By David Melly
May 29, 2025
After a brief lull in the action, the Grand Slam Track league heads to Franklin Field for its inaugural season’s third meet. Aside from a packed stadium of Eagles fans and warmups along the Schuylkill River, the Philly slam will feel different for a few other reasons, notably that its schedule has been compressed from three days to two, and the 5000m has been cut. The Slampions who persevered in both Kingston and Miami—Kenny Bednarek, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Grant Fisher, and Alison dos Santos—will have bigger targets than ever before on their backs, and a new crop of Challengers will look to upset the cash-stuffed apple cart.
As we prepare for another jam-packed weekend of racing and a whole new crop of Challengers, there are a few key questions on our mind beyond “who goes home with a $100,000 check?”
Does racing only once change the long distance dynamics?
The men’s and women’s distance races have played out a variety of different ways over the last four rounds, but two common themes did emerge: Agnes Ngetich pushing the pace early in the women’s distance races, and Grant Fisher’s lethal kick paying lucrative dividends in the men’s. For Ngetich and Fisher, the assignment doesn’t change much just because they’re racing once, not twice. But for the other Racers and Challengers, the fifth go-round may present an opportunity to take a big swing and try to knock these two champs off their game.
On the men’s side, Franklin Field’s legacy as an incubator of collegiate talent will come full circle as four of the five Challengers—Graham Blanks, Ky Robinson, Nico Young, and Edwin Kurgat—are former NCAA champs. As of right now, none seem likely to give Fisher a true run for his money at any pace, but Kurgat or Hagos Gebrhiwet could make things fast from the gun. On the women’s side, having only one (shorter) race could spur Racers Nozomi Tanaka or Elise Cranny into trying to stay with the leaders longer, but Challengers Ejgayehu Taye, Medina Eisa, and Weini Kelati will likely want an honest pace as much as Ngetich to hopefully thin out the field.
What can Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone run in a flat 100m?
We’ve seen Sydney run the 100m hurdles before. We’ve even seen it on this very track, in fact—she won a 100mH race at Penn Relays in 12.75 in 2022. But SML hasn’t run a flat 100m since April 2018, when she was still rocking Wildcat blue as a freshman at the University of Kentucky. It’s unlikely to change the trajectory of her season or the landscape of the U.S. 100m scene, but Sydney in an 100m is an interesting novelty that will get more than a few curious eyes tuning in. It’s hard to compare apples to apples, but Ackera Nugent won the last short hurdles 100m in Miami in 11.09 and McLaughlin-Levrone did run a wind-aided 11.07 in her last 100m race (seven years ago), so while she’s unlikely to win the flat hurdles, she could contend for the overall Slam title with the help of a strong sprint.
Which HS phenom comes out on top in the men’s short distance?
Two of the more intriguing Challengers on the Philly start list are Hobbs Kessler and Josh Hoey, both entered in the men’s short distance. Kessler seems tailor-made for the format after he became the first American to make both the 800m and 1500m Olympic teams in nearly 50 years last summer, and Hoey is coming off a barn-burner of an indoor season that culminated in a World Indoor title. Kessler and Hoey both came to prominence with historic high school careers over 1500m and 800m, respectively, so it’s somewhat fitting they’re meeting in the middle at a facility known as much for its high school meets over the decades as its professional history.
Will legal winds yield a new 100m favorite?
With all the talk online (and in this newsletter) over the shifting dynamics of the women’s 100m, things may seem a lot less ambiguous if Melissa Jefferson-Wooden can clock a wind-legal time on par with her 10.75w in Miami. Given how strong Jefferson-Wooden has looked in her last two races, she should be able to get well under 11 seconds, which could have her threatening Tia Clayton’s 10.92 world lead. But perhaps no one wants a legal wind reading more than Gabby Thomas, who’s broken 11 seconds seven times but, astonishingly, never with a wind under +2.0 and has an official PB of 11.00.
Is the third time the charm for Nikki Hiltz?
The seven-time U.S. champ isn’t used to finishing second these days, but that’s just what they’ve done in the last two Slams. Across two weekends and four races, Hiltz has performed remarkably consistently, finishing first, third, second, and second in each individual 800m/1500m, but the overall Slam title has evaded them thus far thanks to strong performances from Ethiopians Freweyni Hailu and Diribe Welteji. Hailu is out for Philadelphia, but Welteji is back after missing Miami, and the addition of Olympic bronze medalist Georgia Hunter Bell and her 1:56.28/3:52.61 PBs will make Hiltz’s third attempt at the top prize tougher than ever.
The beauty of a brand-new league is that every new race is an opportunity for something unprecedented. After Philly, three data points may start looking more and more like a trend, but at the halfway point of this series, there’s plenty of time to shake things up. This weekend, we’ll find out who’s locked in, and who’s still got some tricks up their sleeve.
David Melly
David began contributing to CITIUS in 2018, and quickly cemented himself as an integral part of the team thanks to his quick wit, hot takes, undying love for the sport and willingness to get yelled at online.
