M20-24: Benjamin Reyes Storms Home in 1:15:19

• Reyes wins going away: His 1:15:19 (5:45/mi) was 1:42 clear of runner-up Steven Lancaster — and he posted the 3rd-fastest men's split from 10K to the finish line.
• Lancaster holds firm: The Madera 23-year-old ran 1:17:01 (5:53/mi) and the 7th-fastest men's closing split, never relinquishing 2nd after the opening mile.
• A gap opens at 3rd: Pierson Lamborn's 1:24:14 was a full 7:13 back of Lancaster — the largest single gap between any two adjacent places on the podium.
• 60 finishers, 11-minute spread in the top 5: From Reyes's 1:15:19 to Kennedy Magana's 5th-place 1:36:54, the range tells the story of a front-loaded M20-24 field on a warm Fresno morning.

Benjamin Reyes made the M20-24 race look straightforward. The 22-year-old Fresno native ran 5:45 per mile from start to finish, and his move through the men's field told the real story: he was sitting 9th among men at both the start and the 10K mark, then surged to 4th among men by the finish line — a charge powered by the 3rd-fastest men's split on that closing stretch. In a field of 60, that kind of late acceleration is rare and decisive.

Steven Lancaster gave chase as best he could. The 23-year-old from Madera crossed in 1:17:01 at 5:53/mi, also recording the 7th-fastest men's closing split — meaning he was genuinely moving late in the race too, just not quite at Reyes's level. Lancaster had climbed from 7th to 6th among men by 10K and held that position all the way to the tape, a composed and consistent effort that secured 2nd in the age group by a comfortable margin.

Behind the top two, Pierson Lamborn (1:24:14, 6:26/mi) and Zachary Flores (1:25:44, 6:32/mi) filled out the podium spots, separated by only 90 seconds but a world away from the front. Lamborn and Flores both showed their best work in the opening 10K — Lamborn posted the 16th-fastest men's split on that first segment — before settling into their finishing positions. Kennedy Magana rounded out the top five in 1:36:54 (7:24/mi), though the pace faded noticeably in the back half as he slipped from 37th to 54th among men between the opening mile and the finish.