Rocket City 5K: Martinez outruns the M15-19 field in Huntsville

• Josh Martinez (17, Knoxville, TN) won the M15-19 group in 19:13 — a 6:11/mi clip across 3.1 miles.
• Jonatan Diaz pushed him hardest, finishing 2nd just 13 seconds back at 19:26 (6:15/mi).
• Keerthan Singireddy claimed 3rd in 21:00 — a full minute and 34 seconds behind Diaz, creating a clear gap to the rest of the podium.
• The field spanned nearly 17½ minutes from first to sixth, with Quincy Freeman Jr. rounding out the group in 36:39.

Josh Martinez made the trip from Knoxville, Tennessee worth every mile. The 17-year-old ran a controlled, confident 19:13 — 6:11 per mile on a mild December morning in Huntsville — to take the M15-19 title. That pace held up well in 59°F conditions with a light breeze, and no one in the group could match it.

The closest thing to a battle at the front was between Martinez and fellow teen Jonatan Diaz of Baileyton, Alabama. Diaz crossed in 19:26, running 6:15/mi, and those 13 seconds represent the tightest margin anywhere in the group. After that, Keerthan Singireddy (Madison, AL) locked in 3rd at 21:00 — solid at 6:46/mi, but the race for the podium was effectively a two-man affair up front.

Terris Pugh (4th, 22:15) and William McGuire (5th, 24:03) filled out the middle of the M15-19 field, separated by a minute and 48 seconds. Quincy Freeman Jr., 16, from Clarksville, Tennessee, finished 6th in 36:39 — completing the 5K and putting a finish on the board. In a six-man group, showing up and finishing is its own result.