The final event of the day held an opportunity for history. Cabell Midland had fallen short in its bid for 4 championships in a row. That left Ravenswood with the opportunity to accomplish the feat. The individual title was up for grabs as well, as we felt any of four athletes could walk away with the title. This meet saw Ravenswood make history by winning its fourth consecutive title, but it was not an easy victory.

At the mile mark, Roane's Justin Bossert held a slight edge over the Benford brothers of Ravenswood (Adam and Andrew). They were followed closely by Grafton's Brandon Miles and Liberty Harrison's Josh Wagner. Teamwise, it was really too early to tell. Ravenswood looked pretty good, but since I was taking pictures rather than jotting down teams, I really didn't have a sense for how the team race was unfolding.

At the two-mile mark, little had changed at the front of the pack. Andrew and Adam Benford and Justin Bossert were several seconds ahead of the nearest competition. Sissonville's Wes Snodgrass had moved even with Brandon Miles and Josh Wagner was close behind in 6th. In the team race, we really still weren't sure how it was unfolding. Both Ravenswood and Scott looked decent. The last mile would be the deciding factor.

Coming toward the finish, it was Adam Benford surging past his younger brother for the individual championship. The two had opened a substantial gap on Justin Bossert over the last mile. Bossert was not challenged for third. Wes Snodgrass edged Brandon Miles for 4th. Josh Wagner crossed the line in 6th only to discover he had been disqualified for not having his race number on. That moved Jarren Morland and Lance Hines from Braxton into 6th and 7th, respectively. Michael Hardbarger suffered an injury just before crossing the finish line but was able to hang on for 8th. Wheeling Central's Tyler Morando finished 9th, just ahead of Williamstown's Corey Brown in what they probably thought was for the last All-State position. In the end, they both gained All-State Honors. For the team title, Ravenswood was able to hold off Scott by a mere 5 points.

I'm going way against convention in the selection for the RunWV MVP for this race. As a result, I cannot talk about how far above where he finished this runner placed. I can, however, talk about how his performance influenced his team. Ritchie's John Lafferre is the RunWV MVP for this meet. John, a Junior, gave up his spot on the active roster for this meet to Michael Navarro, a Senior. Navarro had not gotten to compete in a meet yet this year. He had only recently been reinstated to the team and gotten his 14 practices in. With a gesture such as this, the remainder of the Ritchie team had no choice but to run their proverbial guts out. Ritchie was picked to finish 4th, and they only moved up to 3rd. But what a move it was. They actually moved to within striking distance of Ravenswood and Scott. Navarro ran as the number four man to cap his Cross Country career. Lafferre can go home knowing that he may not have had the fastest time of the day (in fact no time at all), but also knowing that he had the classiest move of the day.

Teamwise, we got the first two teams correct. Ritchie moved up a spot, and Frankfort moved up two spots to shake things up a little. Individually, this was porbably our worst set of picks. Only 5 of our top 10 finished in the top 10 (actually 6, but the DQ must be used). We did get 13 of the top 15 correct, and also 21 of the top 25 (23 of 25 if the DQ's had not occurred). Those runners who stepped up to take All-State Honors were Grafton's Brandon Miles (predicted 16th, got 5th), Braxton's Jarren Morlan (predicted 12th, got 6th) and Lance Hines (predicted 11th, got 7th), Ritchie's Michael Hardbarger (predicted 15th, got 8th), and Williamstown's Corey Brown (predicted 14th, got 10th). Those who climbed into the top 25 were Frankfort's Clancy Lanigan (predicted 30th, got 20th), Tucker's Ian Beckner (predicted 34th, got 22nd), Scott's Josh Sheets (predicted 33rd, got 24th), and Ravenswood's A.K. Ibrahim (predicted 26th, got 25th).

We offer our congratulations to the Ravenswood boys. You were targeted throughout the season. You ran every race knowing that the goal was four in a row. You stepped forward and made state history.

We offer our congratulations to Adam Benford. You graduate having won four team titles. You added an individual title to it. You've conducted yourself well and earned your titles.

We offer our congratulations to the boys who shook up our predictions. You prove what we try to tell people all the time. Rankings and predictions do not dictate the race. You dictate the race.