Jefferson-Wooden Dominates With 10.65 Personal Best; Tired Of Being Second, Bednarek Wins First U.S. Title In 9.79

By Lori Shontz for DyeStat

Becky Holbrook photo

EUGENE - Melissa Jefferson-Wooden’s 2024 season was a lot.

She switched coaches. She missed two and a half months of training with injuries. And yet she not only made Team USA for the Paris Olympics, but she won a bronze medal in the 100 meters and a gold as the leadoff runner for the 4x100 relay. The bronze, she said, “felt like a gold medal in my eyes, dealing with all I had to do.”

And then she put it all behind her. “Closing a chapter,” she called it.

“Let’s look at a brand new year, a brand new Melissa,” she said. “Let’s see what a healthy Melissa can do.”

Turns out, she can dominate.

Jefferson-Wooden ran the fifth-best time in history, 10.65 seconds, to win the 100 meters Friday evening at the USATF Championships at Hayward Field. She started strong, pulled away from the field and crossed the line alone.

Only Florence Griffith-Joyner (10.49), Elaine Thompson-Herah (10.54), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.60) and Carmelita Jeter (10.64) have run faster. Marion Jones, Shericka Jackson and Sha’Carri Richardson have also run 10.65.

“It actually doesn’t sound real,” Jefferson-Wooden said. “You look at all those races, you look at all those women who have accomplished these things, and to think of me being a part of that list is really kind of … I’m grateful for it, I worked my butt off for it, so I shouldn’t be surprised. But wow.”

Kenny Bednarek, Jefferson-Wooden’s teammate at Star Athletics, Dennis Mitchell’s training group in Florida, made a similar breakthrough.

He’s won a lot of silver medals in the 100 and the 200 – two at the Olympics, one at the world championships, four at the USATF Championships. And he finally won his first national title, running a personal best 9.79.

“I would say it’s about damn time,” Bednarek said. “Second, second, second for a very long time. I always knew I had the capability of doing it. I just had to believe in myself, and it felt like this year I started living up to my expectations.”

The sprinter most commonly responsible for Bednarek's second-place finishes, Olympic champion Noah Lyles, did not compete Friday after running in the first round of the 100 on Thursday. He is entered in the 200. 

Bednarek had competed in the three Grand Slam Track events this season, winning the 100 and the 200 in each one. Then he had to pull out of The Prefontaine Classic because of tightness in his adductor, which he said cleared up after a couple of weeks. He hadn’t competed in two months when he lined up for the first round on Thursday, and he said it felt good to be back.

Plus, he ran that PR despite cramping in both calves about halfway through the race.

“I knew I was capable of running that time,” he said. “With having a cramp in the middle, not able to push my body the way I wanted to toward the end, I know I have something way, way faster. My body feels great.”

The back-to-back sprints, at the end of an 85-degree and sunny day in Eugene, were both entertaining and fast all the way through.

The men’s race, which went first, was tight. Bednarek prevailed by .03 over Courtney Lindsey, another teammate with Star Athletics, and only .04 separated second place from fifth place. Lindsey ran a personal best 9.82 followed by T’Mars McCallum in a personal best 9.83, Trayvon Bromell in a season best 9.84 and Christian Coleman in a season best 9.86.

Recent high school grad Maurice Gleaton, who finished sixth in 9.92, tied the national high school record set earlier this season by Tate Taylor. He beat Ronnie Baker for the relay pool spot by .001.

In the women’s race, five women broke 11 seconds.

Richardson, the 2023 world champion, did not compete on Friday after having run the opening round on Thursday. It was reported Friday that Richardson has been involved in an alleged domestic violence altercation at the Seattle-Tacoma airport on Sunday and detained overnight. It's not clear whether she will run in the 200 meters. The start list is not yet availble.

Kayla White, yet another Star Athletics runner, finished second in a personal best 10.84, although she didn’t come close to challenging Jefferson-Wooden. Third place went to Aleia Hobbs, who ran 10.92 and broke down in tears during her interview as she discussed coming back from Achilles and hamstring issues.

“My emotions are going crazy,” she said. “I’m so happy right now.”

But the night belonged to Jefferson-Wooden, who said she entered nationals feeling “probably the best I’ve ever felt.”

When she won the 2022 national title, she was a surprise, just out of Coastal Carolina. She said since then, she’s improved her transition, so she’s more consistent in the middle of the race, and she’s honed her mindset. She’s willing to make sacrifices -- even, she said, laughing, when that means giving up Culver’s cheeseburgers.

And what’s next? The 200 meters on Sunday. But beyond that, she’s looking at something bigger: “I want to be the greatest to ever do it.”