M21-24: Baciocco Leads a Bay Area Sweep at Napa Valley

• Dominic Baciocco won the M21-24 field in 2:42:30 (6:12/mi), finishing 20th among all men — the fastest young gun on the Silverado Trail.
• Brendan Creeks ran the 7th-fastest men's split on the 13.1M–16.2M segment in the entire field, powering from 64th to 35th among men en route to 2nd place in 2:49:34.
• Just 1:40 separated 2nd and 3rd: Creeks (2:49:34) edged Brandon Apresa (2:51:14), with both running notably different paces — 6:28/mi vs. 6:32/mi — to land within striking distance.
• Harry Osorio closed with the 35th-fastest men's split from 20M to the finish, steadily climbing from 87th to 57th among men to claim 4th in 2:54:12.

Dominic Baciocco of San Francisco set the tone early, sitting inside the top 10 among all men through the first 10 miles of Napa Valley's net-downhill point-to-point course. He faded slightly from 10th to 20th in the men's field over the back half — a natural consequence of the 6:12/mi pace he'd committed to — but no one in the M21-24 field came close to matching his 2:42:30. That's a gap of more than seven minutes to second place, and it was never really in doubt.

The real drama unfolded in the battle for 2nd and 3rd. Brendan Creeks of Burlingame ran a race of two halves: he was mired 64th among men at the opening checkpoint, then ignited through the 13.1M–16.2M segment with the 7th-fastest men's split in the entire field, vaulting past dozens of rivals. He ultimately finished 2nd in 2:49:34. Brandon Apresa of San Dimas ran a steadier, more conservative race — 63rd among men early and 43rd at the finish — posting a 6:32/mi average to land 3rd in 2:51:14. Two very different strategies, 1:40 apart at the line.

Behind the podium, Osorio (4th, 2:54:12) and Gabriel Cendejas (5th, 2:59:18) rounded out the sub-3:00 finishers in the M21-24 field. Cendejas, a Napa local racing in his own backyard, crossed in 2:59:18 at 6:50/mi. Isaac Hull (6th, 3:02:56) and Ryan Olson (7th, 3:03:46) were separated by just 50 seconds, while the rest of the 72-man field spread across a wide range of finishing times down through the top 20 and beyond.