NYC Half M1-19: Wilcko Runs Away With It

• Rowen Wilcko, 16, wins in 1:15:55 — a 5:47/mi clip that left the field nearly two and a half minutes behind.
• Oscar Greenberg (1:18:15) and Gavin Li (1:19:31) rounded out the podium, separated by 1:16 between them.
• Ziyang Ling (4th, 1:20:12) and Alex Califano (5th, 1:21:01) completed a tight top-five span of just over five minutes from first to fifth.
• Gavyn Drago (1:38:19) and Marlowe Collamore (1:38:21) finished 17th and 18th separated by just two seconds.

Rowen Wilcko, a 16-year-old from Erie, PA, owned the M1-19 age group from start to finish on a crisp 40°F morning running from Prospect Park to Central Park. His 5:47/mi average was the story of the day — no one in the field came close to matching it. The gap to second place was 2:20, and that margin tells the whole tale: this was a wire-to-wire statement.

Behind Wilcko, Oscar Greenberg (18, New York) claimed second in 1:18:15 at 5:58/mi, while Gavin Li (16, Great Neck) ran a composed 6:04/mi to finish third in 1:19:31. Li's moves data shows a mid-race dip before he clawed back positions on the 15K–20K stretch, posting the 344th-fastest split in the field on that segment — a meaningful surge that helped him hold off Ziyang Ling (17, Princeton) by 41 seconds. Ling ran a similarly steady 6:07/mi to finish fourth in 1:20:12, also picking up ground on that same late segment.

Alex Califano (19, Jersey City) tells the cautionary tale of the group: he entered the 10K checkpoint looking dangerous, then faded through the back half, sliding from a strong early position to fifth by the finish at 1:21:01. The 40-second gap between him and Ling at the line reflects a real difference in how the two closed. Peter Galletta (18, Staten Island) and Daniel Menendez (17, Floral Park) rounded out the top seven in 1:22:38 and 1:24:00 respectively, both running controlled races.

Deep in the field, Gavyn Drago and Marlowe Collamore — both 17 and 16, both from Long Island's North Fork — staged a quiet duel of their own, finishing 17th and 18th in 1:38:19 and 1:38:21. Two seconds after 13.1 miles in the cold. That one's worth remembering.