Grand Slam Track Miami Day 3: Grant Fisher Wins, Mary Moraa Is Alive, Kenny Bednarek Stays Dominant

Bednarek ran a world-leading 19.84 to make it 4-for-4 in GST races in 2025

By Jonathan Gault

May 4, 2025

2025 Grand Slam Track Miami

The second Grand Slam Track event of 2025 – and the first American event – wrapped up on Sunday afternoon in Miramar, Fla., with American stars Grant Fisher, Kenny Bednarek, and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone all successfully defending their Slam titles from the first meet in Kingston. Fisher, who was upset in the 3,000 on Friday, left no doubt as to who was the best man on this day as he crushed the men’s 5,000 field by almost six seconds, running 13:40.32 (3:57 final 1600). Bednarek ran 19.84 to sweep the 100 and 200 for the second straight GST, taking down the world lead of 19.86 set by 200/400 runner Jereem Richards in Friday’s Grand Slam Track action. SML once again cruised to victory, this time in the flat 400, winning by nearly two seconds in 49.69.

In other action, Kenya’s world champion Mary Moraa (1:59.51) returned to winning ways in the women’s 800 but Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu got the Slam title, while Trey Cunningham completed an impressive 110H/100 double, running a pb of 10.17 to win the men’s 100 one day after his 13.00 in the 110 hurdles.

After a mostly-empty back straight on Friday, the Ansin Sports Complex was officially sold-out on Saturday and Sunday and the stands appeared mostly full. The next Grand Slam Track meet is May 30-June 1 at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field.

Below, five thoughts on Sunday’s action. Did you miss the action? See the following link for all race replays: Full Day 3 results with series wins, prize money & race videos

1) Grant Fisher dominates, halfway to a Grand Slam sweep

Fisher had a huge gap by the end and plenty of time to celebrate his second GST victory (Kevin Morris photo)

Fisher relied on his kick to win the $100k at the first Slam in Kingston. He wanted to do that in Miramar too, but when he was outkicked in Friday’s 3,000 by Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran, Fisher knew that would be a risky strategy in today’s 5,000. So Fisher pivoted to the tactic he employed to great success at last year’s Olympic Trials, making a hard, sustained move from 1500 meters out. His move was so sudden and decisive – he split 58.37 from 3500 to 3900 meters – that he had a three-second lead with a kilometer to go, and he would cruise home from there, splitting 3:57.57 for his final 1600 to win by almost six seconds in 13:40.32. That’s a great close considering the 80+ degree temps on the track during the race.

Fellow American Cooper Teare was 2nd in 13:46.25, with Coscoran 3rd in 13:46.30 (Coscoran took second in the overall standings behind Fisher).

GST is proving a profitable enterprise for Fisher as he has now taken home $200,000 in prize money in two meets – plus a presumably healthy Racer contract.

One guy who has to be disappointed about this weekend is Great Britain’s George Mills. He ran a great race for 2nd in the 3,000 at Euro Indoors behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen and was looking like a threat to medal at World Indoors before missing that meet due to illness. He was a solid 3rd in the 3,000 on Friday but today he was 7th in 13:52.11 after closing in just 60.31 and getting blown away on the last lap.

It’s interesting to see the contrast between the men’s and women’s long distance event groups. In the men’s group, in both Kingston and Miramar, everyone was content to trust their kick in the first race. Only after that first race went super slow did someone try to pick up the pace and run a bit faster in the second race. On the women’s side, meanwhile, all four GST distance races have been pretty quick.

But those race patterns have more to do with personnel than anything. In the women’s long distance group, Agnes Ngetich is a 5k/10k runner who – and this is important – actually has a chance of dropping her rivals. Meanwhile today, everyone in the field knew that none of them were going to be able to drop Fisher in a 5k, so none of them even bothered to try.

There is no question that of the two men’s 5ks this weekend, yesterday’s Keqiao Diamond League was the far superior race. In that one, three guys ran 12:51 or faster and Olympic 10k silver medalist Berihu Aregawi had to battle hard for the win over 19-year-olds Kuma Girma and Mezgebu Sime. Today’s race in Miramar was a blowout.

That said, Grand Slam has caught some bad breaks in this event group. They took a calculated risk on signing Ronald Kwemoi, who earned Olympic silver last year but has been injury-prone and inconsistent on the circuit, and so far it hasn’t paid off as Kwemoi’s form has been poor. Another Racer, Luis Grijalva, has not raced a step in GST due to injury. A third Racer, Hagos Gebrhiwet – who should have presented the biggest challenge to Fisher – had to miss this meet for a personal issue. Gebrhiwet should be back for the next Slam, and we’d love to see one of his fellow Ethiopians — Aregawi, Yomif Kejelcha or Selemon Barega (if he’s in track shape after his marathon debut in February) come in as a Challenger for one of the final Slams in Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

2) The women’s long distance races were terrific, with Agnes Ngetich taking home a well-deserved $100k

There are no pacers in Grand Slam Track, but that doesn’t matter when Agnes Ngetich is in the race. The Kenyan ace, who owns the road world record in the 10k (28:46), is at her best in fast races and has taken it upon herself to serve as a de facto rabbit. Collectively, the women’s long distance runners have run 40 laps across four GST races. Ngetich has had the lead at the end of 35 of those 40 laps.

Ngetich wasn’t good enough to get the win in Kingston as she couldn’t shake Ejgayehu Taye. But pushing the pace paid off in Miramar as she held off Medina Eisa in the 5,000 on day 1 and took 3rd in the 3,000 today. Third place put Ngetich level on points with Ethiopia’s Hirut Meshesha, who won the 3,000 in 8:22.72, but it was Ngetich’s strength in the 5,000 that won her the $100,000 first-place prize. The GST tiebreaker after best individual finish is combined time, and Ngetich beat Meshesha by almost 15 seconds in the 5,000.

Considering the warm weather, it was impressive to see the top four women – Meshesha, Eisa (8:23.08), Ngetich (8:23.14), and Tsige Gebreselama (8:24.47) all run pbs and all break 8:25.

3) Mary Moraa is alive!

Kevin Morris photo

Kenya’s Mary Moraa is the reigning world 800m champion and over the past three years has been a reliable (though at times chaotic) fixture near the front of any race she enters.

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(Editor’s add: And sometimes the back. Shes’ the only runner we’ve ever seen go from 1st to last to 1st in the same race: Mary Moraa Goes From 1st To Last To 1st To Win Commonwealth Games 800 Title)

That was not the case in Moraa’s first three races at Grand Slam Track.

In the 800 in Kingston, Moraa was a surprising last in her specialty distance. She then withdrew from the following day’s 1500. And on Saturday in Miramar, Moraa looked completely out of her depth in the 1500, running wide at the back of the pack and finishing dead last in 4:24.44, more than eight seconds behind 7th.

On Sunday, Moraa finally started to look like herself again, going wire-to-wire to win the women’s 800 in 1:59.51. This was not a race that will strike any fear in the hearts of her rival Keely Hodgkinson, but it was a step in the right direction.

Freweyni Hailu, who won the 1500 on Saturday, took the overall Slam title after finishing 3rd today in 1:59.84.

4) Nikki Hiltz had another great weekend

Kevin Morris photo

Hiltz had a strong indoor season that included a 1500/3000 sweep at USA Indoors, and finished 2nd overall at the first Grand Slam Track meet in Kingston, highlighted by a 1:58.23 victory/pb in the 800. That netted Hiltz $50,000 in prize money, and Hiltz took home another $50,000 today for finishing 2nd overall again in Miramar.

Hiltz has now beaten Jessica Hull in both GST 1500s and this weekend beat Welteji in both the 1500 and 800. Those are the silver medalists at the last two outdoor global championships (Welteji also got the silver indoors as well this year) – exactly the kind of women Hiltz needs to be beating if they are to medal in Tokyo. The GST format definitely helps Hiltz, who has a great kick and is very dangerous in a non-rabbitted race.

The question is whether Hiltz can do what Cole Hocker did last year and get strong enough to deploy that kick in a fast race. Hocker has always had a great kick but was a nonfactor in the 2021 Olympic and 2023 World finals because he was dropped by the last lap. Last year, he was still there with 200 to go and won the whole thing. The women’s 1500 has gone similarly fast in recent years – it took 3:52.61 to medal in Paris last year, and Hiltz’s pb is 3:55.33. Can Hiltz close that gap?

5) Five athletes have won at both Slams & Five challengers have won 100k as well

There are 12 event groups at each Grand Slam meet.

5 athletes repeated as group winners in Miami. Here are the five athletes that have won $200,000 for claiming first in the standings at both Slams.

Grant Fisher (men’s 3k/5k)
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (women’s 400/400H)
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (women’s 100/200)
Kenny Bednarek (men’s 100/200)
Alison dos Santos (men’s 400/400H)

Of those five, three SML, Bednarek, and dos Santos have been especially dominant as each of them have won all four of their GST races to this point. SML and dos Santos were expected to dominate their events, but it has been very impressive to see Bednarek run as well as he has in the 100 meters in addition to owning the 200, his specialty.

Additionally, there have been five “Challengers” who have won the $100k through the first two meets. Each event group is supposed to have four Racers who are contractually obligated to show up at each GST event and then four Challengers.

Ejgayehu Taye, Danielle Williams, and Emmanuel Wanyonyi all won $100k in Kingston as Challengers — and none of them came back to Miami to try to win again. In Miami, newcomers Freweyni Hailu and Trey Cunningham won $100k. Will they be allowed or have interest in repeating in Philly next month?

Did you miss the action? See the following link for all race replays: Full Day 3 results with series wins, prize money & race videos

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