PEORIA, ILLINOIS -- The 51st Steamboat Classic hosted the 2025 USATF 4 Mile Championships on a humid Saturday morning. The women’s race started at 7:05 a.m. CT. The women’s pack was together through the first mile in 5:15. After the mile, teammates Taylor Roe and Molly Born along with Amanda Vestri broke away from the rest of the race. They worked together for the next two miles running 5:00 and 4:48 miles. Taylor made her move in the last mile running 4:25 pace with a five block down hill stretch to the finish. “I had specific instructions from coach to work on different racing tactics today” Roe said of her win. While practicing racing tactics, Roe set an American Best of 19:40 in the four-mile race earning her third USATF title on the roads in 2025. Amanda Vestri and Molly Born rounded out the top three in 20:02 and 20:11 respectively. Vestri said, “This race was a fun and challenging way to test my closing speed and get more familiar in a tactical race setting.” The women have the 6 km, 20 km and Marathon Championships left in the 2025 USATF Running Circuit. The top three women in the circuit win prize money. Taylor is in the lead with 45 points. Carrie Ellwood is second with 38 and Emma Grace Hurley has 24 points for third. The Men’s 4 Mile Championship started at 7:10 a.m. CT with the same tactical approach. No one wanted to take the lead. Brian Barazza, Cameron Miller, and Biya Simbassa were at the front of the pack but not pushing the pace through the first mile in 4:55. Shuaib Aljabaly went to the front and stretched out the pack in the second mile, dropping the pace to 4:30. The race was giving out a prime bonus for the first athlete to mile two. Biya and Casey Clinger pushed to get the bonus, with Biya crossing the two-mile mark first. With the prime bonus achieved, the pace slowed to 4:39 for the third mile with Shuaib leading a pack of seven. The eventual winner, Alex Maier was tucked in the middle of the pack. The top four, Alex Maier, Casey, Biya and Charles Hicks separated from the pack in the last mile. With the five block stretch of downhill to the finish ahead of him, Casey made the first move but Alex covered it. Alex continued his kick to win the race in 18:03 with a sub-four minute mile the last mile. Casey Clinger edged out Biya Simbassa for second in 18:06 and 18:07 respectively. Charles closed his last mile in 4:07, matching his mile personal record to finish fourth in 18:11. Brian Barraza closed hard for fifth in 18:13. Casey said, “The race felt more like a one mile race with a three mile warmup. Everyone was waiting to see who would make the first move. That didn’t happen till the last mile. I moved hard with a half mile to go, knowing the last few blocks were downhill. Alex responded with a great kick. Overall I had an awesome time and learned a lot. I am excited and hopefully come back to the Steamboat Classic again.” With only the 20 km and Marathon Championship left in the Men’s USATF Running Circuit, this race was key to the top 3 places in the circuit at the end of the year. Alex and Casey are in a tight race for the top Circuit racer prize purse of $15,000. Second place gets $7,500. Alex has 42 points for his two wins and a second place to Casey’s 39 points for a win and two seconds. Hillary Bor is third with 27 points and Charles Hicks is fourth with 22 points. The next stop on the circuit for the women is the USATF Women’s 6 km race on July 12 in Canton, OH. The next stop for men is the USATF 20K Championships on Labor Day in New Haven, CT.