dumas is now No. 8 in state history in the outdoor 400, 9th-fastest in the indoor 800, 4th-fastest in the indoor 400 and 4th-fastest in state history in the intermediate hurdles.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 