PHILADELPHIA— Natalie Dumas has pulled off another jaw-dropping triple crown.
The Eastern junior won her third national championship at New Balance Nationals on Sunday, stopping the clock at 2:00.11 to rewrite the New Jersey state record set by Neptune legend Ajee Wilson in 2012. Dumas’ time is also a meet record and the fifth fastest time in U.S. history.
“I’m just so grateful right now,” Dumas said. “Honestly, if it weren’t for the support I had, I don’t know if I could have done this. I had people coming up to me and saying, ‘You’re gonna win this. You’re going to (pull off) a triple win.’ They had more faith in me than I did myself. And I think that’s really what helped me come out here and run so well, because I didn’t have a lot of confidence. But as soon as I saw other people had more confidence in me, it was like, ‘Okay, I can do it for everyone.”
“I haven’t even processed everything,” Dumas said about winning her third national title. “I’m just excited to go home and eat cake.”
Following closely behind Onsted’s (Mich.) Emmry Ross during the first lap, Dumas overtook Ross early in the second lap and began to slowly pull away once she entered the final curve.
But Ross made one final surge towards the lead and was neck-and-neck with Dumas with about 40 meters to go.
Running on fumes, Dumas dug deep and found just enough speed to pass Ross and claim the win by only 0.14 seconds. Ross, a Michigan commit, finished in 2:00.25.
“It was all grit at that point,” Dumas said. “I pushed myself go out there and just finish hard. I saw her hands swinging and her trying to (surge past) me, and that’s where I just wanted to give it all I had. I just went for it at the end, trying to finish with everything I had. I think if I kicked a little harder at the end, I would’ve finish at around 1:59. But once I saw her hand, I started moving again.
Dumas’ performance caps off the greatest track and field performance in state history and arguably the greatest in U.S. history.
Dumas won the 400 meter hurdles on Friday with a PR of 55.99 - No. 6 in U.S. history.
Later in the afternoon on Friday, she anchored Eastern’s sprint medley relay team to a second-place finish in the championship race, setting a South Jersey record with a time of 3:53.15. Dumas lit up the track with a sizzling 800 leg — 2:03.49.
And on Saturday & Sunday, she broke state records in the 400 dash and 800, cementing her status as New Jersey’s greatest ever in those events.
The fact that Dumas was able to compete in all those events says a lot about her fitness and mental toughness.
“Protein, rest, light compressions and ice baths,” Dumas said about how she recovered from each event. “I’ve never done so much recovery before.”
In each of her three national title wins, Dumas posted times that rank in the U.S. high school All-Time Top 10 list.
Earlier this month, Dumas won state titles in the 400 dash, 400 hurdles, and 800 all in the same day at the 2025 NJSIAA Meet of Champions.
You can watch Dumas historic win down below.
Corey Annan can be reached at cannan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him or send him a message on Twitter/X @coreyannan360.
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