Boilermaker 15K Women: Loleo Takes It, Nawowuna Chases Her Title

• Veronica Loleo wins in 49:36 (5:19/mi), leading wire-to-wire and posting the fastest women's split on the 5K–10K segment to seal the result.
• Grace Loibach Nawowuna, the 2024 champion (49:18), finished 3 seconds back in 49:39 — defending champion, runner-up by a sliver.
• Edna Kiplagat, 45, ran 50:06 to claim 3rd, posting the 3rd-fastest women's 5K–10K split in the process.
• Jessie Cardin moved from 7th at 10K to 5th at the finish in 50:27, logging the 3rd-fastest women's closing split to close out the top five.

Veronica Loleo of Voorthuizen controlled the women's race from start to finish, holding 1st place through every checkpoint and never letting anyone get close enough to threaten. Her winning time of 49:36 — a 5:19/mi average across 9.3 miles in 75°F heat and 90% humidity — was emphatic, and her fastest-among-women split on the 5K-to-10K stretch was where she made the race truly her own.

The most compelling subplot was right behind her. Grace Loibach Nawowuna arrived in Utica as the defending champion, having crossed this same finish line first in 49:18 a year ago. She ran 2nd at every checkpoint and gave everything on the 5K–10K leg — posting the second-fastest women's split on that segment — but Loleo had already built enough of a cushion. Nawowuna's 49:39 was a mere 3 seconds off the winner, a genuinely close finish, but the order never changed.

Third place belonged to Edna Kiplagat, who at 45 ran a composed 50:06 (5:23/mi) and matched her 3rd-place 5K–10K split ranking with her 3rd-place finish. Rachael Chebet was 4th in 50:23, and Jessie Cardin made the most eye-catching late move in the top ten — sitting 7th at 10K, she ran the 3rd-fastest closing split among the women to surge to 5th in 50:27.

Further back, Cynthia Jerotic Limo — who finished 3rd here in 2024 (49:20) — came home 6th in 51:04, a notably different day than her podium finish a year ago. Annamaria Kostarellis of Rochester, NY was 7th in 51:19, with Daiana Ocampo (8th, 51:30), Megan Hasz (9th, 51:54), and Mare Dibaba Hurssa (10th, 52:11) rounding out a deep top ten across a women's field of 3,721.