Rocket City 10K — F30-34: Cheney Runs Away With It

• Hawley Cheney won the F30-34 age group in 43:17 (6:58/mi), finishing nearly 1:36 ahead of runner-up Jordan Buch.
• Jordan Buch held 2nd in 44:53, with Kortney Kuhl (47:07) and Kimberly Mercier (48:00) rounding out the podium and 4th place — the top four separated by under five minutes.
• The field of 33 spread across a wide range: from Cheney's 6:58/mi down to finishers in the 11–12 min/mi range, reflecting the full spectrum of the age group.
• A notably tight battle for 19th and 20th: Maggie Hovis (1:13:37) and Ashlee Booksh (1:13:38) finished just one second apart.

On a mild December morning in Huntsville — 59°F and overcast — Hawley Cheney of Winchester, TN made the F30-34 race look straightforward. Her 43:17 at 6:58 per mile was the class of the field from the start, and the gap she built over Jordan Buch tells the whole story: a 96-second margin in a 10K is a decisive victory, not a close call.

Buch (44:53, 7:13/mi) out of Chattanooga held 2nd comfortably, while local runner Kortney Kuhl gave Huntsville something to cheer about with a 47:07 for 3rd. Kimberly Mercier of nearby New Market came in 4th at 48:00, just 53 seconds behind Kuhl — the most competitive gap on the podium. Amanda Steinmetz rounded out the top five at 50:11, keeping the lead pack well under the hour mark.

Further back, the race became a battle of its own. The stretch from 7th through 10th — Kassandra Rane, Kirstin Morris, Emily Louise Able, and Sally Neill — played out across just over two minutes between 56:57 and 59:27. And at the very back of the listed finishers, Hovis and Booksh were essentially inseparable, crossing in 1:13:37 and 1:13:38 respectively — a one-second gap after more than 73 minutes of racing.