Natalie Dumas won a gold medal and Paige Sheppard advanced on the opening day of the World Under-20 Championships on Wednesday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
The University of Arkansas-bound Dumas, who recently graduated from Eastern High, won a gold medal for running on the U.S. mixed 4x400-meter relay in the semifinal round, where she split 52.35. Although she did't run in the final when the U.S. won the mixed 4x400 with a U20 world record of 3:15.31, Dumas still received a gold medal because every runner who competes in any round earns the same medal as all the team members who ran in the finals.
Dumas will be in action again on Thursday in the opening round of the 400 hurdles.
Sheppard, a rising senior at Union Catholic, did what she needed to do in the opengi round of the women's 800, running 2:06.40. to place third in her heat to advance to Friday's semifinals. The top five finishers in each of the five heats plus the next two fastest runners qualified for the semis.
The 16 year-old Sheppard, who is committed to Stanford, will be running in the second of three semifinal heats, which is schedule for Friday at 9:12 p.m. The top three finishers in each semifinal heat will advance to Saturday's 800 final.
