F20-24: Melknat Wudu Runs Near-Record Pace to Claim the Title

• Melknat Wudu, 21, wins in 47:44 (5:07/mi) — within 11 seconds of the all-time women's course record of 47:33.
• Savanah Beavers takes 2nd in 58:05 (6:14/mi); Ava Mahoney finishes 3rd in 59:14 (6:21/mi) — a 1:09 gap separates them.
• Abigail Touhey was the biggest mover in the top 10, climbing from 53rd to 38th among women between the start and the finish line.
• Morgan Engel posted the 32nd-fastest second-half split among women, surging from 45th to 37th in the women's field over the back half.

In a field of 677 finishers in the F20-24 race, Melknat Wudu of Boston was in a class of her own. The 21-year-old crossed in 47:44 — a 5:07-per-mile clip that put her within 11 seconds of Jesca Chelangat's 2023 women's course record and well clear of the 2025 women's winner Veronica Loleo's 49:37. She held 2nd among all women through the opening 5K before locking in that position the rest of the way, and her 5K-to-10K split ranked 2nd-fastest among all women in the field. On a humid morning in Utica, that was a performance that demanded the whole race's attention.

Behind Wudu, a gap of over ten minutes separated the winner from the rest of the F20-24 podium, making the real battle the one for 2nd and 3rd. Savanah Beavers of Danvers, IL held 2nd at 58:05, running 20th among women on the middle segment to maintain her position. Ava Mahoney of Marblehead, MA finished 3rd in 59:14, posting the 24th-fastest women's split from 10K to the finish — not enough to close the 1:09 gap to Beavers, but a solid anchor leg that cemented the podium.

Further back, the second half of the course reshuffled the standings in interesting ways. Morgan Engel of Syosset, NY ran the 32nd-fastest second-half split among women to jump from 45th to 37th in the women's field, finishing 4th in 1:01:04. Abigail Touhey of Florence, MA was even more aggressive over the closing stretch — her 31st-fastest women's split from 10K to the finish carried her from 53rd to 38th among women, good for 5th in 1:01:20, just 16 seconds behind Engel.