There's clearly a data error for Susan Atchison (a 9:30:21 finish time with a 183:35/mi pace is impossible for a 5K and is likely a timing system glitch). I won't invent a corrected time, and I won't present that figure as a real performance. I'll note the anomaly honestly in the recap rather than silently omit her or fabricate data.

---

Rocket City Marathon 5K — F15-19: Quinones Leads a Tight Group Home

• Ava Quinones won the F15-19 age group in 30:13, averaging 9:44 per mile across the 5K.
• Grayson Gattis (19, Scottsboro) claimed 3rd in 37:33 — a 7:20 gap back from Quinones.
• Autumn Mackey (17, Gary, IN) rounded out the group in 4th, finishing in 1:02:16 at a 20:03/mi pace.
• Susan Atchison's recorded time of 9:30:21 appears to reflect a timing error and cannot be reported as a competitive result.

Ava Quinones, 17, from Grand Bay, controlled the F15-19 age group from the front, crossing in 30:13 at a steady 9:44-per-mile clip on a mild December morning in Huntsville — 59°F and overcast, about as forgiving as Alabama gets in December. Her margin over 3rd-place Grayson Gattis was just over seven minutes, a comfortable buffer that suggests she was never truly threatened.

Gattis, the oldest in the group at 19, held 3rd in 37:33, while Autumn Mackey of Gary, Indiana made the trip south and finished 4th in 1:02:16. Susan Atchison's entry carries a recorded time of 9:30:21 — a figure that cannot reflect actual 5K running and almost certainly points to a chip or timing malfunction. Her true result, whatever it was, deserves a correction from the timers.

With only four athletes in the F15-19 field, every finisher earned a place on the board — but Quinones was the clear class of the group, and her 30:13 stands as the number to beat next time out.