LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, June 14 — The last time Tara Davis-Woodhall competed in both the hurdles and the long jump, she was scoring points for Texas in ’21 at the Big 12. The former 60H U20 Recordholder won her 100H semi in 12.90 and the long jump final in 22-10½ (6.97).
The next time the Olympic/World LJ champ would line up for a 100 with barriers would be on May 08, 2026, at a low-key meet at Kansas State, where she clocked 12.99.
Here, Davis-Woodhall lined up at USC against Olympic-caliber peers at the USATF LA Grand Prix.
Ambitious as it was, stepping up against Masai Russell, the Olympic champion who has been on a tear, would be a challenge. And it wasn’t just Russell. Former WR holder Keni Harrison was there, as was Jamaica’s 2-time world champion, Danielle Williams, Paris ’24 silver medalist Cyrena Samba-Mayela, as well as Grace Stark, Alia Armstrong and Tonea Marshall.
With WA rankings (for the most part) determining the choice lanes, Russell started in 5, flanked by Harrison (6) and Stark (4), with Samba-Mayela (7) Marshall (8), Williams (3), Armstrong (2) and Davis-Woodhall on her island in 1.
Russell dominated, keeping it clean through 10 hurdles, to finish in 12.26, but the battle for 2nd was won by Davis-Woodhall, whose 12.47 PR edged Stark (12.48). Armstrong was 4th in 12.55.
And to think if her reaction time (0.503) could have been closer to Russell’s (0.160) Davis-Woodhall might have been in the 12.3s.
After the race, Russell was more than satisfied with her result, saying, “The goal wasn’t to break the World Record here, so I tried to slow up as much as possible to just get the win, and I was happy to see it was still 12.2 which is a fast time, one of my best times ever.”
Under an hour later, Davis-Woodhall took her first leap in the long jump. With her hurdle duties complete and a body fully warmed up, she wasted no time. Her initial leap landed at a personal best 23-7½ (7.20). The leap, a ¾-inch improvement of her PR, strengthened the 27-year-old jumper’s status at on No. 4 on the U.S. all-time list.
In the third round, she hit her mark again and stretched even further, reaching the sand in a windy (3.3) 23-9½ (7.25).
Davis-Woodhall summed up her double-day, saying, “Right now, hurdles is just, you know, making my long jump way better. There’s a lot of factors that hurdles has that [are comparable] to long jump and you can use the momentum of being faster on the runway.”
“It’s all combined, I mean like the 3 steps in between is the last 3 steps of the long jump, so everything goes hand in hand.”
When asked what her next stop would be, Davis-Woodhall said it would be Prefontaine, but also playfully admitted, “My Airbnb, so I can have some tacos.”
Sha’Carri Richardson looked strong in the 100, taking the dash in 10.99, leaving Kayla White (11.08) and Tamari Davis (11.11) in her wake.
It was a strong show for the Americans on the field with Chase Jackson leading off the festivities in the shot put with a meet record 67-4¼ (20.53) over Canada’s Sarah Mitton 66-1½ (20.15)
In the cage next door Valerie Sion set a meet record in the discus with her 226-10 (69.15) over fellow American Erika Beistle 213-4 (65.02) and the Netherlands’ Jorinde Van Klinken 213-1 (64.95).
In the men’s high hurdles, Tokyo ‘25 world champion Cordell Tinch had his hands full with Trey Cunningham, who was fresh off of his PR 12.98. Also in the field was Jamal Britt, winner of the two Chinese legs of the DL and who, ironically, has a PR of 13.07 from ’24, which he has matched 4 times this season.
Tinch started in 4, with Cunningham in 5, Britt in 6 and Jamar Marshall in 3.
At the gun, Cunningham looked great as he shot to the lead over Tinch and Britt. But he clipped hurdle 5 and lost momentum, allowing Britt to edge closer.
It came down to a lean, and Britt got the nod over Cunningham, 12.99–13.01.
Britt happily reflected, “I came out here not 100% feeling my best, and you know, I know I got more legs in me. It’s gonna be something special this year.”
“Me and Coach [Alan] Johnson, we’ll always talk about… pretty much the impossible, and that’s all we’d been working on in terms of practice and trying to work on for the next 2 years.”
In the men’s 800, Brandon Miller once again served up the best finishing speed, finishing with another sub-1:44 effort. Miller contended with Brooks Beasts training mate and Britain’s ’23 world 1500 champion Josh Kerr, former 800 world champ Donavan Brazier and St. Vincent’s Handal Roban.
With the pacesetter covering 400 in a slowish 51.16, all were tightly bunched, so Kerr (52.09) decided to ramp it up and built a 5-meter gap heading into the backstretch.
With half a lap to go, the gap closed to 2m, with Mexico’s Abe Alvarado, Miller and Roban in chase.
Coming off the final bend, Miller turned on the jets and headed home to finish with negative splits (52.42/51.52) in 1:43.94 over Roban (1:45.32), Brazier (1:45.41) and Kerr (1:45.46).
Talking about being able to run off of any pace, Miller confirmed Kerr has been helping with strategy. “Earlier this year he sat me down and we went through a couple of our races, to see where I can be better, what I need to do, and I always get advice from the best in the world. Not just one of the best athletes in the world, but the best racer in the world.”
Kenny Bednarek took care of business with a dominant 9.72w (2.4) victory in the 100 over compatriot Christian Coleman (9.84) and Ghana’s Abdul-Rasheed Saminu (9.88), while South Africa’s Tshepo Tshite narrowly bested bemedaled American Cole Hocker 7:37.57–7:37.77 in the 3000.
The day before at the nearby implement-friendly South Bay Athletic Club, France’s Yann Chaussinand equaled the world lead in the men’s hammer with his 270-6 (82.44) toss ahead of the 270-3 (82.38) from Ukrainian Mykhaylo Kokhan and the 263-10 (80.43) of the USA’s Rudy Winkler.
On the women’s side, ’22 world champion Brooke Andersen triumphed over ’19 champ DeAnna Price 259-5 (79.09) to 254-11 (77.71), with Rachel Richeson 3rd at 251-5 (76.65) and Canada’s reigning world champ Camryn Rogers surprisingly taking an uncharacteristic 4th with her 251-0 (76.50).
LA GRAND PRIX MEN’S RESULTS
100(2.4): 1. Kenny Bednarek (US) 9.72w (a-c AL, =WL) (a-c: =6, =10 W; 2, 4 A);
2. Christian Coleman (US) 9.84w; 3. Abdul-Rasheed Saminu (Gha) 9.88w; 4. Sam Blaskowski (US) 9.91w; 5. Letsile Tebogo (Bot) 9.95w; 6. Courtney Lindsey (US) 9.96w; 7. Brandon Hicklin (US) 10.01w.
400: 1. Chris Bailey (US) 44.57; 2. George Franks (Gre) 45.21; 3. Bryce Deadmon (US) 45.34; 4. Kirani James (Grn) 45.35; 5. Demarius Smith (US) 45.47; 6. Johnnie Blockburger (US) 45.71; 7. William Jones (US) 45.72.
800: 1. Brandon Miller (US) 1:43.94; 2. Handal Roban (StV) 1:45.32; 3. Donavan Brazier (US) 1:45.41; 4. Josh Kerr (GB) 1:45.46; 5. Wes Ferguson (US) 1:45.79; 6. Abraham Alvarado (US) 1:46.11.
3000: 1. Tshepo Tshite (SA) 7:37.57 PR; 2. Cole Hocker (US) 7:37.77 PR; 3. Eduardo Herrera (Mex) 7:38.53; 4. David Mullarkey (GB) 7:38.58 PR; 5. Jackson Sharp (Aus) 7:41.50; 6. Dylan Jacobs (US) 7:43.99 PR.
110H(-0.1): 1. Jamal Britt (US) 12.99 PR; 2. Trey Cunningham (US) 13.03; 3. Cordell Tinch (US) 13.15; 4. Jamar Marshall (US) 13.16; 5. Johnny Brackins (US) 13.39.
Field Events
SP: 1. Rajindra Campbell (Jam) 71-11¾ (21.94); 2. Jordan Geist (US) 71-4¾ (21.76); 3. Joe Kovacs (US) 71-4¾ (21.76); 4. Roger Steen (US) 70-2½ (21.40); 5. Chuk Enekwechi (Ngr) 69-11¾ (21.33); 6. Josh Awotunde (US) 67-10¼ (20.68.
HT(6/13 @Wilmington): 1. Yann Chaussinand (Fra) 270-6 (82.44) NR (f, f, 270-6, 266-10, f, f) (f, f, 82.44, 81.34, f, f); 2. Mykhaylo Kokhan (Ukr) 270-3 (82.38) PR (258-9, 258-9, 265-9, 261-11, 266-6, 270-3) (78.86, 78.86, 81.00, 79.85, 81.23, 82.38); 3. Rudy Winkler (US) 263-10 (80.43); 4. Rowan Hamilton (Can) 258-1 (78.67) PR; 5. Trey Knight (US) 257-8 (78.54); 6. Alex Young (US) 248-11 (75.87); 7. Denzel Comenentia (Neth) 248-11 (75.87); 8. Daniel Haugh (US) 242-6 (73.92).
LOS ANGELES GP WOMEN’S RESULTS
100(-0.2): 1. Sha’Carri Richardson (US) 10.99; 2. Kayla White (US) 11.08; 3. Tamari Davis (US) 11.11; 4. Favour Ofili (Ngr) 11.15; 5. Jenna Prandini (US) 11.18; 6. Cambrea Sturgis (US) 11.26.
200(-3.1): 1. Ofili 22.45; 2. Gemima Joseph (Fra) 22.88; 3. Rosemary Chukwuma (Ngr) 22.94; 4. McKenzie Long (US) 23.02; 5. Deajah Stevens (US) 23.31.
400: 1. Aaliyah Butler (US) 49.90; 2. Ella Onojuvwevwo (Ngr) 50.25; 3. Alexis Holmes (US) 51.08; 4. Bailey Lear (US) 51.45; 5. Rosey Effiong (US) 51.51.
1500: 1. Emily Mackay (US) 3:59.26; 2. Katie Snowden (GB) 4:00.97; 3. Gabija Galvydytė (Lit) 4:01.21; 4. Worknesh Mesele (Eth) 4:04.16; 5. Dani Jones (US) 4:06.22; 6. Annika Reiss (US) 4:07.01 PR.
100H(1.5): 1. Masai Russell (US) 12.26 (x, =12 A); 2. Tara Davis-Woodhall (US) 12.47 PR; 3. Grace Stark (US) 12.48; 4. Alia Armstrong (US) 12.55; 5. Danielle Williams (Jam) 12.59; 6. Cyrena Samba-Mayela (Fra) 12.62; 7. Keni Harrison (US) 12.64; 8. Tonea Marshall (US) 12.76.
400H: 1. Anna Cockrell (US) 53.43; 2. Dalilah Muhammad (US) 53.65; 3. Gianna Woodruff (Pan) 54.48; 4. Kemi Adekoya (Bhr) 54.88; 5. Fatoumata Diallo (Por) 55.08; 6. Shamier Little (US) 55.32.
Field Events
LJ: 1. Tara Davis-Woodhall (US) 23-9½w (7.25) (a-c: 4, x A) (23-7½ [4, x A], 23-3¼w, 23-9½w, 23-5¼w, p, 22-5¾w) (7.20, 7.09w, 7.25w, 7.14w, p, 6.85w);
2. Monae’ Nichols (US) 22-4¼w (6.81) (21-7½/6.61); 3. Tyra Gittens-Spotsville (Tri) 22-3¾ (6.80); 4. Alexis Brown (US) 22-1¾w (6.75) (21-10¼/6.66); 5. Claire Bryant (US) 21-11½w (6.69) (21-6¾/6.57); 6. Ese Brume (Ngr) 21-5¼w (6.53) (21-½/6.41); 7. Quanesha Burks (US) 20-11¾ (6.39).
SP: 1. Chase Jackson (US) 67-4¼ (20.53); 2. Sarah Mitton (Can) 66-1½ (20.15); 3. Adelaide Browley (US) 63-5½ (19.34); 4. Jaida Ross (US) 62-9½ (19.14); 5. Jorinde van Klinken (Neth) 61-2¾ (18.66); 6. Jessica Ramsey (US) 61-2¼ (18.65); 7. Maggie Ewen (US) 60-8 (18.49); 8. Jessica Woodard (US) 57-10¼ (17.63).
DT: 1. Valarie Sion (US) 226-10 (69.15) (224-7, 219-10, 214-6, 218-9, 226-10, 218-0) (68.46, 67.02, 65.38, 66.69, 69.15, 66.46); 2. Erika Beistle (US) 213-4 (65.02); 3. van Klinken 213-1 (64.95); 4. Cierra Jackson (US) 207-5 (63.22); 5. Jayden Ulrich (US) 207-3 (63.19); 6. Lagi Tausaga (US) 201-9 (61.51); 7. Veronica Fraley (US) 201-1 (61.31); 8. Gabi Jacobs (US) 192-4 (58.62).
HT(6/13@Wilmington): 1. Brooke Andersen (US) 259-5 (79.09) (x, 10 A) (250-0, 250-8, 251-2, 252-9, 259-5, 256-0) (76.21, 76.41, 76.56, 77.05, 79.09, 78.02);
2. DeAnna Price (US) 254-11 (77.71); 3. Rachel Richeson (US) 251-5 (76.65)); 4. Camryn Rogers (Can) 251-0 (76.50) (first loss since 6/3/25); 5. Jiale Zhang (Chn) 248-5 (75.72); 6. Jie Zhao (Chn) 246-9 (75.21); 7. Annette Echikunwoke (US) 246-0 (74.99); 8. Erin Reese (US) 240-5 (73.29); 9. Janee’ Kassanavoid (US) 230-7 (70.29).
(best-ever mark-for-place: 4–8)
