U.S. teen pulls off insane triple at New Balance Nationals
Natalie Dumas of New Jersey clocked world-leading U18 times across three events in three days
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runnnsphere/IG
Winning even one event at a U.S. high school national track meet is a huge feat. Winning three? Almost unheard of. And yet, at New Balance Outdoor Nationals (NBON) on Sunday, Natalie Dumas of Voorhees, N.J., did exactly that.
Racing at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, the 16-year-old pulled off a rare triple: the 400m hurdles, 400m and 800m–claiming three meet records and three national titles in the process.
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A junior at Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees Township, Dumas opened her weekend on Friday with a personal best of 55.99 in the 400m hurdles–the fastest U18 time in the world in 2025, and fifth on the all-time U18 list.
On Saturday, she returned for the 400m, diving across the line in 51.14. Once again, she made history: #1 U18 in the world for 2025, and #2 U18 all-time.
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On Sunday, Dumas closed out her weekend with a 2:00.11 in the 800m, narrowly beating Emmry Ross of Onsted High in Onsted, Mich., who clocked an impressive 2:00.25. Former U.S. high-school mile record holder Sadie Engelhardt took third in 2:02.50.
Again, Dumas’ time made the record books: #1 in the world this year, and #10 on the world all-time U18 list.
“I go out there and I bring my own mindset to the game,” Dumas told DyeStat after collecting her trio of gold medals. “The hardest one was the 800m, because it was my last event and longest distance–but at the same time, it was a lot of fun. I had no stress after already winning two other titles.”
“That competition really pushed me,”she added. “These girls are so talented.”
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But this isn’t Dumas’ first hat trick–she’s now completed the sweep five times in less than two months. In May, Dumas won all three events at the Camden County Champs, New Jersey state sectionals and the New Jersey group championships. It was at sectionals where she first turned heads, clocking 51.87 to match world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone‘s state record set in 2017 and overtake 800m Olympic champion Athing Mu on the NJ (2020) on the all-time state 400m list.
She repeated the triple-win performance again at state championships earlier this month.
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