Fort Ord 10K Girls Under-18: Spalekova edges Plotsky in a tight finish

• Simona Spalekova, 1st (1:04:15, 10:20/mi): Won the under-18 girls race and climbed from 23rd to 12th among women on the final stretch.
• Zoe Plotsky, 2nd (1:04:52, 10:26/mi): Finished just 37 seconds back, moving from 24th to 13th among women — a strong chase that came up just short.
• Simona's closing kick: The 7th-fastest women's split on the Skyline→Finish segment was the decisive edge over Plotsky's 10th-fastest on the same stretch.
• Althea Unangst, 3rd (1:52:07, 18:03/mi): The 11-year-old from Long Beach finished the course, moving from 82nd to 79th among women on the closing segment.

Three girls took on Fort Ord's trails on a cool, breezy February morning in Monterey, and at the front of the under-18 field, it was 11-year-old Simona Spalekova of Santa Clara who claimed the win in 1:04:15 at a 10:20/mi pace. That she's only 11 and running down a 10K trail course at that clip is the headline in itself.

Hot on her heels was 14-year-old Zoe Plotsky of Santa Cruz, who crossed in 1:04:52 — just 37 seconds behind. The gap between them was real but hard-earned: Spalekova ran the 7th-fastest women's closing split on the Skyline→Finish segment, while Plotsky posted the 10th-fastest on that same stretch. Plotsky was faster than the bulk of the women's field on that final push, but Spalekova was faster still — and that difference is where the race was decided.

Althea Unangst, also 11 and making the trip from Long Beach, rounded out the under-18 field in 1:52:07 at an 18:03/mi pace. She ticked up three spots among women on the Skyline→Finish leg, finishing 79th in the women's field. Completing a trail 10K at age 11 is no small thing, whatever the clock says.