The AAA Boys race opened the afternoon session. This was expected to be a four-way battle, but that rapidly became a two-team meet as two teams faltered and two teams raised their game to another level. University and Wheeling Park both had exceptional meets, but University's was just a little more exceptional. If someone had told me that Wheeling Park would score 31 points better than expected, I'd have thought they ran away with the meet, but University was just completely outstanding. Individually, Wheeling Park's Ryan Beabout came through with a championship performance. Pulling away shortly after the two-mile marker and steadily increasing his lead the rest of the way.

Where did the sun come from? The AAA Boys race started under the sunshine. It was still windy and cold and wet and muddy, but there was sun. I didn't get any kind of a checkpoint until the mile marker because I missed the start of the race changing clothes after the A-AA awards ceremony.

I barely made it to the mile mark before the runners arrived, so my notes are a little shaky, and I didn't get all the pictures I wanted to help me out. Fairmont Senior's David Ciarolla held a slight lead over Wheeling Park's Ryan Beabout, crossing in 5:40 to Beabout's 5:41. My next photo shows Jefferson's Cory Hampshire who crossed in about 5:42, University's Eric Frohnapfel, and Elkins' Alex Zurbuch who each crossed in about 5:44. The next photo shows Cabell Midland's David Bias who crossed in 5:46, Preston's Josh Feather and University's Chris Cole who crossed in 5:47, Cabell Midland's Cass Meadows, Parkersburg's Sam Vincent, and Preston's Craig Pritt who all crossed in 5:48. There may have been someone else in there that didn't get in a picture, but I think that was everyone.

I caught part of the races from the top of the hill as the runner's rounded the WVU Extension Service building. This is close to the 1.5 mile point. Ryan Beabout had made a move into the lead. I think that Eric Frohnapfel had moved into 2nd, with David Ciarolla in 3rd. Alex Zurbuch was running in fourth. Cory Hampshire was holding 5th. Josh Feather was in 6th, just ahead of Chris Cole and Craig Pritt. Sam Vincent was all alone in 9th, and David Bias was clinging to 10th. The Wheeling Park duo of Jason Bennett and Kyle Gramlich along with Ripley's Corey Waybright were in pursuit.

At the 2 mile mark it was still Ryan Beabout in the lead, just a couple steps ahead of Eric Frohnapfel. The pair crossed in 11:15 and 11:16 respectively. David Ciarolla was very much in the hunt still, crossing in 11:18. Alex Zurbuch was still holding 4th, though I stopped writing down times at this point. Cory Hampshire was about 2 seconds behind him. Chris Cole had moved into 6th place with Josh Feather in 7th. Sam Vincent had moved up to 8th, just ahead of Craig Pritt. I don't have the photo (a nice photo of grass and spectators), but I believe that Kyle Gramlich had moved into 10th place at this point. Jason Bennett and Corey Waybright were the closest pursuers. In the team race, University looked to be in very good shape and perhaps had the meet in hand.

Coming onto the track, it was Ryan Beabout in first, and he had opened a substantial lead over the last mile. He crossed in 17:11, giving him the State Championship and an 11 second victory. Eric Frohnapfel held off a late push by David Ciarolla to claim second place. The two crossed the line in 17:22 and 17:24, respectively. Cory Hampshire just edged out Josh Feather at the line by 0.3 seconds for fourth place with each being credited with a 17:41. Chris Cole was just a second off their time, crossing in 17:41 and taking 6th. Alex Zurbuch just held off the late surge of Craig Pritt 0.44 seconds to take 7th. Sam Vincent solidly held onto 9th without being threatened by behind crossing in 17:48, and Kyle Gramlich easily held onto 10th crossing in 17:56. The 11th place runner crossed in 18:10. The team race played out in the last mile with both University and Wheeling Park picking up places toward the end. Wheeling Park's Spencer Teufel made a major move in the last mile. At the two mile mark, he was no higher than 24th and since I have a couple pictures of grass and spectators where I missed runners, he was likely lower. He moved all the way up to 14th, but it was not enough as University's 3-4-5 combination of Julian Bergstein, Adam Frohanpfel, and Ethan Elliot all excelled, and University held up for the narrow 3 point victory.

There's no doubt that the MVP for this race should come from University High School. You could argue for Eric Frohnapfel running his outstanding race to take 2nd. That picked up 4 team points and could be marked as the difference in winning and losing. But I think you have to look at the 3-4-5 guys. Bergstein, Adam Frohnapfel, and Ethan Elliot. They all picked up a substantial amount of places, which had to be done considering how well Wheeling Park ran. Julian Bergstein was predicted to finish 25th, and he got 11th. He gained 11 team points along the way. Adam Frohnapfel was predicted to finish 30th, and he got 13th. He gained 12 team points along the way. Ethan Elliot was predicted to finish 41st, and he got 20th. He gained 16 team points along the way. Those moves are all so substantial and so important to the success of the team in this meet, I think it's impossible to not acknowledge all of them. So this year, I'm splitting the MVP award three ways. Julian Bergstein, Adam Frohnapfel, and Ethan Elliot already share in a State Championship, and now they share the MVP award as well.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Can we change the subject? Only Jefferson in 5th and Parkersburg South in 11th finished where they were picked. University climbed from third (though they were certainly an acknowledged contender) to 1st. Fairmont Senior dropped from 2nd to 4th. Elkins climbed from 6th to 3rd. George Washington moved up 3 spots from 10th to 7th. Parkersburg moved up 2 spots. Cabell Midland fell five spots. Capital and Hampshire were within one place of their predicted finish. That's possible the most bouncing around I've seen in a team race. Individually, only 7 of the predicted top 10 earned All-State Honors (although two of the predicted top 10 dropped out due to injury during the race). Only 9 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15, and only 18 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. The three that climbed up to take All-State Honors were Preston's Craig Pritt (picked 13th, got 8th), Parkersburg's Sam Vincent (picked 17th, got 9th), and Wheeling Park's Kyle Gramlich (picked 20th, got 10th). Those that climbed into the top 25 were University's Adam Frohnapfel (picked 30th, got 13th), Wheeling Park's Spencer Teufel (picked 27th, got 14th), Wheeling Park's Brandon Janeczko (picked 34th, got 19th), University's Ethan Elliot (picked 41st, got 20th), Hampshire's Nathan Whitacre (picked 45th, got 22nd), North Marion's Zach Tennant (picked 29th, got 24th), and Hedgesville's Nicholas Belotte (picked 31st, got 25th). The big mover of the day was George Washington's Evan Walker, who climbed 33 places from 67th to 34th. In a look to the future, the top two freshmen were Hampshire's Nathan Whitacre (22nd) and George Washington's Evan Walker (34th).

I offer my congratulations to the University boys. You stepped up in a major way, with Eric Frohnapfel leading the way. You proved that mind-over-matter does indeed apply to cross country. The conditions could have allowed you to ease off, but you plowed forward. Julian Bergstein ran his best race ever in his last high school cross country meet. You dictated the race and did not let the race dictate to you. You performed, as a group, far beyond expectations, and as a result, you can call yourselves State Champions.

I offer my congratulations to Ryan Beabout. You were the man to beat from the first meet of the season. You did not lose to an in-State Class AAA runner from start-to-finish. You've shown sportsmanship in both victory and defeat. You have the work ethic of a champion, and now you have the title to prove it.

I offer my congratulations to the boys who shook up our predictions. You prove what we try to tell people every year. Rankings and predictions don't mean anything. That's why we run the race.