M20-24 at CIM 2025: Mccann edges a five-second thriller at the top

• Michael Mccann wins in 2:14:57 (5:09/mi), holding off Evan Sherman by just five seconds in one of the closest finishes in the M20-24 group.
• Sherman led on the roads early, running the 5th-through-10th-kilometer stretch as the 17th-fastest men's split in the field, before fading from 18th among men at 30K to 42nd by the finish.
• Braden Nicholson's 25K–30K surge — the 12th-fastest men's split on that segment in the entire field — powered him to a 2:16:42 third-place finish, 1:45 behind the winner.
• Jacob Lehmann Duke ran the strongest closing kick in the top five, posting the 58th-fastest men's split from 40K to the finish on his way to 5th in 2:19:21.

Cool, overcast conditions — 46°F with barely a breath of wind — set the table for fast times at Sacramento, and the M20-24 group delivered. Michael Mccann, 22, from Lackawanna County, PA, crossed in 2:14:57 at 5:09/mi to claim the age-group title. Right behind him, Brooklyn's Evan Sherman finished in 2:15:02 — five seconds back, same displayed pace, but a completely different race trajectory. Sherman was flying early, sitting among the top men in the field through 10K, but the back half caught up with him: he slid from 18th among men at 30K all the way to 42nd by the line. Mccann, meanwhile, ran a steadier race, hovering in the mid-to-upper 30s among men throughout and holding his position where Sherman couldn't. The gap at the line was five seconds; the gap in execution was considerably wider.

Braden Nicholson of Loveland, CO, earned third in 2:16:42 (5:13/mi) with a notably aggressive middle stretch — his 25K–30K split ranked 12th-fastest among men in the field, a surge that helped him climb from 80th among men at 25K to 63rd by 35K. Nate Tavakolian (Santa Barbara, CA) was fourth in 2:18:33, posting the 53rd-fastest men's split from 35K to 40K and continuing to move through the field in the final quarter of the race. Rounding out the top five, Jacob Lehmann Duke (Berkeley, CA) finished in 2:19:21 with the strongest closing split of the group's top five — 58th-fastest men's split from 40K to the finish — edging out Max Jaffe (2:19:55) and Aaron Bratt (2:20:19) to secure fifth.

The depth in this 194-runner field was genuine. Caleb Haugland (8th, 2:21:28), Evan Franco (9th, 2:21:39), and Sheldon Watanabe (10th, 2:22:01) all broke 2:23, and Brenden Sands (11th, 2:23:00) and Kyle Puckett (12th, 2:23:15) weren't far behind. Thirteen men in the M20-24 group broke 2:24 on a day that rewarded patience and steady pacing — exactly the kind of race Mccann ran from gun to tape.