Women's 10K: Yazzie runs away from the field in the cold

• Charmayne Yazzie won in 46:03 (7:25/mi), finishing 1:20 ahead of runner-up Taylor Rings — a margin she built and defended across both halves of the race.
• Rochelle Almer posted the 4th-fastest second-half split among the women to move from 7th to 5th, overtaking Jill Vallejo, who had the 5th-fastest second half despite holding 4th at the midpoint.
• Addison Yates, just 15 years old from Harvey, ND, cracked the top ten with a 53:48 (8:39/mi) — 9th among 108 women.
• The top three — Yazzie, Rings, and Lilly Scherr — posted the three fastest second-half splits in the women's field, in the exact order they finished.

At 39°F and a brisk 86% humidity, the women's 10K in Bismarck was a race for those who handle cold mornings well — and Charmayne Yazzie handled it best of all. The 38-year-old Bismarck native led wire to wire, holding the top spot from the 5K checkpoint through to the finish line, and she wasn't just leading — she was pulling away. Her 7:25/mi average was a full 13 seconds per mile faster than runner-up Taylor Rings, and her second-half split was the fastest among all 108 women.

Rings, also of Bismarck, was a comfortable second in 47:23 (7:38/mi), finishing 1:20 back of Yazzie and 2:41 clear of third. Lilly Scherr rounded out the podium in 50:04 (8:03/mi), and the top three were clean in their order from halfway home — each posting the top three second-half splits among the women, respectively.

The most interesting move of the race came just behind the podium. Rochelle Almer sat 7th at the midpoint but ran the 4th-fastest second half among the women, surging past Jill Vallejo to claim 5th in 51:28 (8:17/mi). Vallejo, 46, held on for 4th in 51:24 — just four seconds ahead — and deserves credit for her own strong finish, posting the 5th-fastest second-half split. It was a tight, well-run battle for that final top-five spot.

Further back, 15-year-old Addison Yates of Harvey was one of the quiet standouts of the morning, running 53:48 to finish 9th in a field of 108 women — a result that speaks for itself.