Irishman Andrew Coscoran picked up both a win and a national record with an impressive 3000m clocking of 7:30.75. France’s Azzedine Habz made a bold move around the 2000m mark and led by well over a second at one point, but Coscoran remained patient and gradually reeled Habz in before sealing the deal with a devastating 26.71 final lap. Cam Myers finished third in an Australian record of 7:33.12, good for fourth on the global all-time U20 list, and Hobbs Kessler faded hard over the last 200m but still managed a PB of 7:35.06.

In the afternoon’s penultimate event, Melissa Courtney-Bryant and Elise Cranny went toe-to-toe in a race where each of the top eight women set new 3000m PBs. Ultimately, it was Courtney-Bryant that came out on top thanks to a closing 200m that was just as impressive as Coscoran’s. About half-a-second behind at the bell, the Brit ended up beating Cranny by over a second, becoming the second-fastest British woman ever with her clocking of 8:28.69. Cranny’s consolation was becoming the sixth American woman to dip under 8:30 indoors, crossing the line in 8:29.87. Third place belonged to Parker Valby in her New Balance debut. Despite it being a drop down in distance for her, the Florida product looked composed across all 15 laps around her home track and ended up with a big PB of 8:34.95, situating her as the 11th-fastest American woman ever.

New year, same hurdles

When Grant Holloway is showing the 60mH field a clean set of heels and women’s sprint hurdles races are coming right down to the line, you know track is back!

For Holloway, who hasn’t lost an indoor hurdles race in over a decade, today saw a pair of easy wins despite squaring off against some of his biggest domestic competitors. In the prelims, he came through the line in 7.47, two full tenths ahead of his next closest opponent. About an hour later, the world record holder came back and won the final just as easily. His 7.42-second clocking equals him as the second-fastest man in the world this year. Even with some tape on his knee, he’s still simply on a level above everyone else.

Freddie Crittenden finished runner-up in 7.54, the fifth-fastest time of his career, while Trey Cunningham was a DNF after hitting a hurdle.

In a women’s race that didn’t mess around with any prelims, Olympic champion Masai Russell continued her winning ways in her second hurdles race of the season. She was taken right to the line by training partner and world record holder Devynne Charlton and fellow Team USA Olympian Grace Stark, but still came through for the win in 7.80.

In the first big sprint hurdles race of the year, these women once again proved why their event is one of the most entertaining on the track year after year, week after week. As track fans, we’re lucky enough to live through a time where a handful of the best hurdlers to ever live are unafraid of dropping the gloves with each other whenever they can. Stark could’ve opened her first professional season at a lowkey meet in Gainesville, but she instead opted to duke it out with the women who won both global titles last year. Seeing someone run 7.81 on February 2nd and still lose is awesome for the fans, but it’s thankfully what we’ve come to expect from this group.

Revenge of the Quincy

Quincy Wilson opening his junior year by losing a race to fellow high schooler Andrew Salvodon was probably one of the most surprising moments we will see on the track in 2025. Unfortunately for the rest of the country (and maybe the world), that race seems to have lit an even brighter fire under the teenage Olympian.

Lining up in a pro 400m race today, the 17-year-old Wilson proved to be the class of the field over the final 200m, eventually taking the win in 45.66. After coming through the bell behind 2022 World Indoor champion Jereem Richards and South Africa’s Zakithi Nene, Wilson made it look like they were standing still as he blew by them on the final bend. Cutting down his own high school national record a bit more wasn’t necessarily the surprising part, but looking like clearly the best runner against a field of this quality was ridiculously impressive. It’s impossible to predict what more magic Wilson has in store for 2025, but this is a fantastic sign of things to come.

Finishing second in this race with an even quicker final 200m than Wilson was Will Sumner, who closed in 23.92 en route to a PB of 46.27. After recording two DNFs as his only results in 2024, the 2023 NCAA champion in the 800m is building back nicely so far this year. Today’s mark surpasses his old PB indoors, which was set at Nike Indoor Nationals in 2022. If Sumner can continue to get closer and closer to the form he showed two summers ago, he’ll be another strong contender in a crowded U.S. 800m picture come August.

300m races are pretty fun… for 400m runners

If you don’t agree with that header, ask Rai Benjamin or Vernon Norwood! In his interview with NBC’s Lewis Johnson after picking up a smooth season-opening win in 32.21, Benjamin said that his decision to race today was pretty much on a whim and decided by a text he sent Norwood a few weeks ago. When you’re that good, you can come out and become the 12th-fastest man ever, just for kicks. This was the 400mH Olympic champion’s first indoor race since 2021, so it wouldn’t be surprising if this is the only time we see him for the next few months, but it’s certainly exciting to see him in this kind of form two days into February.

The idea that 300m races are fun came with a caveat because 100m Olympic champion Julien Alfred sure wasn’t exactly singing the distance’s praises after her commanding win today. Squaring off with training partner Dina Asher-Smith, Alfred came out on top with—surprise, surprise—a new St. Lucian national record of 36.16 to Asher-Smith’s 36.87. Coach Edrick Floréal has implied that he plans on having Alfred run more long sprints this season, much to the chagrin of perhaps the athlete most outspoken about her hatred of distances even as long as the 200m (where she’s an Olympic silver medalist). Maybe if she doesn’t want to run as many of them she should just run slower, but it seems like that’s not gonna happen any time soon.