Broken Arrow Skyrace Ascent — F20-29: Strouse Claims the Title

• Brin Strouse won the F20-29 field in 53:44 (14:53/mi), finishing more than 2:31 ahead of runner-up Sabrina Thurber.
• The podium was settled by 54 seconds between 2nd and 3rd — Thurber (56:15) edging Schultz (57:09).
• Lily Berwanger, the youngest finisher at 20, took 4th in 58:25 — the only competitor in the field from Montrose, CO, racing against athletes largely from coastal California.
• The field split sharply after 7th place: Lauren Henderson crossed in 59:49, then an 11-minute gap separated her from 8th-place Maggie Weaver (1:10:47).

Brin Strouse, 25, from Frederick, MD, put together the dominant performance of the F20-29 field, covering the high-altitude ascent at a 14:53/mi average — a pace that left everyone else well behind on a course that climbs from roughly 6,257 to 8,845 feet. For an athlete traveling from Maryland, the thin air at Palisades Tahoe is a genuine variable, which makes her comfortable margin all the more striking. She held 37th among women through the KT 22 checkpoint before settling at 38th — a steady, controlled run to the line.

Sabrina Thurber and Julia Schultz waged the race's most compelling internal battle. Thurber, from nearby Mill Valley, CA, held 2nd through the final stretch, but Schultz actually gained ground in the closing KT 22-to-finish segment — posting the 48th-fastest women's split there to Thurber's 47th, nearly identical efforts that left just 54 seconds between them at the line. Schultz even moved from 52nd to 50th among women on that final push, while Thurber slipped one spot.

Berwanger (4th, 58:25) and Emily Coppi (5th, 59:07) rounded out a tight chase pack, separated by only 42 seconds. Notably, Coppi dropped two places among women on the closing segment — suggesting some fade after KT 22 — while Berwanger held firm. Mikelle Ackerley and Lauren Henderson completed the top seven within a minute of each other, before the field spread out considerably. The back half of the 18-woman field ranged from 1:10:47 to 1:34:07, reflecting just how demanding this climb is at altitude, regardless of where the day began to take its toll.