GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Grace Stark and Trey Cunningham outpaced world-class competition in impressive season openers in the sprint hurdles in Florida.
Sprint hurdles action delivered unexpected results at the Tom Jones Memorial 2025 meeting in Gainesville, Alachua County, Fla., on Saturday, with season-opening upsets highlighting an exciting day of competition.
The USA’s Trey Cunningham and Grace Stark both claimed victories against Olympic champions, signaling their early season readiness ahead of what is expected to be a long outdoor campaign.
Read more: Julien Alfred of Texas runs 21.91 at Tom Jones Invitational
Cunningham Tops Grant Holloway
Cunningham, the former Florida State standout and two-time NCAA champion, won the men’s 110m hurdles with a strong finish, crossing the line in 13.09 seconds with a favorable 1.5 meters per second wind.
The 26-year-old 2022 world silver medalist finished nearly a tenth of a second ahead of Grant Holloway, who clocked 13.18 seconds for second place. Holloway, the former Florida Gator, three-time world champion, and 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist, was competing for the first time since claiming his third straight world indoor 60m hurdles title in Nanjing.
Dylan Beard rounded out the top three with a time of 13.33 seconds, ahead of Jamaican Orlando Bennett, who was fourth with a time of 13.39.
Grace Stark Takes Down Masai Russell
On the women’s side, Olympic and world indoor finalist Grace Stark (White Lake Township in Oakland County, Michigan) impressed in her first outdoor appearance of the season.
The ex-Florida Gator star opened the day with an impressive 12.51-second run to set the 100m hurdles 2025 early world lead in the preliminary rounds. She then clinched victory in the final with a time of 12.59 seconds, running into a slight headwind (-0.7 meters per second).
Olympic champion Masai Russell finished second in 12.65 seconds, while her American compatriot Christina Clemons took third in 12.82 seconds. The USA’s Tonea Marshall, with 12.95 seconds in fourth place, was the only other sub-13-second running on the women’s side.
Action in the women’s 400m hurdles saw Canadian Olympian Savannah Sutherland, of Michigan, winning with an impressive 53.46 seconds, her second-fastest time ever, behind her 53.26-second national record from 2024.
Rachel Glenn of Arkansas also broke 54 seconds on the day, posting 53.48 for the runner-up spot.
