High School Elite Female: Beemer holds her nerve on Peachtree

• Liliana Beemer won the High School Elite Female race in 37:05 (5:58/mi), the only finisher to crack 6:00/mi pace across the 10K.
• Paige Comstock (37:57) and Cadee Benz (38:35) completed the podium — a 1:30 spread from first to third across 16 finishers.
• Benz posted the 29th-fastest women's split on the 5M→Finish stretch, the strongest closing split on that segment among the top three.
• Weezie Moore and Harper Stephens both clocked 41:10, but the places differ — Moore edged Stephens by a sliver to take 12th.

Beemer ran the kind of race that looks tidy in hindsight but wasn't without pressure in real time. She moved between 40th and 42nd among all women throughout the race, ultimately finishing 40th in the women's field — a steady, disciplined effort at 5:58/mi that held up through the Atlanta humidity. The win was hers from the front, and she never let it slip.

Behind her, Comstock was the day's biggest climber among the contenders. She entered the women's field around 54th and steadily worked her way to 44th by the finish, closing with the 35th-fastest women's split on the 5M→Finish segment. At 15 years old, she's the youngest on the podium and ran every bit like she belonged there.

Benz told a different story altogether. She was sitting 84th among women at one point — deep in the field — before a sustained charge brought her all the way to 49th at the line. That comeback was powered in part by the 29th-fastest women's split on the final stretch, the sharpest finishing kick of anyone in the top three. Fourth-place Olivia Diquattro made a similar move, climbing from 94th among women to 53rd, with a strong 4M→5M segment helping fuel her push.

Further back, the battle for 12th came down to fractions: Moore and Stephens both show 41:10, but the timing tape gave Moore the edge. It was that kind of day on Peachtree — warm, overcast, and close enough at every position to matter.