F35-39 Half Marathon: Crouch dominates with a 1:20:12 that stands alone

• Sarah Crouch wins F35-39 in 1:20:12 (6:07/mi), also finishing 1st among all women — a margin of more than 20 minutes over 2nd place.
• Ramsey Nuss (1:40:47) and Holli Salamone (1:46:03) round out the podium, separated by 5:16.
• Crouch posted the 2nd-fastest women's split from 10K to the finish, confirming she closed just as hard as she opened.
• Positions 8 through 11 — Carroll, Ellis, Pentz, and Dorough — were packed into a 38-second window between 1:57:29 and 1:59:32, making that stretch the most competitive in the age group.

Sarah Crouch made this race look like a different event from the one everyone else was running. Her 1:20:12 at 6:07 per mile wasn't just a win — it was a statement, arriving more than 20 minutes ahead of any other F35-39 finisher and good enough to lead the entire women's field. She didn't back off late, either: her 10K-to-finish split ranked 2nd among all women, meaning she was still hunting down competitors in the closing miles while the age group behind her was still sorting itself out.

That sorting was genuinely competitive. Ramsey Nuss (Birmingham) claimed 2nd in F35-39 with a 1:40:47, and Holli Salamone (Altoona) held 3rd in 1:46:03 — a 5:16 gap that reflects two clearly distinct efforts rather than a late-race battle. Salamone's 10K-to-finish split ranked 14th among women, matching Nuss's 12th, so neither gave ground in the back half. Katie Gaston (5th, 1:50:46) did fade slightly, slipping two spots among women on the closing stretch after holding 19th at the 10K mark.

The real drama in the age group played out in the 1:57–1:59 corridor, where Emily Carroll, Chelsea Ellis, Jordan Pentz, and Ashley Dorough were separated by just 38 seconds across four finishing spots. On a mild December morning in Huntsville — 59°F and overcast, about as cooperative as race weather gets — there were no excuses for anyone who came up short of a goal. Thirty-four women finished in F35-39, and the depth through the middle of the field was real.