Grand Slam Track’s third meet touched down in Philadelphia over the weekend at Franklin Field with a revised format, but the action delivered as a new set of champions were crowned.
A mostly new set of athletes reached the podium as Kenny Bednarek and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden remained perfect in their third straight Grand Slam showcase. Trevor Bassitt, Agnes Jebet Ngetich, Jamal Britt, Nico Young, Jasmine Jones, Marco Arop, Marileidy Paulino, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Diribe Welteji and Ackera Nugent joined them in winning their individual race groups as the league shifts to Los Angeles at the end of the month.
Bednarek and Jefferson-Wooden shined in their individual short sprints race groups as both ran personal bests in the 100m on Sunday to also put them as the favorites of Racer of the Year point leaderboards.
The final race of the two-day meet was a commanding 9.86 by Bednarek in the men’s 100m to give him 24 points for the event and extends his unbeaten streak to six races.
“Grand Slam, I think, is kind of built for me,” Bednarek said. “I really need experience in the 100 meters and Grand Slam gave me the opportunity to do that.”
But just moments earlier, Jefferson-Wooden lit up the track at the same distance in the women’s 100m in 10.73 just ahead of Tamari Davis who finished second in 11.03. Jefferson-Wooden won the shorts sprints category for the third straight meet and collected 24 points.
“I actually knew before the gun the potential that I had for it to be something special,” Jefferson-Wooden said. “You don’t have time to think about anything else. Just do what you’ve been doing.”
Meanwhile Hudson-Smith’s 16 points in the men’s long sprints category barely edged past Alexander Ogando (15 points) after his 44.51 win in the 400m was enough to shake off a disappointing fifth place in the 200m the day before.
Paulino was all business in the women’s long sprints, winning her second straight title with a 22.46 win in the 200m after soaring in the 400m on Saturday in 49.12. Paulino’s sweep gave her 24 points as she looks to close out the final meet in the same fashion.
Jones pulled off a first in the league, becoming the first athlete to win a group championship without winning a race. She won the women’s long hurdles with second place finishes in the 400m hurdles (54.65) and 400m (52.73) on Sunday. Her 16 points pushed her past Anna Cockrell, who was second in the group with 15.
“I know I was coming into this a little nervous. I wasn’t sure where I was at this season,” Jones said “I got a little bit of that fitness and strength back and just in time for this Slam, so getting on here and finally feeling healthy, was a huge confidence boost and a huge win for me.”
But for Alison dos Santos the prospect of a third straight sweep was not in the cards as Bassitt stunned with a 48.25 in the men’s 400m to take the long hurdles title. A third place finish for dos Santos was not enough despite winning the 400m hurdles on Saturday.
Young had one mission and one race to score the men’s long distance championship after Grant Fisher was a late scratch. Young bolted on the final lap of the 3,000m to win in 8:01.03 past Sam Gilman’s 8:01.70.
“I was in a weird spot with 100 meters to go, but I stayed ahead and that’s good,” Young said.
In the women’s 3,000m, Ngetich was electric but needed all of the track to outkick Ejgayehu Taye for the 8:43.61 win for the women’s long distance title. Taye was a close second in 8:43.70.
Nugent won her second straight title in the women’s short hurdles, slipping past Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the 100m in 11.11. McLaughlin-Levrone finished in 11.21 after dropping down from the long hurdles group, which she won in the Kingston and Miami meets.
Britt won the men short hurdles championship after winning the 110m hurdles on Saturday and taking second in the 100m the next day in 10.50, a season’s best.
Arop won the 800m in day one of action but had just enough with a fifth place 3:35.38 performance in the 1,500m to win the men’s short distance crown. His 17 points barely allowed him to edge past Josh Kerr, who had 16.
“You know, it was a long time coming,” Arop said. “I had the first two not quite figured out, but I think that 1,500 is getting closer and closer to where I wanted to be.”
Welteji won the women’s short distance after sweeping the 800m and 1,500m and taking all 24 points.
