Barks & Brews 5K: Ava Takeuchi tops the F13-15 field

• Ava Takeuchi, 14, wins in 19:39 (6:20/mi), closing with the 2nd-fastest final-segment split among all women.
• Callie Risch, 13, finishes 2nd at 19:56 — just 17 seconds back — posting the 5th-fastest women's closing split to hold off the field.
• Emily Capelli, 15, takes 3rd in 20:33, with Malea Nakanishi 4th in 21:08 — 28 seconds further back.
• Malea Nakanishi returns from 2025, when she finished 4th among women here in 20:40 — she matched that placement but ran 32 seconds slower this time out.

Ava Takeuchi, 14, from Rocklin, claimed the F13-15 title in 19:39 at a 6:20/mi clip, and she did it by finishing strong. Her gender place dipped as low as 12th among women through the middle miles before she reeled it back to 10th by the finish — a recovery powered by the 2nd-fastest women's closing split on the 3M-to-finish stretch. That kind of late-race pop is what separates a winner from the rest.

Callie Risch, just 13 years old out of Galt, made Takeuchi earn it. Risch crossed in 19:56 — 17 seconds behind — and she too was moving at the end, posting the 5th-fastest women's closing split to finish as runner-up. Emily Capelli, 15, from El Dorado Hills, rounded out the podium in 20:33, running a solid 6:37/mi to hold off a chase from behind.

Fourth place belonged to Malea Nakanishi, 14, of Sacramento, in 21:08. Nakanishi was one of the most recognizable names in this group — she finished 4th among women at this same race in 2025 in 20:40 — and she landed in the same spot again, though 28 seconds slower on the day. Arianna de La Garza, 15, rounded out the top five in 23:03, with Madera Finarelli (25:45), Honi West (26:35), Ava Fowler (28:09), Molly Perigny (32:13), Eloise Pereira (39:47), Regan Dunn (1:01:55), and Khloe Smith (1:09:13) completing all 12 finishers in the F13-15 group.