Grand Slam Track Miami Day 1: Masai Russell Breaks American Record in 100m Hurdles as Josh Kerr Makes 1500 Statement

On a great night for sprinting in South Florida, Masai Russell and Tia Jones staged one of the fastest 100m hurdle races in history on night one of Grand Slam Track’s second meet of the year in Miramar. Running in the first race of the night in 80-degree temps with a perfect +2.0 m/s tailwind, Russell clocked 12.17 to break Keni Harrison’s 12.20 American record, which had stood since 2016. 

The 24-year-old Russell, who won Olympic gold in Paris last year, now sits #2 on the all-time list. Jones, also 24, who tore her ACL in March 2024, slashed nearly two-tenths of a second off her 12.38 pb to run 12.19 for second and move to #3 all-time. Only Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, who set the world record of 12.12 at the 2022 World Championships, has ever run faster than the two Americans did tonight.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Russell said. “I always tell y’all when it’s time for me to run fast, I love to run fast. I just went out there to compete.”

In other action, Josh Kerr bounced back from a rough defeat in the first Grand Slam Track meet in Kingston to win the men’s 1500 in 3:34.51, Trinidad & Tobago’s Jereem Richards ran a world-leading 19.86 to edge the Dominican Republic’s Alexander Ogando in the 200m by thousandths, Olympic bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden ran 10.75 (+2.4 wind) to win the women’s 100 and stay perfect in GST, and Olympic champ Marileidy Paulino ran down Salwa Eid Naser to win the 400 in 49.21.

Kevin Morris photo

The long distance events played out very differently, but both came down to a wild kick in the final 100 meters. Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich went wire-to-wire to win the women’s 5,000 in 14:25.80 despite warm, sunny conditions, a significant headwind in the back straight, and a last-lap challenge from world U20 champ Medina Eisa of Ethiopia (14:25.92). The men’s 3,000, meanwhile, went extremely slow, with Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran winning it in 8:17.56, just ahead of Grant Fisher’s 8:17.60.

Below, seven thoughts on day 1 in Miramar, starting with Russell’s American record.

*Full results

1) Masai Russell amazes

Russell had a strong indoor season, going undefeated and winning the US title (she skipped World Indoors), but was only 5th in the 100 hurdles in Kingston and had only won one of her three 100m hurdle races this outdoor season – a 12.74 victory into a 1.4 headwind at the Drake Relays last week.

In most events, going from that sort of form to running one of the fastest times ever would seem strange. Not so much in the hurdles. Other track races are, largely, pure tests of fitness. But if you get in the right rhythm with the right wind in the hurdles, you can make a big gain in one race and that’s exactly what Russell did in Miramar.

Even if the result was a bit surprising given Russell’s start to the outdoor season, it’s not crazy given her credentials. Russell set the collegiate record of 12.36 at Kentucky in 2023, then won Olympic gold in her first year as a pro in 2024 and ran 12.25 to move to #5 on the all-time list. She is a super duper talent in her prime – the exact kind of person you would expect to break the American record.

2) Josh Kerr shows he is back with a smart, patient 1500m victory

Josh Kerr left the first Slam in Kingston four weeks ago with a bad taste in his mouth. He had finished 5th in the 1500 meters, worst of the specialist milers, and an embarrassing last in the 800, running 1:50.68, more than two seconds slower than the rest of the field. He promised to do better his next time out.

Kevin Morris photo

Kerr lived up to that on Friday, running a savvy, patient race and timing his kick perfectly to win the 1500 in 3:34.51, holding off fellow Olympic medalists Yared Nuguse (3:34.65) and Cole Hocker (3:34.79) in the home straight. After moving into 3rd at 800 (1:58.03 for leader Nuguse), Kerr chose to keep his powder dry when Marco Arop made a move to challenge Nuguse on the back straight of the bell lap, tucking in behind them until the home straight, where he exploded to the outside and streaked home to win thanks to a sensational final 100m of 12.51 (Kerr ran his last lap in 53.36 and his last 200 in 26.02)

In previous years, Kerr probably would not have been racing in Kingston. It’s not just that the meet fell so early in the season (April 4-6); it’s that much of Kerr’s winter training was derailed by a hip injury, leaving him only one month of solid workouts leading into the race. But as a GST Racer, he was contractually obligated to race, even if his fitness was not quite where he wanted it to be.

Four weeks later, Kerr was clearly much sharper in Miramar and celebrated wildly at the finish, gesturing to the crowd just as he had after winning the Bowerman Mile at last year’s Pre Classic. This victory did not make quite the same statement – unlike Pre, his great rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen was not in this race – but a win over Nuguse and Hocker clearly showed that Kerr is back and remains a force to be reckoned with in 2025.

“A lot of emotion came out at the end there and it’s mostly due to not having the best winter, being a little bit behind but knowing that I’m back now,” Kerr said.

3) Cole Hocker still has work to do…and that’s okay

In Kingston, Hocker let a gap form with 300 meters to go in the 1500 and could never recover. Even though his final 200 of 25.44 was the fastest in the field, he could only manage 3rd overall. Hocker was 3rd again tonight, and though he was boxed in on the rail entering the home straight, Nuguse did eventually stray from the rail and leave Hocker a gap over the final 50 meters. But Hocker’s top gear just wasn’t there for him to take advantage.

Hocker showed last year at the Olympic Trials and Olympics how good he can be when he is totally locked in, but not all runners can hold that top form year-round. Last year, Hocker was 7th in the Bowerman Mile, more than two seconds behind Nuguse and three seconds behind Kerr, but he was ahead of both of them when it mattered in Paris. 

By comparison, Hocker was just .28 behind winner Kerr today – certainly no reason to panic. This sort of thing just comes with the territory with Grand Slam Track. When you sign up to race some of your top rivals four times before the meat of the season gets going, you are going to take some L’s.

4) Marco Arop was far more competitive in the 1500 than in Kingston

Technically the barrel-chested Canadian received fewer points for finishing 7th in the 1500 tonight than he did for finishing 6th in Kingston last month. But Arop ran significantly faster tonight, running a 2+ second pb of 3:35.95 in Miramar compared to 3:39.65 in Kingston. In addition, he was battling for the win on the last lap, pushing Nuguse for the lead on the back straight, as opposed to being a complete nonfactor in Kingston. 

Arop isn’t quite ready to run a full 1500 against the big boys just yet, but perhaps he could be by the last two Slams. This was progress.

5) Expect Grant Fisher to make things faster in the 5,000 on Sunday

Kevin Morris photo

Fisher trusted his kick in the first Slam in Kingston and it paid off as he won the 5,000 and took 3rd in the 3,000 to claim the overall long distance title and its accompanying $100,000 prize. Fisher trusted his kick again tonight, but in a tactical 3,000 he was overcome by Irish miler Andrew Coscoran, who sports a 3:30 1500m pb. Fisher was not known as a kicker early in his pro career and has worked hard to improve that aspect of his race. But against a pure miler, he was outmatched in Miramar.

Afterwards, he was asked on the Peacock feed what he learned from tonight’s race.

“Maybe make it a little faster,” Fisher said. “I’m a 5k/10k guy, and in Jamaica, I outkicked some 5k/10k guys. They refilled the field with a bunch of 1500 guys, and one of them got me today.”

Coscoran has run 7:30 for 3,000 this year indoors but has not run a 5,000 since 2017 (his pb is just 14:08), so that is a sensible strategy. But it won’t be much fun as the 5,000 is slated for the middle of the afternoon on Sunday, a 4:44 p.m. start on a day where the high is expected to reach almost 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

6) Agnes Ngetich wins one for the front-runners

Ngetich, who just set a women’s-only world record of 29:27 in the road 10k last week in Germany, led almost every step of the 3,000 and 5,000 at the first Slam in Kingston, only for Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye to outsprint her on the final lap in both races. 

Did Ngetich change up her tactics for Miramar? No. She just ran even faster.

Ngetich pushed the pace from the gun, and by 1600 (4:42), she had dropped everyone but Medina Eisa, the talented Ethiopian who ran 14:16 as a 18-year-old back in 2023. Eisa was content to sit on Ngetich the entire way, and with 100 meters to go, she swung wide and it looked as if she was going to blow by Ngetich just as Taye had a month earlier.

But Ngetich wasn’t having it. She ran her last 100 in 13.51 (last 200 of 29.15) to fight off Eisa and hold on for a much-deserved victory.

Ngetich’s winning time of 14:25 was particularly impressive when you consider the hot, windy conditions. Ngetich and Eisa were the only women to break 14:40, while half the field failed to even break 15:00. American Elise Cranny had a particularly rough go, finising dead last in 15:15.31.

7) A full home straight and empty back straight in Miramar

For most of the first Grand Slam meet in Kingston’s 35,000-seat National Stadium, the vast majority of seats sat unoccupied, and the visuals of a largely empty stadium did not create a great look for a new pro league. Tonight’s meet looked better, as the entire home straight was packed for every race.

But a large reason for that is that the Ansin Sports Complex is a much smaller venue (5,000 seats). In reality, the crowd tonight wasn’t all that different from Kingston – there were very few fans in the bleachers on the back straight in Miramar, meaning there were roughly 3,000-3,500 fans there tonight. But there weren’t as many shots of empty seats in the background on TV because the stadium was smaller.