Pennsauken sophomore Hope Edwards chased Natalie Dumas around the track in the 400-meter hurdles Friday in Somerset and emerged with one of the fastest times in state history.
Dumas, the national champion from a year ago, won the Group 4 400-meter hurdles as expected in 58.06, and Edwards was 2nd in 59.17, 4th-fastest in South Jersey history and 10th-fastest on the all-time New Jersey list.
Edwards was the fastest freshman in the U.S. last year while attending Moorestown with a 1:00.32 at West Philly Nationals.
Her 59.17 is 5th-fastest in state history by a sophomore and 2nd-fastest by a South Jersey 10th-grader, behind Dumas’s 58.32 when she won 2024 West Philly Nationals.
According to the MileSplit U.S. database, Edwards’ time is 2nd-fastest nationally among sophomores this year, behind only Nia Armstrong of Sickles High School in Tampa, who ran 57.97 in a meet last month in Jacksonville
Brianna Growalt, a junior at Atlantic County Tech, was 3rd with a PR 1:00.55 -5th-fastest all-time Atlantic county – and Kingsway junior Norah Brown was 5th with a PR 1:02.35, making it a 1-2-3-5 South Jersey finish.
All-Time New Jersey 400IH List
53.82 … Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic], 2017
56.83 … Krystal Cantey [Winslow Twp.], 2005
57.48 … Tawana Watkins [Paterson Kennedy], 2000
58.32 … Natalie Dumas [Eastern], 2024
58.44 … Amber Allen [Passaic County Tech], 2009
58.6h … Tracy Nelson [Plainfield], 1981
58.91 … Reanda Richards [West Essex], 2018
59.03 … Tonya Lee [Rancocas Valley], 1988
59.16 … Leslie Njoku [McNair Academic], 2007
59.17 … Hope Edwards [Pennsauken], 2026
59.33 … Kim Duke [Mount Olive], 1984
59.35 … Ugonna Ndu [Union], 2009
59.48 … Angela Lee [Franklin Twp.], 1995
59.49 … Shana-Gaye Tracey [Manchester Twp.], 2007
59.56 … Torie Robinson [Winslow Twp.], 2013
59.63 … Morgan Harvey [North Hunterdon], 2013
59.66 … Mandie Dulin [Shawnee], 1997
59.69 … Shelley Mitchell [Lakewood], 1988
59.72 … Abigail Dennis [Old Tappan], 2024
59.73 … Nichole Candelaria [Newark Tech], 2012
59.78 … Siobhan Counts [Plainfield], 2002
59.80 … Sophia Curtis [Ocean City], 2024
59.81 … Erin Crawford [Hillsboro], 2002
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 