A little over an hour after she qualified for the 400-meter dash final, Natalie Dumas led all qualifiers into the 400-meter hurdles final Thursday at the U.S. Under-20 Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Dumas, who ran 52.20 at about 3:30 p.m. EST, didn’t need to hammer the intermediates. The fastest time in the first semifinal was 58.47 and even with her worst race in two years she knew she would easily record one of the three-fastest times outside 1st or 2nd.
But even cruising to a time 2 ½ seconds off her PR of 55.99 from last year’s West Philly Nationals, she still goes into the final as the top seed.
Dumas, who graduates Monday from Eastern, races at 6:38 p.m. Friday in the 400 final and at 7:38 p.m. in the 400 hurdles.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 