The morning session was closed with the AAA Boys race. The team race was expected to be a battle between Cabell Midland and Jefferson with Midland having the upper hand. However, Jefferson came to work and got the job done, taking the three point win. Individually, Jacob Burcham was expected to have an easy day of it. He led pretty much from the start and cruised to an 11 second win.

My first checkpoint was the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. At this point, Cabell Midland's Jacob Burcham had already moved to the front coming through in 3:43. Teammate Tyler Salmons was running in 2nd at 3:46. Jefferson's Eric Graf and Winfield's Joseph Kirtner were battling for 3rd in 3:48. Preston's Peter Schwarzenberg was running in 5th also in 3:48. University's Jordan Brown-Stobbe was right behind in 6th with a 3:49. Fairmont Senior's Nick Trefz was running in 7th also in 3:49. Preston's Brody Born was running in 8th in 3:50. Jefferson's Andrew Milliron was in 9th also in 3:51. Martinsburg's Nic Bauer was holding 10th in 3:51. Jefferson's Ryan Graf was in 11th in 3:51. Morgantown's Cameron Greza was running also in 3:52 crossing in 12th. Cabell Midland's Jeremy Waugh was running in 13th coming through in 3:52. He was followed by teammate Brian Lawhon in 3:53 in 14th. George Washington's Matthew Brafford was in 15th in 3:53. It's unclear on my video who was running in 16th. I think it's East Fairmont's Tony Hayes coming through in 3:53. Jefferson Sam Munnis was in 17th at 3:54. George Washington's Garrett Boggs was in 18th in 3:57. Parkersburg's Nick Musgrave was in 19th in 3:58, and Cabell Midland's Eric Wooten rounded out the top 20 coming through in 3:59.

At the mile mark, Jacob Burcham had maintained a small gap on his pursuers. He crossed the mile mark in 5:12. Tyler Salmons was still in 2nd, crossing in 5:15. Eric Graf and Peter Schwarzenberg were side-by-side with both crossing in 5:16. Joseph Kirtner was running in 5th, crossing in 5:17. Jordan Brown-Stobbe was in 6th, crossing in 5:19. Close behind in 5:20 were Brody Born and Nick Trefz in 7th and 8th, respectively. Andrew Milliron was in 9th in 5:21. Ryan Graf had moved into 10th in 5:23, just ahead of Matthew Brafford who crossed in 5:24. Cameron Greza was in 12th and Nic Bauer was in 13th with both matching Brafford's 5:24. Jeremy Waugh held 14th in 5:26. Sam Munnis and Brian Lawhon ran in 15th and 16th, respectively, also in 5:26. Tony Hayes was in 17th at 5:27. Garrett Boggs was in 18th at 5:32. Nick Musgrave and Eric Wooten rounded out the top 20 with both crossing in 5:34.

At the top of the hill at the WVU Extension Service Building, which is about 1.4 miles into the race, Jacob Burcham continued to hold a small lead over the field. He came through in 7:26. Eric Graf and Tyler Salmons were battling for 2nd with both crossing in 7:30. Graf had a slight edge. Peter Schwarzenberg was in 4th in 7:31. This group had opened a sizable gap on the rest of the field. Jordan Brown-Stobbe was in 5th in 7:40. He was trailed closely by Brody Born and Joseph Kirtner who also crossed in 7:40 with Born slightly ahead. Nick Trefz was in 8th in 7:41. Andrew Milliron remained in 9th in 7:42. Matthew Brafford rounded out the top 10 in 7:45. Ryan Graf was in 11th in 7:46. Sam Munnis was in 12th in 7:47. Cameron Greza was holding 13th in 7:49. Jeremy Waugh was in 14th in 7:50. Nic Bauer was in 15th in 7:51. Garrett Boggs was in 16th in 7:56. Brian Lawhon was in 17th in 7:57. Eric Wooten was running in 18th in 8:01. He was trailed almost immediately Tony Hayes with the same time. Rounding out the top 20 was Nick Musgrave in 8:02.

At the 2 mile mark, Jacob Burcham continued to hold his lead, crossing in 10:31. Eric Graf had taken slight control of 2nd, crossing in 10:35. Tyler Salmons was still right behind in 10:36. Peter Schwarzenberg was still right on their heels in 10:37. The lead this group had over the remaining field had opened up to 16 seconds. Jordan Brown-Stobbe led a group battling for 5th, coming through in 10:53. Brody Born was right on his heels, and Nick Trefz also came through in 10:53. Matthew Brafford was in the back of that pack, crossing in 10:54 in 8th place. Joseph Kirtner was holding 9th in 10:58, matched by Ryan Graf in 10th. Andrew Milliron was in 11th in 10:59. Sam Munnis was holding 12th in 11:04. Cameron Greza and Jeremy Waugh crossed in 11:10 in 13th and 14th, respectively. Nic Bauer was in 15th, crossing in 11:16. Garrett Boggs was in 16th in 11:19. Eric Wooten had moved up to 17th in 11:25. He was trailed closely by Nick Musgrave in 11:26 in 18th. Tony Hayes was in 19th in 11:27. University's Andrew Paladino had moved into 20th in 11:28.

Coming onto the track, Burcham had extended his lead. He moved on to an 11 second win in 15:48. Eric Graf continued to pull away to take control of 2nd, also sneaking in under 16:00 with a 15:59. Peter Schwarzenberg moved up to 3rd in 16:09. Tyler Salmons held on for 4th with ease in 16:13. Nick Trefz ran strong over the last mile to move up to 5th, crossing in 16:25. Ryan Graf continued his move up the field and made a late pass to finish 6th in 16:28. Brody Born held 7th in 16:29. Matthew Brafford finished his strong run in 8th in 16:32. Jordan Brown-Stobbe held off Andrew Milliron for 9th as they crossed in 16:38 and 16:39 to round out the All-State Positions. Sam Munnis easily claimed the 11th spot in 16:46. He was the last one in under 17:00. Joseph Kirtner held on for 12th in 17:02. Garrett Boggs made a very late pass on Jeremy Waugh for 13th as they both hit 17:06. Nic Bauer finished 15th in 17:07. Cameron Greza easily held the 16th spot in 17:11. Eric Wooten claimed the 17th position in 17:21. Winfield's Cory Foster finished strong to move up to 18th in 17:24. Preston's Nicholas Robertson also closed strong to move up to 19th in 17:27. Nick Musgrave held the 20th position in 17:28.

With the team title finishing just three points apart, I think I have to look to the winning team to determine an MVP. My choice for the AAA Boys ran his own race and ran within himself. He didn't overreact to being a little further back in the field early in the race. He passed 4 people in the last mile picking up 3 team points in the process (one pass was on a teammate). If he doesn't make that move, the meet ends in a tie (though Jefferson still wins on the tie-breaker). For those reasons, Jefferson's, Ryan Graf is the 2011 RunWV MVP.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Jefferson took the title away from Cabell Midland. Only one team moved up or down more than 1 place. Individually, 9 of the predicted top 10 did indeed finish in the top 10. 14 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15, but only 21 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. The one who moved into the top 10 was Jefferson's Andrew Milliron (picked 11th, got 10th). Those who moved into the top 25 were Cabell Midland's Eric Wooten (picked 27th, got 17th), Winfield's Cory Foster (picked 35th, got 18th), Preston's Nick Robertson (picked 30th, got 19th), and Elkins' Austin Hamrick (picked 32nd, got 24th). There was a four-way tie for the big mover of the day at 18 places. Preston's Trever Jennings (picked 65th, got 47th), St. Albans' Wyatt Browder (picked 71st, got 53rd), St. Albans' Jake Henley (picked 74th, got 56th), and Fairmont Senior's Josh McPherson (picked 83rd, got 65th) share the honor. From a team standpoint, St. Albans had the biggest move, scoring 49 fewer points than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Jefferson boys. It would have been easy to come into the season and run for 2nd place. Most people didn't believe you could win. You believed you could win, and you did the work to back it up and make it happen. You scored three All-State positions and four of the top 11.

I offer my congratulations to Jacob Burcham. No one in State was able to challenge you all season, and you did what you needed to do.

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.