Paige Sheppard and Natalie Dumas, two of the greatest athletes in U.S. high school history, will clash with the professionals at the USA Track and Field Championships, which begin this Thursday at Icahn Stadium in New York.
Sheppard and Dumas, coming off historic high school seasons, have already earned a spot on the U.S. World Junior (Under 20) Championhip Team by winning their races at the U.S. National Junior Championships. Sheppard, a rising senior at Union Catholic, won the 800, and the University of Arkansas-bound Dumas, a recent graduate of Eastern High, won the 400 hurdles. They will be chasing those titles at the World Junior Championships next month at Hayward Field in Oregon.
But before they toe the line at Hayward, they will sharpen up at the USA Championships against the best athletes in the country.
Sheppard, who narrowly missed making the final in the 800 at the U.S. World Indoor Championships this past March, will run in the first round of the women's 800 on Friday at 7:23 p.m. Dumas will opening round of the women's 400 hurdles on Saturday at 4:56 p.m. The finals for both races are on Sunday.
Sheppard ran her 800 PR of 2:00.65 last month when she finished first at the Brooks PR Invitational, which is No. 7 in U.S. high school history, and smashed the NJ record in the 1,600 this past season by rnning 4:28.77!! That's No. 6 in U.S. high school history.
Dumas, the NJ record holder in both the outdoor 400 and 800, ran 56.13 in the 400 hurdles this season, just off her personal best and NJ No. 2 all-time 55.99 that she ran to finish first at the New Balance National Championships in June of 2025 in Philadelphia. Dumas finished her high school career with a NJ record tying 8 national titles.
Several Olympians, pros and college stars from NJ will also be in action, including 2-time Olympian Ajee' Wilson and Olivia Baker in the women's 800, Olympian Curtis Thompson and Damitrius Hester in the javelin, Olympian Sam Mattis in the discus, Josh Awotunde in the shot put, Sean Dolan in the men' 800, Liam Murphy in the men's 1,500 and 5,000, Jessica Woodard in the women's shot put, Ajani Dwyer in the men's 100, Collin Boler in the men's 1,500, Brian Boler in the steeplechase, Floyd Whitaker in the triple jump, Jason Apyemang and Chris Serrao in the men's 110 hurdles, Greg Foster in the long jump,Tionna Tobias in the long jump, Elisa Lancaster in the hammer, Arianna Smith and Aliya Garozzo of Paul VI in the women's 400 hurdles.
Paige Sheppard and Natalie Dumas, two of the greatest athletes in U.S. high school history, will clash with the professionals at the USA Track and Field Championships, which begin this Thursday at Icahn Stadium in New York.
Sheppard and Dumas, coming off historic high school seasons, have already earned a spot on the U.S. World Junior (Under 20) Championhip Team by winning their races at the U.S. National Junior Championships. Sheppard, a rising senior at Union Catholic, won the 800, and the University of Arkansas-bound Dumas, a recent graduate of Eastern High, won the 400 hurdles. They will be chasing those titles at the World Junior Championships next month at Hayward Field in Oregon.
