MIAMI, FL — American Fred Kerley and Jamaica’s Natasha Morrison posted fast times to win the men’s and women’s 100 meters at the TruFit Athletics Sprint Classic meeting in Miami, FL, on Saturday, April 24. Both sprinters were posting personal best times, while Kerley was running a world-lead on the men’s side.
Kerley Runs World Leading Time
In his final 100m dash of the season before moving up to his specialty, the 400m, World Championships bronze medalist over the one-lap event, Kerley, sizzled to a personal best time of 9.91 seconds (+2.0 m/s) to win the men’s race and joined an elite group of athletes to achieve a special milestone.
According to respectable World Athletics senior editor Jon Mulkeen (@Statman_Jon) – with his sub-10 seconds performance on Saturday, Kerley becomes only the third athlete to break 10-seconds for the 100m and 44-seconds for the 400m in history. The American joins countryman Michael Norman and South African Wayde van Niekerk as the other athletes who have accomplished the feat.
At the TruFit Athletics Sprint Classic, Joshua Washington of the USA clocked a personal best of 10.01 for second place, with Julian Forte of Jamaica running 10.03 for third and his countryman Nigel Ellis clocking a personal-best 10.04 for fourth place. Jason Rogers of St. Kitts and Nevis was also in good form after running his fastest time since 2018 when taking fifth in 10.07.
Morrison Also Fast With PB Performance
The women’s 100m was also done in a flashing time with Natasha Morrison of Jamaica smashing her personal best to win with 10.87 seconds (+1.3 m/s).
Morrison, a member of the Jamaican gold medal team at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, China, entered the weekend with a personal best of 10.96 seconds and one performance under-11 seconds in her career.
However, she was able to break the 11-seconds barrier twice at the meeting on Saturday, as besides her winning time in the final, the 28-year-old who returned to the camp of her former coach Stephen Francis at the MVP track club, also ran 10.98 seconds in the heat.
Her winning time in Miami, is the second-fastest this season behind the 10.72 seconds posted by USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson at the 2021 Miramar Invitational on April 10.
Tynia Gaither from The Bahamian ran a personal best of 11.02 for second place behind Morrison, while Jasmine Abrams of Guyana also had a PB when taking third with 11.19.
Other Results…
European 100m champion Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain secured a wind-assisted 19.93 seconds (+3.6 m/s) victory in the men’s 200m, with Gaither returning to take the women’s race with a wind-aided 22.70 (+3.0 m/s).
Elsewhere, Jamaica’s Nathan Allen won the men’s 400m with a time of 46.06, country representative and 400m hurdles specialist Janieve Russell took the women’s event with 52.12, while Orlando Bennett ran 13.32 to beat countryman and Commonwealth Games champion Ronald Levy (13.39) in the men’s 110m hurdles.
