Boilermaker 5K M30-34: Rebovich Rules a Deep Field

• Nikolas Rebovich wins in 18:15 (5:52/mi), topping a 143-man M30-34 field by a commanding 2:27 over runner-up Josh Brown.
• Josh Brown (2nd, 20:42) and Joseph Scharf (3rd, 21:29) rounded out the podium, with a 47-second gap separating them.
• Places 5–7 finished within 8 seconds of each other: Michael Hajec (5th, 24:25), Jonathon Marchione (6th, 24:30), and Tyler Crandall (7th, 24:33) — three men, one fierce cluster.
• Nikolas Rebovich returns from 2024, when he finished 8th among men overall in 17:43 — this year's 18:15 on a humid, 75°F morning tells its own story about the conditions.

Nikolas Rebovich of Pawtucket, RI, owned the M30-34 race from the moment the clock started. His 5:52/mi average was in a different gear entirely from the rest of the field — Josh Brown's 6:40/mi runner-up pace was nearly 50 seconds per mile slower — and Rebovich's 2:27 winning margin left no ambiguity at the front. The 90% humidity and warm morning air made sub-19 running a genuine achievement, and Rebovich delivered it.

Behind Brown (20:42) and Scharf (21:29), the race opened up considerably. Greg Tower crossed 4th in 23:27 before the real drama kicked off: Hajec, Marchione, and Crandall ran each other into the ground over the final stretch, finishing 5th through 7th in a span of just eight seconds — 24:25, 24:30, and 24:33 respectively. Three different towns, one scoreboard line.

Robert Pinter (8th, 25:19) and Brandon Zakris (9th, 25:28) kept things honest just behind, with Dillon Brown (10th, 25:42) and Christopher Misiaczek (11th, 25:45) separated by only three seconds. The back half of the top 20 was similarly tight — Eric Worden (20th, 27:17) and Alex Lang (19th, 27:16) finished a single second apart — a reminder that in a 143-man field on a muggy July morning in Utica, every second of effort showed up on the clock.