Boilermaker 15K M20-24: Sitonik Dominates, Lawler and Johnson Battle for the Podium

• Kiprono Sitonik, 42:53 (4:36/mi) — wins the M20-24 race by over two minutes, posting the 2nd-fastest split among men on the 5K–10K segment.
• Sam Lawler (44:54) edges Ryan Johnson (45:30) — a 36-second gap at the line for 2nd and 3rd, with both men running top-10 splits among men on the final 10K–finish leg.
• Joey Datta (4th, 47:27) and Collin Stafford (5th, 47:58) — rounded out the top five with sub-48 finishes, Datta posting the 14th-fastest men's split on the 5K–10K leg.
• 736 finishers in the M20-24 field made this one of the deepest cohorts on the course.

Kiprono Sitonik of Tampa came to Utica and made the M20-24 race his own from early on. Moving from 5th among men at the opening 5K checkpoint all the way to 2nd by the halfway mark, Sitonik had already put the field away before the final stretch. His 42:53 finish at a 4:36-per-mile clip is a time that sits within striking distance of the men's overall course record of 42:06 — a remarkable benchmark for a 24-year-old. Nobody in the M20-24 field came close to answering.

The real drama played out behind him. Sam Lawler of Syracuse and Ryan Johnson of Waltham, MA were locked in a sustained battle through the middle miles, with both men running in the 10th–14th range among men at 10K before pressing hard to the finish. Lawler's 9th-fastest men's split on the closing 10K–finish leg helped him hold off Johnson, who matched him with the 10th-fastest closing split — a genuine catch-up attempt that fell just short. Lawler crossed in 44:54 (4:49/mi), Johnson in 45:30 (4:53/mi).

Joey Datta (4th, 47:27) and local favorite Collin Stafford of Lyons Falls, NY (5th, 47:58) completed a strong top five. Datta's 14th-fastest men's split on the 5K–10K segment helped him move from 21st among men at the first checkpoint to 16th at the finish, while Stafford's 18th-fastest closing split kept him just inside 48 minutes. From there, Carson Campbell (6th, 49:58) through Thomas Addison V (20th, 52:53) filled out a competitive and closely bunched chase pack across 736 total finishers.