LOS ANGELES Former Montana State runner Matt Richtman became the first American in 31 years to win the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday.Richtman, who was a two-time All-American cross country runner at Montana State, won the mara thon with a time of 2:07:56, outpacing second-place Athanas Kioko of Kenya, who had a time of 2:10:55."I didn't really have a super big plan coming into this. It's always so tough to marathon just because so much can happen," Richtman said afterward. "But really, I just told myself just to stay in that pack until about the halfway mark, that hour mark, and then if I felt good, I could make a move or something like that."(I) ended up going a little bit to the lead and no one really came with me, so I figured let's make it honest and go for it."It was just the second marathon Richtman had run, and his time is the seventh-fastest among Americans.The last American to win the event was Paul Pilkington in 1994.Richtman is an Elburn, Ill., native, and competed at Montana State from 2020 through the 2024. As a senior, he placed 26th in the 10K at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, which is the fourth-best finish by a Bobcat in program history. ...read more read less