Boys 14-and-Under: Syrus Khwaja Leads a Strong Fresno Sweep Up Front

• Syrus Khwaja, 14, wins in 42:19 — a 6:49/mi clip that held up as the clear benchmark across all 13 finishers in the M0-14 group.
• Top three separated by just 2:09 — Khwaja (42:19), E. Cuellar (43:44), and Alexander Schick (44:28) ran the tightest cluster of the day.
• Alexander Schick made the biggest move late, posting the 10th-fastest 1M-to-Finish split among the women's field — faster on that stretch than both Khwaja (8th) and Cuellar (11th) — climbing from 14th to 9th among women in the process.
• W. Durham, age 6, finished 10th in the group in 1:11:34 — one of the youngest finishers on the course.

Syrus Khwaja set the tone from the start and never let it slip, crossing in 42:19 at a 6:49/mi average to take the M0-14 title. The 14-year-old Fresno local held 4th among the men throughout and backed it up with the 8th-fastest closing split in the women's field — a sign he was still running with authority when it mattered.

E. Cuellar, 12, was right in the mix at 43:44 (7:02/mi) for second, but the closing stretch told an interesting story. Schick, a 13-year-old from Fresno, ran the 10th-fastest 1M-to-Finish split in the women's field — a noticeably stronger close than Cuellar's 11th-fastest — and that finishing kick was enough to reel in Cuellar's lead and land Schick in third at 44:28. The gap between second and third was just 44 seconds, but Schick earned it by running the faster final stretch.

Tyler Teddleton (4th, 46:12) and Eli Ocampo (5th, 47:01) rounded out a competitive top five, with Ocampo's late surge particularly eye-catching — he climbed from 25th to 15th among the women's field over that final mile. L. Sran, just 11 years old from Clovis, turned in a gutsy 6th-place finish in 48:07.

The back half of the field told its own story of perseverance. A. Navas, 10, crossed in 58:53, while W. Durham — just 6 years old — covered the full 10K in 1:11:34. And D. Tiu, age 7, finished all 13th in 1:42:43, completing a course that many adults wouldn't attempt.