Why a meet like Arcadia would have its intermediate hurdles race over the fraud 300-meter distance instead of the universally accepted 400-meter race is beyond me. But they did, and Natalie Dumas placed 2nd in her 1st try at the ridiculous race with the No. 2 time in South Jersey history.
Dumas ran 41.89 over 300 meters and eight hurdles Saturday at the 58th annual Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High School outside Los Angeles, the 2nd-fastest time in South Jersey history in the rarely run event. In 2005, Krystal Cantey of Winslow Township ran what was then a state-record 41.19 at the Golden West Invitational in Folsom, Calif.
The only faster time in state history, not surprisingly, belongs to four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin, who ran 38.90 at Arcadia in 2017.
Sophomore Kaahliyah Lacy of San Jacinto [Calif.] Valley Academy won the race in 40.81. It was Lacy’s 6th race just this year over the 300 hurdles.California and Pennsylvania are among the few stats that routinely run the bastardized 300 hurdles instead of the 400 intermediates.
Dumas is top-10 in U.S. history in the 400 [51.14], 800 [2:00.11] and 400 hurdles [55.99], all from last year’s West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field.
She’s 4th so far this spring in the 400 hurdles with her 59.96 at the Spartan Relays earlier this month at Deptford. She has yet to run hot in a 400 or 800 this spring.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 