The afternoon session was opened with the highlight event of the day. The team race was expected to be a bit of a shootout between Cabell Midland and Jefferson, but Cabell Midland dominated from start to finish, placing four runners in the top 10 and their front five in the top 14. Individually, a titanic battle was expected between Fairmont Senior's Dayton McVicker, Cabell Midland's Jacob Burcham, Morgantown's Cody Pelliccioni, and Jefferson's Brandon Doughty. These guys did not disappoint as three of them absolutely crushed the course record. In the end, it was Jacob Burcham pulling away from Cody Pelliccioni late to take the 8 second win in an absolutely stellar 15:12.

My first checkpoint was the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. At this point, the big four were already alone in the front crossing in 3:43. Morgantown's Cody Pelliccioni held a slight edge over Cabell Midland's Jacob Burcham. Jefferson's Brandon Doughty was slightly ahead of Fairmont Senior's Dayton McVicker. Crossing in 3:46 were Cabell Midland's Tyler Salmons and Jefferson's Eric Graf in 5th and 6th, respectively. Cabell Midland's Jeremy Waugh and Avery Campbell crossed in 3:50 with Preston's Brody Born in 3:51 in 9th. Martinsburg's Nic Bauer was in 10th in 3:53, trailed very closely by University's Jordan Brown-Stobbe, Hampshire's Tim Loughran, Cabell Midland's Ryan Smith all in 3:53, and Hampshire's Chris Wilson in 14th in 3:54. 15th was Jefferson's Ryan Graf with Preston's Peter Schwarzenberg in 16th with both crossing in 3:55. Jefferson's Sam Munnis was in 17th also at 3:55. Winfield's Joe Kirtner was in 18th, Parkersburg's Josh Harmon was in 19th and Musselman's Cody McDonald was in 20th, with each also crossing in 3:55.

At the mile mark, the big four were still together, all crossing in 5:08. At this point, Jacob Burcham held the slightest of leads over Cody Pelliccioni and Dayton McVicker with Brandon Doughty less than a stride behind. Tyler Salmons was in 5th in 5;12 with Eric Graf in 6th in 5:13. Brody Born was in 7th in 5:17. Jeremy Waugh was in 8th in 5:18. Avery Campbell was in 9th in 5:19. Tim Loughran was in 10th in 5:20 with Peter Schwarzenberg in 11th in 5:20. Ryan Smith was in 12th, Ryan Graf in 13th, and Jordan Brown-Stobbe in 14th with each crossing in 5:21. Joe Kirtner was in 15th in 5:22. Sam Munnis was in 16th in 5:24. Winfield's Patrick Jividen was up to 17th, also in 5:24. Cody McDonald was in 18th in 5:25. Chris Wilson was in 19th in 5:26 and Parkersburg's Nick Musgrave was in 20th also in 5:26.

At the top of the hill at the WVU Extension Service Building, which is about 1.4 miles into the race, well...who knows because I completely screwed up the camera and filmed the ground as I ran from the mile mark to the extension building and then stopped the camera when I was supposed to be filming. I do recall that Burcham and Pelliccioni had started to open a gap on McVicker and Doughty had dropped a little off McVicker.

At the 2 mile mark, Cody Pelliccioni and Jacob Burcham were still together with Pelliccioni holding a slight lead with both crossing in 10:03. Dayton McVicker was solidly in 3rd, crossing in 10:11. Brandon Doughty was easily in 4th crossing in 10:20. Eric Graf was in 5th in 10:34. Tyler Salmons was in 6th in 10:35. Brody Born was in 7th in 10:38. Jeremy Waugh was in 8th in 10:43. Peter Schwarzenberg and Jordan Brown-Stobbe crossed together in 10:46 in 9th and 10th. Ryan Graf was in 11th in 10:49. Ryan Smith was in 12th in 10:50. Avery Campbell was in 13th in 10:51 with Tim Loughran also crossing in 10:51 in 14th. Sam Munnis was running in 15th place, crossing in 10;55. Joe Kirtner was in 16th in 10:56. Morgantown's Cameron Greza was up to 17th place in 10:57. Cody McDonald was in 18th in 11:00. Patrick Jividen was in 19th in 11:02. Nick Musgrave was in 20th in 11:07.

Coming onto the track, it was Jacob Burcham holding a lead over Cody Pelliccioni and moving faster. Burcham pulled further away on the track to take the 8 second victory in a truly impressive 15:12. Cody Pelliccioni was stellar as well in 15:20. Dayto McVicker also crushed the old course record with his 15:30 (which was 15:49 set by Burcham earlier this year at the Geico Classic). Brandon Doughty easily held the 4th spot in 15:56. Brody Born worked his way up to 5th in the final mile and finished in 16:19. Tyler Salmons used a big kick to slip by Eric Graf in the last few meters with Salmons recording a 16:22 and Graf a 16:23. Jeremy Waugh outkicked Jordan Brown-Stobbe for 8th in 16:32 to Brown-Stobbe's 16:33. Ryan Smith used a strong last mile and on-the-track kick to pass Peter Schwarzenberg for the final All-State spot and nearly catch Brown-Stobbe as well as he also recorded a 16:33. Schwarzenberg easily held the 11th spot in 16:35. Ryan Graf easily held the 12th spot with a 16;40. Tim Loughran claimed the 13th spot in 16:42. Avery Campbell easily held on for 14th in 16:49. Cameron Greza moved up to 15th in the last mile and was the last runner under 17:00 with his 16:58. Cody McDonald finished in 17th with his 17:00 time. Sam Munnis took the 18th spot in 17:03. George Washington's Matthew Brafford and Huntington's Jack McGee raced each other past Patrick Jividen for 18th and 19th, respectively with each recording a 17:04. Patrick Jividen held the 20th position with a 17:05.

The search for an MVP is difficult this year because there was no real single performance that dictated a position. Cabell Midland's front five all ran so well, and they won by so much that it's hard to go in that direction, though a distinct tip of the cap to Jeremy Waugh, Ryan Smith, and Avery Campbell is in order as they each finished at least 7 spots above their predicted finish. I think I have to go with a team that moved up a spot and had to run well to hold that spot. This team had one runner that moved up 15 places from his predicted finish to his actual finish and picked up 13 team points along the way. This was enough to preserve their 3rd place finish over Fairmont Senior. This runner was predicted to finish in 44th, but moved all the way up to 29th. His performance secured a 3rd place finish for his team. For that reason, the 2010 RunWV MVP is Wesley Scott of Preston.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? In the team race, Cabell Midland took care of business as expected, though with greater ease than expected. Jefferson easily held 2nd. Preston, Fairmont Senior, Huntington, and Hampshire each moved up a spot at the expense of Parkersburg who had a very rough day. The remaining teams finished in their expected spots. Individually, 8 of the predicted top 10 did indeed finish in the top 10, but only 10 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15. 20 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. Those who made the move onto the podium were Cabell Midland's Jeremy Waugh (picked 16th, got 8th) and Cabell Midland's Ryan Smith (picked 17th, got 10th). Those who made the move into the top 25 were George Washington's Matthew Brafford (picked 27th, got 18th), Huntington's Jack McGee (picked 26th, got 19th), Parkersburg's Nick Musgrave (picked 28th, got 22nd), East Fairmont's Tony Hayes (picked 36th, got 24th), and Martinsburg's Nic Bauer (picked 29th, got 25th). The big mover of the day was Preston's Wesley Scott who moved up 15 spots from a predicted finish of 44th to an actual finish of 29th. From a team standpoint, Preston had the biggest move, scoring 21 fewer points than was predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Cabell Midland boys. You began to serve notice in the middle of the season in the out-of-state meets. Then came the MSAC performance, which was just dominant. There were doubters, but you turned in one of the most dominating State Meet performances of all time. Four All-State Runners and five in the top 15. Staggeringly impressive. You left no doubt.

I offer my congratulations to Jacob Burcham. 15:12 on this course is quite incredible. You ran the aggressive race that you needed to run, and you proved to have the strength to carry it through. You covered the last 1.1 miles in a 4:39 pace, and that was just more than anyone else could handle.

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.