From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

This was fun last year, so we’re going to do it again! Over the next few weeks, we’ll spotlight 30 athletes who excelled during the outdoor track season that we didn’t have a chance to write about extensively. We’d love to write about every athlete in South Jersey, but that’s not practical. But we will try to spotlight some who may have gotten overlooked over the past few months. We apologize in advance if we don’t get to you or your son or daughter or an athlete you coach.

Today: Ryan James, Gloucester

The versatile James was the state Group 2 champion in the high jump at 6-6 with a PR of 6-7 at the Deptford Spartan Relays. But he also triple jumped 44-3 ¼ and won South Jersey Group 2 sectionals and long jumped 21-5 ½ and placed 4th at sectionals.

James doesn’t jump during the winter. He’s a three-year starter and two-year captain for Gloucester’s basketball team.

James became Gloucester’s first state champion since Stefano Okoro won the Group 1 long jump in 2013 and first high jump state champ since Ed Malone won Group 1 at 6-10 ¼ in 1985.

James won high jump titles at the Deptford Relays, West Deptford Relays, Camden County Championships and Group 2 sectionals leading up to his state title. His only losses in New Jersey during the season were at Woodbury and South Jersey Elite, both on misses to Highland’s Jayden DeLeon.

Gloucester placed 3rd at sectionals behind only Haddonfield and Haddon Heights, with James scoring 24 of their 59 points. Senior Kadon Harris added 16 with a win in the intermediates in 56.30 and 3rd place in the high jump at 6-0, and senior Jalil Banks [3rd in shot], junior Vincent Kelly [4th in the 3,200] and junior Marcus Flagg [6th in 800] also scored for the Lions.

James is planning to attend Rider and compete for the Broncos.

In our continuing effort to provide context to Natalie Dumas’s astounding weekend at West Philly Nationals, we thought we’d take a look at where she now ranks on the all-time U.S. Under-20 performance lists. The Under-20 category, recognized internationally by World Athletics, is the former “Junior” age group.

The U.S. and World 2025 and all-time Under-20 lists are available for free with no registration on the World Athletics web site. Just go to the “Stats” tab and then the “Toplists” tab and click on “Under 20” for “age category.”

Dumas won the 400 in 51.14, the 800 in 2:00.11 and the 400-meter hurdles in 55.99 at West Philly Nationals last month at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania. She’s top-10 in high school history in all three races, but the Under 20 lists are much more competitive because they also include college freshmen.

Dumas is 16 and doesn’t turn 17 until Aug. 7. So she has three more full indoor and outdoor seasons in the Under-20 division.

400-Meter Dash

Dumas’s 51.14 is No. 1 on the 2025 U.S. and world Under-20 lists, and the girl she edged, Sydney Sutton, is No. 2 with her 51.23. Chioma Nwachukwu of Nigeria, who just finished her freshman year at Iowa, is 3rd with a 51.26 at the Tom Jones Invitational in Gainesville in April.

On the all-time U.S. Under-20 list, Dumas is No. 22 and 4th-fastest among New Jersey athletes behind Olympic gold medalists Athing Mu [49.57 to win the 2021 NCAA Championships at Hayward Field] and Sydney McLaughlin [50.07 at the 2018 Florida Relays in Gainesville] and Montclair’s Mikele Barber [51.03 at Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in 1999]

Dumas is No. 45 on the all-time World Under-20 list, which is topped by 2021 Olympic 200 silver medalist Christine Mboma of Namibia, who ran 49.22 at the 2021 Namibian Championships in Windhoek, Namibia .

There are also Under-18 lists on World Athletics, but Dumas is not listed in any of them because her birthday is not filed with World Athletics. (World Athletics assumes anyone in high school is under 20.)

But she would be No. 8 in world history and No. 4 all-time U.S. in the 400 and No. 1 in the world this year if World Athletics knew she was under 18.

800-Meter Run

Dumas also leads the world Under-20 list in the 800 and again No. 2 is the girl she edged in West Philly – Emmry Ross of Onsted (Mich.), who was 2nd in 2:00.25. Third is Rin Kubo of Japan, who ran 2:00.28 in May at the 40th Shizuoka International Athletics Meet at Prefectural Shizuoka Stadium in Fukuroi, Japan.

On the all-time Under-20 list, Dumas is No. 50 and trails two New Jersey half-milers – Mu is No. 2 all-time at 1:55.04 at the Pre Classic at Hayward Field in 2021 and Ajee’ Wilson of Neptune is No. 17 at 1:58.21 at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow. Dumas is No. 8 on the all-time U.S. Under 20 list.

If her birthdate was listed with World Athletics, she would be No. 10 in world history with her 2:00.11 and No. 2 among U.S. women behind only Mary Cain, who ran a then-U.S. high school record 1:59.51 at the 2013 Pre Classic at Hayward Field.

400-Meter Hurdles

Dumas is No. 4 on the 2025 World Under 20 list in the intermediates, behind Michelle Smith of the Virgin Islands and the University of Georgia [54.56 at the Florida Relays in Gainesville in April], Carlsbad [Calif.] High School senior Morgan Herbst [55.78 at USATF Under-20’s at Hayward Field last month] and South Africa’s Tumi Ramokgopa [55.90 at the South African Championships in Potchefstroom, South Africa, in April]. So she’s No. 2 in the U.S.

On the all-time Under-20 list, Dumas is No. 40 and No. 2 among New Jersey athletes behind world record holder and four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin, who ran 52.75 in Knoxville in 2018. Dumas is No. 12 on the all-time U.S. Under-20 list.

On the all-time Under-18 list, Dumas would be No. 5 in world history and No. 4 all-time U.S., behind McLaughlin’s 54.15 in Eugene at the 2016 Olympic Trials, Lesley Maxie’s 55.20 at the 1984 The Athletics Congress Championships in San Jose, Calif., and Ebony Collins’ 55.96 at the 2005 IAAF World Youth Championships at Sidi-Youssef-Ben-Ali in Marrakech, Morocco, in 2005.

Jessica Woodard recorded her 2nd-best throw of 2025 over the weekend at the Iron Wood Classic in Rathdrum, Idaho.

Woodard, a Cherokee graduate, threw 60-10 ¾, just three-quarters of an inch off her season-best 60-11 ½ from the USATF Throws Festival in Tucson in May.

With the USATF Championships in Eugene four weeks away, Woodard is No. 9 in the U.S. with her 60-11 ½. She’s No. 18 in U.S. history with her 63-7 ¾ from U.S. Nationals at Hayward Field in 2022.

In Rathdrum, Woodard surpassed 59 feet three times with a 59-9 opener, 59-2 ¾ on her 3rd throw and the 60-10 ¾ on her 4th.

Woodard has placed in the top 10 in 12 consecutive U.S. Championships in which she’s competed.

Jessica Woodard Lifetime 60-Foot Throws
63-7 ¾ … U.S. Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 26, 2022
62-7 … World Championships [qualifying], Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., July 15, 2022
62-3 ¾ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 20, 2021
61-10 ¼ … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021
61-8 ¾ … NACAC Championships, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Aug. 21, 2022
61-8 ¾ … Memorial van Damme, Boudewijnstadion, Brussels, Belgium, Sept. 7, 2023
61-7 ¾ … U.S. Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 26, 2022
61-7 ¾ … U.S. Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 26, 2022
61-7 … USATF Golden Games, Hilmer Lodge Stadium, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022
61-6 ½ … Ed Murphey Classic, Memphis, Tenn., July 30, 2022
61-5 ¼ … NACAC Championships, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Aug. 21, 2022
61-5 ¼ … Diamond League Meeting de Paris, Stade Charléty, Paris, June 9, 2023
61-4 ¼ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 19, 2023
61-4¼i … U.S. Indoor Championships, Spokane, Wash., Feb. 26, 2022
61-3 ¾ … Ed Murphey Classic, Wolfe Track Complex, Memphis, Aug. 4, 2023
61-3 ½ … NCAA Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 7, 2018
61-3 … World Championships [final], Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., July 16, 2022
61-2 ¼ … Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athletisme de Rabat, Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah, Rabat, Morocco, May 28, 2023
61-1 ¾ … Diamond League Meeting de Paris, Stade Charléty, Paris, June 9, 2023
61-1 ¼ … World Championships [final], Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., July 16, 2022
60-11 ¼ … U.S. Championships, Albuquerque Convention Center, Feb. 16, 2924
60-11 ½ … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 24, 2025
60-10 ¾ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 19, 2023
60-10 ¾ … Iron Wood Classic, Iron Wood Throwers Center, Rathdrum, Idaho, June 29, 2025
60-10i … U.S. Indoor Championships, Spokane, Wash., Feb. 26, 2022
60-10 … USATF Throws Festival, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2022
60-9 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Hilmer Lodge Stadium, Walnut, Calif., May 9, 2021
60-7 ¼ … USATF Golden Games, Hilmer Lodge Stadium, Walnut, Calif., May 9, 2021
60-7 ½i … Don Kirby Elite, Albuquerque (N.M.) Convention Center, Feb. 12, 2022
60-6 ¾ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 19, 2023
60-6 ½ … USATF Throws Fest, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 20, 2023
60-5 ¾ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 20, 2021
60-4 ¾ … USATF Throws Fest, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 22, 2021
60-4 ½ … USATF Throws Fest, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 20, 2023
60-4 ½ … USATF Golden Games, Hilmer Lodge Stadium, Walnut, Calif., April 16, 2022
60-4 … Goteborg Grand Prix, Goteborg, Sweden, Aug. 16, 2019
60-4 … USATF NYC Grand Prix, Icahn Stadiun, New York, June 9, 2024
60-3 ¼ … U.S. Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 24, 2021
60-3 ¼ … U.S. National Championships, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., July 8, 2023
60-3 ¼ … U.S. Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 29, 2024
60-3 … Big 12 Championships, Lawrence, Kans., May 13, 2017
60-3 … Ed Murphey Classic, Memphis, Tenn., July 30, 2022
60-3 … U.S. Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 29, 2024
60-3 … NACAC Championships, Freeport Stadium, Grand Bahamas, Aug. 21, 2022
60-2 ½ … U.S. Olympic Trials, Hayward Field, Eugene, Ore., June 29, 2024
60-1 ¼ … Chula Vista High Performance #3, Elite Training Stadium, Chula Vista, Calif., May 2, 2021
60-0 ½ … Chula Vista High Performance #1, Elite Training Stadium, Chula Vista, Calif., April 3, 2021
60-0 ½ … USATF NYC Grand Prix, Icahn Stadiun, New York, June 9, 2024
60-0 ½ … Tucson Elite Classic, Roy P. Drachman Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., May 19, 2022

Jessica Woodard U.S. Championships History
2024 Outdoors [Eugene]: 8th, 60-3 ¼
2024 Indoors [Albuquerque]: 4th, 60-11 ¼
2023 Outdoors [Eugene]: 5th 60-3 ¼
2023 Indoors [Albuquerque]: 3rd, 57-11 ½
2022 Outdoors [Eugene]: 3rd, 63-7 ¾
2022 Indoors [Spokane], 3rd, 61-4 ¼
2021 Outdoors [Eugene], 7th, 57-11 ¾
2021 Indoors [cancelled]
2020 Outdoors [cancelled]
2020 Indoors [Albuquerque]: 6th, 57-10 ¾
2019 Outdoors [Des Moines]: 6th, 57-10 ¾
2019 Indoors [New York]: 7th, 57-11 ½
2018 Outdoors [Des Moines]: 9th, 58-0 ¾
2018 Indoors: DNC
2017 Outdoors [Sacramento]: 8th, 57-5 ½

In one of his final warmups for U.S. Nationals, Curtis Thompson won the javelin at the Iron Wood Classic at the Iron Wood Throwers Center in Rathdrum, Idaho, Saturday.

Thompson threw 268-10 according to results on the World Athletics site, but they don’t show his series. Results of the meet on Athletic.Live don’t even show the javelin being held.

But either way, it’s Thompson’s best result since April, when he threw slightly farther [268-11] at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational at Millican Field in Ramona, Okla.

And it’s the 6th-best throw by an American this year, behind two other throws by Thompson and three by one-time Penn athlete Mark Minichello.

Thompson is U.S. No. 1 and World No. 3 with his PR 287-11 at the Texas Relays in Austin in March.

Thompson and Minichello have accounted for 10 of the top 11 throws by Americans this year, Thompson at No. 1, 5, 6, 8 and 11 and Minichello at No. 2, 3, 4, 9 and 10. Donvan Banks is at No. 7.

The U.S. Championships are scheduled for July 1-Aug. 3 in Eugene, Ore., with the javelin final scheduled for 1:20 p.m. July 31.

The only U.S. athletes with more national javelin titles than Thompson are Breaux Greer [8 from 2000-2007], Tom Pukstys [6 from 1992-1999] and Bud Held [6 from 1949 through 1958].

Thompson is expected to throw at American Javfest July 19 in East Stroudsburg, Pa., before heading to nationals.

 

This is a post I was hoping to have up a few days ago, but things have been a little crazy this week for obvious reasons.

Better late than never, and here is a look at every South Jersey athlete that placed in the top 10 at West Philly Nationals Thursday through Sunday at Franklin Field on the University of Pennsylvania campus.

Did I miss anybody? Probably. There are a lot of events and not every athlete is listed with their high school. I included freshman events but not middle school events. If anybody is missing, let me know!

BOYS
400-METER DASH
6. Alexander Osayemi [Clayton], 46.94

400-METER HURDLES FRESHMAN
2. Mehki Parker [Glassboro], 56.33

400-METER RELAY
7. Burlington Twp. [*Solomon Wesley-Passew, Gemaus Sackie, Tappia Yeator, Quayd Hendryx], 41.71

SPRINT MEDLEY
5. Winslow Twp. [*KaRon Ali, Kristopher Jackson, Jayden Poteat, Dominic Bassey], 3:25.37

DISTANCE MEDLEY
8. Haddonfield [Bennett Wright, *Luke Andresen, *Peter Simpson, *Ben Andrus], 10:06.48

HIGH JUMP FRESHMAN
5. ***Moses Robles [Glassboro], 6-2 ¼

LONG JUMP FRESHMAN
2. ***Alexander Adeleye [Glassboro], 22-6 ¼

TRIPLE JUMP FRESHMAN
6. ***Mehki Parker [Glassboro], 43-6

POLE VAULT
9. Marcus Hood [Deptford], 15-9

SHOT PUT
6. Anthony Liakhnovich [Hammonton], 63-1 ½

FOUR-MILE RELAY
10. Haddonfield [*Luke Andressen, *Peter Simpson, *Ben Andrus, Bennett Wright], 17:27.79

GIRLS
100-METER DASH
1. *Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], 11.29 [+0.5]

200-METER DASH
2. *Sianni Wynn [Pennsauken], 23.05 [+0.4]

400-METER DASH
1. *Natalie Dumas [Eastern], 51.14

400-METER DASH FRESHMAN
7. ***Hope Edwards [Moorestown], 56.56
8. ***Amariah Arango [Winslow Twp.], 56.59

800-METER RUN
1. *Natalie Dumas [Eastern], 2:00.11

800-METER RUN FRESHMAN
10. ***Hope Edwards [Moorestown], 2:15.11

MILE RUN FRESHMAN
10. ***Payton Derer [Moorestown], 5:04.34

100-METER HURDLES FRESHMAN
2. ***Jasmine Jackson [Winslow Twp.], 13.73 [+0.8]

400-METER HURDLES
1. *Natalie Dumas [Eastern], 55.99

400-METER HURDLES FRESHMAN
1. ***Hope Edwards [Moorestown], 1:00.32
7. ***Jasmine Jackson [Winslow Twp.], 1:02.63

HIGH JUMP
1. *Egypt Bolan [Lindenwold], 5-10 ¾

LONG JUMP
6. Jaidah Garrett [Absegami], 19-8

POLE VAULT
6. Hannah Byrd Leitner [Moorestown], 12-5 ½

SHOT PUT FRESHMAN
2. ***Isabella Alvarez [Pleasantville], 39-8 ½
9. ***Chaylin Morine [Deptford], 34-6 ¾

DISCUS
1. *Hannah Nuhfer [Delsea], 178-9
9. *Sunsarai Moore [Glassboro], 147-

400-METER RELAY
3. Willingboro [*Kaila Speight, **Maya Bolden, **Jade Pinder, Nester Wea], 46.20

800-METER RELAY
3. Willingboro [*Kaila Speight, **Maya Bolden, **Jade Pinder, Nester Wea], 1:37.96

1,600-METER RELAY
3. Winslow Twp. [***Amariah Arango, ***Jasmine Jackson, **Skyhe Seamon, **Cinniya Robinson], 3:43.75
5. Willingboro [*Kaila Speight, **Maya Bolden, **Jade Pinder, Nester Wea], 3:45.77

3,200-METER RELAY
3. Cherokee [*Alyssa Surianno, Megan Niglio, *Sofia Recinto, *Madeline Meder], 9:06.06
5. Winslow Twp. [***Amariah Arango, Ava Millner, ***Adaiah Arango, **Tristan Hughes], 9:10.15
6. Moorestown [***Hope Edwards, **Sophia DiFiore, Sarah Brown, ***Payton Derer], 9:16.20

SPRINT MEDLEY
2. Eastern [Johnna Gonter, Jasmine Davies, Samantha Osei-Kyei, *Natalie Dumas], 3;53.15
9. Winslow Twp. [**Cinniya Robinson, **Skhye Seamon, ***Adaiah Arango, ***Amariah Arango], 4:03.47

SHUTTLE HURDLES
2. Willingboro [**Trinity Brapoh, Sunny Obiyo, *Aaliyah Robinson, Nester Wea]. 59.25
3. Washington Twp. [Meciah Howell, ***Nia’Leila Cuascut, Zaida Taylor, Dakota Jones], 1:00.68

FOUR-MILE RELAY
10. Cherokee [Megan Niglio, *Alyssa Suriano, ***Erin Healy, *Madeline Meder], 20:05.33

What will Natalie Dumas run at USATF Senior Nationals in Eugene?

It’s a fascinating question!

Dumas met the A standard in both the 400-meter hurdles and 800 at West Philly Nationals and has a pretty strong provisional B standard in the 400. So she has some options.

Senior Nationals is scheduled for July 31 – Aug. 3 at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.

At Franklin Field over the weekend, Dumas ran 55.99 to win the intermediate hurdles on Friday, 51.14 to win the 400 on Saturday and 2:00.11 to win the 800 on Sunday.

She’s under the A standards in the intermediates [56.00] and 800 [2:00.50] and close to the A standard in the 400 [51.00] and well under the B standard [52.50]. The way it works is everyone with the A standard qualifies automatically and if the field isn’t filled with A qualifiers – that’s 32 runners in each event – the B qualifiers are added starting with the fastest until the field is full.

According to the World Athletics database, Dumas currently ranks 17^th among U.S. women in the 800, 18^thin the intermediates and 17^th in the 400. That’s for 2025, but the qualifying period opened on June 21, 2024, so those rankings aren’t necessarily identical to the rankings of qualifiers (although they could be).

But the bottom line is Dumas can definitely race the intermediates and/or 800 if she wants and most likely the 400.

Here’s what the schedule looks like in Eugene for Dumas’s three events:

Thursday, July 31
3:21 p.m. – 800-Meter Run first round
4:39 p.m. – 400-Meter Dash first round

Friday, Aug. 1
3:31 p.m. – 400-Meter Hurdles first round
5:04 p.m. –  800-Meter Run semifinals
6:03 p.m. – 400-Meter Dash semifinals

Saturday, Aug. 2
1:03 p.m. – 400-Meter Dash final
1:40 p.m. – 400-Meter Hurdles semifinals

Sunday, Aug. 3
1:18 p.m. – 800-Meter Run final
1:34 p.m. 400-Meter Hurdles final

If Dumas enters one event, she probably has the most room for improvement in the 800, mainly because when she ran that 2:00.11 it was her 4^th hard effort in 48 hours (including a sprint medley anchor) and running an 800 against elite competition fresh would very likely bring her under two minutes, something only two South Jersey runners have ever done – Shawnee’s Michelle DiMuro ran 1:59.85 at the 1996 Olympic Trials in Atlanta, and Haddonfield’s Erin Donohue ran 1:59.99 in Liège, Belgium, in July 2010.

If she elects to enter two events, the 400-800 double is probably impossible, since the 1^st-round races are only 78 minutes apart on Day 1 of Nationals.

If she runs the 400-400IH double, she would have only the 400 trials on Thursday and the intermediates first round and potentially 400 semis on Friday but with about a 2 ½-hour break in between.

If she chooses the 800-400IH double, she would have only the 800 trials on Friday but the intermediates trials and 800 semis about an hour and a half apart on Saturday afternoon.

As we wrote on Tuesday [https://sjtrackblog.com/2025/06/24/how-many-women-in-the-history-of-the-planet-earth-have-done-what-natalie-dumas-did-we-looked-it-up-and-you-wont-believe-the-answer/], Dumas is the only female in the history of the world to run as fast as she did in all three events.

Whatever she winds up racing in Eugene, it’s going to be incredible to watch!

─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

One note about USATF qualifyiing: Meets must meet specific criteria to be eligible for qualifying. From the entry requirements: “All entry performances must be legal marks that have been achieved at a USATF-sanctioned meet or at a meet listed on the World Athletics Calendar. Meets on the World Athletics Calendar must also have results included in the World Athletics Toplists.”

West Philly Nationals – also known as Insert-Shoe-Company-Here Nationals – was listed on the World Athletics Calendar and its results are in the World Athletics database, which makes Dumas’s performances eligible.

Rancocas Valley’s Erika Kemp, the top-ranked American marathoner this year, has been named to the U.S. team that will compete at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.

In only her 2^nd lifetime marathon, Kemp ran 2:22.56 in January at the Houston Marathon, the 12^th-fastest time in U.S. history. In her first marathon in April 2023, Kemp ran 2:33.57 in Boston.

Her 2:22.56 is by far the fastest marathon ever by a New Jersey native, breaking the previous record by more than eight minutes. In 1996, North Hunterdon graduate Anne Letko ran 2:31.18 in Columbia, S.C.

Kemp was an All-America both on the track and in XC at North Carolina State. Since graduating, she’s 8:53.06 for 3,000 meters, 15:10.10 for 5,000 meters and 31:28.69 in the 10,000 and won USATF road national titles in 2019 at 15,000 meters in Jacksonville and in 2021 at 20,000 meters in New Haven.

Kemp is currently training in Providence, R.I., with a group that includes Haddonfield graduate Marielle Hall, who is No. 19 all-time U.S. with 31:05.71, when she placed 8^th at Worlds in Doha, Qatar. Hall was inducted in the South Jersey Track Hall of Fame Class of 2025 in March. Kemp and Hall are training with Kurt Benninger, husband of Olympian Molly Huddle. Hall hasn’t raced since June 2023 at the New York Mini 10K.

Also representing the U.S. on the women’s marathon team will be Betsy Saina and Susanna Sullivan. Saina is the No. 3 U.S. woman all-time with her 2:18.19 last year in Tokyo. Saina represented Kenya at 10,000 meters in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Sullivan ran 2:21.56 in Chicago last year, No. 10 all-time on the U.S. list.

The World Championships marathon is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST on Sunday, Sept. 14. You can find a map of the course here.

One interesting twist about Kemp’s performance in Houston: Her Rancocas Valley Class of 2013 teammate, Alicia Bleko, also raced the Houston Marathon that day and ran a lifetime-best of her own at 2:46.44. Belko was an All-America in the steeplechase at Stockton.

Greg Foster popped a season-best 26-0 ¼ with a legal wind Sunday at the Elliott Denman New Jersey International Meet in West Long Branch.

That’s just 1 1/2 inches off his PR, his 2^nd-best wind-legal jump ever and best since he went 26-1 ¾ at Heps at Franklin Field in 2023.

Foster, a Lumberton native who attended Lawrenceville Prep and is a rising senior at Princeton, also had a 25-5 ¾ in his series.

His previous best jump this year was a 25-8 ½ at the Sam Howell Invitational in Princeton in April. He placed 7^th at NCAA’s earlier this month in Eugene with a 25-8 ½, earning 1^st-team All-America honors.

With the legal 26-footer, Foster moves up from 30^th to 20^th on the 2025 U.S. list, although his mark from Sunday hasn’t been added to the World Athletics database yet. He’s got a pretty strong B standard for U.S. Nationals – that’s 25-7 – and would automatically qualify with a wind-legal 26-6 ¾. The top 16 entries are accepted and if there aren’t 16 with the A standard the field is filled starting from the top of the B standard list. Marks made up through July 20 are accepted.

With his 13.78 win at Heps in New Haven in May, Foster is also very close to the B standard of 13.75 in the 110-meter hurdles. The A standard is 13.40. The top 32 hurdlers are accepted.

The Elliott Denman International traces its roots back to the Bob Roggy Invitational, which began in 1986 at Holmdel High School.

Greg Foster best legal jumps 
26-1 ¾, Philadelphia, May 7, 2023
26-0 ¼, West Long Branch, June 22, 2025
25-10 ¾i, Annapolis, Jan. 21, 2023
25-9 ½i, Hanover, N.H., Feb. 26, 2023
25-8 ½, Princeton, April 4, 2025
25-8 ¼i, Annapolis, Md., Jan. 11, 2025
25-7 ¼i, Fayetteville, Feb. 15, 2025
25-7 ¼, Eugene, June 11, 2025

Amazing Sianni Wynn finished her spectacular junior year Sunday with a South Jersey record in the 200 and her 4^th All-America honor.

Wynn, who had won the 100 in a wind-legal PR 11.29, came back to place 2^nd in the 200 in 23.05 with a legal 0.4 meters-per-second tailwind. Elise Cooper of McDonough School in Owings Mills, Md., won the race 22.44, all-time U.S. No. 7. Cooper, a Texas commit, was the U.S. Under-20 200 champ last year in Eugene.

Wynn broke the South Jersey record of 23.29 set by Timber Creek’s Naylah Jones at last year’s Group 3 state meet at Delsea. Her previous PR was a 23.20 (-0.4) at the Meet of Champions earlier this month on her home track at Pennsauken. She ran 23.31 indoors.

Her time is probably No. 2 in state history with legal wind and fastest in 42 years, since Wendy Vereen of Trenton ran 22.99 at the 1983 Jumbo Elliott Invitational at Villanova.

The state record is listed as 22.96 by four-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin at the 2017 state Parochial A meet at Egg Harbor, but it’s inconclusive whether there was an operating wind gauge for her race.

At the 2017 Parochial A state meet at EHT there are “0.0” or “NWI” listed for the 100s, 200s and high hurdles event, and it seems unlikely that the wind readings for the handful of events where the wind was recorded – including girls and boys Group 1 and 4 races – were all 0.0. In the Milesplit video of the race [https://nj.milesplit.com/videos/220508/girls-200-heat-2-npa] you can see a wind gauge with about 50 meters to go on the inside of the track but there’s nobody operating it or taking wind readings.

McLaughlin’s fastest confirmed legal high school time was a 23.53 at the 2016 Union County Championships in Plainfield, which she ran with a 0.3 meters-per-second tailwind.

According to the World Athletics web site, there was a 1.1 wind reading at Villanova for the Jumbo Elliott 200, so I’ll let everyone else decide whether McLaughlin has the legit state record and Wynn is No. 3 all-time or Vereen has it and Wynn is No. 2 all-time. Either way, she’s very fast and only 9-100ths of a second off that 22.96 that may or may not have been legal with a year to go.

Wynn will go into her senior year ranked No. 2 in state history in the 100 at 11.29, No. 2 in the 200 at 23.05 and No. 6 in the 400 at 52.80. She’s the only girl in state history to run that fast for all three sprints.

Indoors, Wynn holds state records in the 55 at 6.73, the 60 at 7.29 and the 200 at 23.31 and she’s No. 4 all-time in the 400 at 54.27.

Wynn’s 23.05 is 8th-fastest ever by a New Jersey native and 3rd-fastest by a South Jersey sprinter, behind Wilson’s Dennisha Page [22.39 in Gainesville last May] and Eastern’s English Gardner [22.62 in 2013 in Los Angeles].

On Monday, we wrote about how a few hours of research determined that Natalie Dumas is the only U.S. athlete ever to run as fast as she has in the 400, 800 and 400-meter hurdles.

You can read that piece here.

But it kept nagging at me wondering how many athletes world-wide have run 51.14 in the 400, 2:00.11 in the 800 and 55.99 in the 400-meter hurdles in their life. The research required to find that was daunting, but you know how I am when it comes to track. If there’s a way to figure it out, I’ll figure it out! Once I get started on a track research project, I can’t stop.

So armed with the fantastic World Athletics database, I got to work.

In world history, 468 women have run 55.99 or faster in the 400-meter hurdles. So I went through every one, clicked on their World Athletics profile, then clicked on the “statistics” tab, then clicked on the “personal bests” tab and looked for their 800 PR. Most didn’t have one. The ones who had one at 2:00.11 or faster I looked next for their flat 400 PR.

Then I repeated that for the 467 women other than Dumas who have run 55.99 or faster. Actually, I only had to check 358 women because we had already established that no American had done it. So I only had to look up the 358 non-Americans.

The verdict? By now you’ve probably guessed it.

Natalie Dumas is the only woman in the history of the planet Earth to run 51.14, 2:00.11 and 55.99.

A 16-year-old girl from Voorhees who just finished her junior year at Eastern High achieved something over a 48-hour span from early Friday afternoon through early Sunday afternoon that no other female has ever achieved.

And along the way in her spare time she ran a 2:03.90 anchor and teamed up with  Johnna Gonter, Jasmine Davies and Samantha Osei-Kyei to place 2nd to Rumson-Fair Haven in the sprint medley in 3:53.15 – 12th-fastest in U.S. history!

How long did it take to look this up? You don’t want to know! But it was worth it to provide context to Dumas’s unprecedented achievement at West Philly Nationals at Franklin Field!

I did find a handful of women who have come close to Dumas’s times in all three events. Several ran faster than Dumas in two events but none ran as fast in all three.

And it makes sense. Because not only are most elite athletes incapable of running that fast in three disparate events, they don’t have a reason to even try. If you’re an elite 400 runner, you’re going to get your paycheck by running fast 400s. There’s rarely a reason to run an off event at the highest level, much less two of them. Obviously, you’ll see a lot of 100-200 doubles and occasional 200-400 doubles or maybe 800-1500 doubles at the highest level. But the 400, 800 and intermediates, while using overlapping physiological systems, are very different events that require different types of training. And to excel at the highest level in all three is impossible.

Or was impossible until this weekend!

So let’s take a look at some of the women who’ve come close to achieving in their entire track careers what Dumas did in 48 hours.

✅  Cristina Matei, Romania: Matei ran 54.55 in Moscow in 1986 and 1:59.06 in Bucharest in 1985, but her best 400 was “only” a 52.93 in Budapest, Hungary in 1984.

✅  Ester Goossens, the Netherlands: Goossens ran 54.62 in the intermediates in 1998 – also in Budapest, curiously – and set the Netherlands 800 record of 2:00.01 in Stockholm in 2001. But her best 400 was a 51.35 in Malmö, Sweden, also in 1998.

✅  Selena Goncharova, Russia: Goncharova had a hurdles PR of 54.94 from Sochi, Russia, in 1986, and an 800 PR of 2:00.13 from Voronezh, Russia, in 1992 – slightly slower than Dumis’s – and PR’d at 51.73 in the 400 in Moscow in 1987.

✅  Krystyna Kacperczyk, Poland: Kacperczyk [pronounced Kah-SPAIR-chick] ran 55.44 in the intermediates in Berlin in 1978, 1:59.78 in London in 1978 and 51.78 in the 400 in Brescia, Italy, also in 1978.

✅  Tamara Kupriyanovich, Belarus: Kupriyanovich ran 55.75 in Leningrad in 1989, 2:00.63 in Moscow in 1993 and 52.20 in Šiauliai, Lithuania, in 1988 (with a hand-timed 51.8 in Staiki, Belarus, in 1988.

✅  Britton Wilson, U.S.: Wilson is the closest American to Dumas, with a 49.13 in Baton Rouge in 2023 and a speedy 53.08 400 hurdles at Hayward Field in 2022 – that’s No. 12 all-time U.S. – but with an 800 PR of 2:02.13, which she ran twice, both times indoors at the Tyson Center in Fayetteville, Ark. Wilson owns one of the greatest middle-distance doubles ever by an American with that 49.13 and a 53.28 about an hour later at the 2023 SEC Championships in Baton Rouge. Wilson is the only runner in this group who’s still active – she ran 51.37 last week in Winter Garden, Fla. – but she hasn’t run an 800 since she was in college at Arkansas in 2023.

The Natalie Dumas story is already one of the most remarkable stories in track and field history and it’s just getting started!