In 2017, all eyes were on Union Catholic’s star, Sydney McLaughlin Levrone. Already an Olympian at 16, she returned to New Jersey high school track with something to prove. At the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, the stadium held its breath as she stepped onto the track for the 400m. The gun fired. She exploded from the blocks. Each stride was smooth, powerful, relentless. The clock stopped: 51.87 seconds. A state record. One of the fastest high school times in U.S. history. That mark had stood untouched for 8 years, but no longer.

The home of New Jersey Track Field & Cross Country MileSplit New Jersey took to their Instagram to announce a rare feat that has been witnessed at South Group 4 Sectionals of the 2025 Outdoor NJSIAA Sectional Track and Field Championships. They posted two videos of two young athletes, Natalie Dumas & Sianni Wynn, racing like beasts in the championships. The two could be seen running way ahead of the entire field, and not be wrong to say in the caption, “Natalie Dumas & Sianni Wynn put up some numbers this weekend at South Group 4 Sectionals.”

They also announced, “During their head-to-head matchup in the 400m Dumas tied the NJ state record held by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone! @sydneymclaughlin16.” In the 400m, Natalie Dumas came first with a time of 51.87 – tying with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s New Jersey high school state record. A sword now hangs over this record that it can be broken now after 8 years. The win did not come easily, though.

Dumas was way ahead of her competitors, but there was another high schooler by her side, Sianni Wynn was sticking by her side. But Dumas kept the heat in her for the last, as the finish line inched closer, the’ farther Dumas went from Wynn and towards the win. The excitement in the voice of the commentator said it all as he announced, “Dumas, Dumas starts to pull away a little bit.”

Seconds later, Dumas was the first to cross the finish line and equal the record of one of the elite athletes of today’s time -Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. But this is not new to her, Dumas has been near and across records multiple times.

Dumas had done it before

Natalie Dumas has established herself as a powerhouse in New Jersey track by breaking multiple prestigious records across the region. In early 2025, at the Meet of Champions indoor event, she shattered the South Jersey indoor 400m record with a time of 53.55 seconds, breaking a 22-year-old mark set by Okechi Ogbuokiri in 2003. Shortly after, during the 117th Millrose Games in New York, Dumas broke the South Jersey indoor 300m record, clocking 38.19 seconds and surpassing a record that had stood since 2006.

In May 2025, Dumas came close to breaking Eastern Regional High School’s 200m record, running 24.06 seconds at the South Jersey Open, narrowly missing the school record of 24.04 seconds set by Olympic gold medalist English Gardner in 2010. Earlier that year, she also broke the Camden County indoor 400m record with a time of 54.45 seconds at the Ott Center in West Philadelphia, surpassing Krystal Cantey’s 2006 mark.

Dumas has also made waves in hurdle events, breaking the South Jersey Group 4 sectional 400m hurdles record in May 2025 with a time of 58.37 seconds at the Group 4 Sectionals, surpassing a 2005 record held by Krystal Cantey. Her ability to dominate across sprints and hurdles while consistently rewriting regional records marks her as one of New Jersey’s most exciting young athletes. Dumas is an example of high schoolers rising in the track and field scenario and breaking the record of Olympians. Can she uphold this form when she goes to college? What do you think?