The A-AA Boys closed the day's events. This was expected to be a tight battle between St. Marys and Oak Hill with Philip Barbour having a legitimate shot. The tight battle between St. Marys and Oak Hill did indeed take place as they were separated by just four points...but they both found themselves standing behind Philip Barbour at the end. The guys from Philip Barbour excelled at the right time and made all the right moves during the meet to take the six point win. Individually, it was expected to be a battle of Shaffers, and that battle took place and lasted for about 2.5 miles before Andrew Shaffer put on a final push that Will Shaffer was unable to match as he pulled away for a 15 second victory.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. Scott's Will Shaffer and Richwood's Andrew Shaffer were side-by-side, coming through at 3:50 with Buffalo's Evan Childers close behind in 3:51. Ritchie's Johnny Hogue was running in 4th at 3:53. Oak Hill's Wes Stowers was in 5th at 3:55. Shady Spring's Tyler Kosut was in 6th at 3:59. St. Marys' Charlie Drazba and Jordan Whitehair were holding 7th and 8th, respectively, in 4:00 and 4:02, respectively. Ritchie's Clint Hardman matched Whitehair's 4:02 and was running in 9th. Charleston Catholic's Marcus Black was running in 10th in 4:03. Oak Hill's Lucas Gardner matched Black's 4:03 while holding 11th. Wayne's Forrest Reed crossed in 12th with a 4:04. Frankfort's Shane Ickes was in 13th with a 4:05 with Magnolia's Bill Feeney matching that time in 14th. Sherman's Brandon Perdue was in 15th with a 4:06. Doddridge's Caleb Moore, Magnolia's Alec Hinerman, and PikeView's Jason Weitzel all also crossed in 4:06 while holding the 16th through 18th positions. 19th place was held by Shady Spring's Justin Harper who crossed in 4:07. That time was matched by 20th place Corey Shetler of Berkeley Springs.

At the mile mark, Andrew Shaffer had a slight edge over Will Shaffer with both crossing at about 5:15. Johnny Hogue held a slight edge over Evan Childers for 3rd with both crossing in 5:21. Wes Stowers was in 5th at 5:29 with Charlie Drazba and Tyler Kosut matching that time in 6th and 7th, respectively. Clint Hardman was in 8th with a 5:30. Marcus Black was in 9th with a 5:34 with Bill Feeney in 10th and Jordan Whitehair in 11th with the same time. Forrest Reed was in 12th with a 5:35. Brandon Perdue was running 13th with a 5:35. Shane Ickes was 14th with a 5:36. Alec Hinerman was 15th with a 5:37. Jason Weitzel was running 16th with a 5:38. Lucas Gardner was 17th also crossing in 5:38. Caleb Moore was running 18th with a 5:39. Corey Shetler was 19th in 5:41 with that time match by Justin Harper in 20th.

At the Extension Service Building, which is approximately 1.4 miles into the race, Will Shaffer had moved out to about a 2 second lead coming through in 7:34. Andrew Shaffer was holding second, coming through in 7:36. Johnny Hogue had taken control of 3rd place, coming through in 7:47. Evan Childers was in 4th, coming through in 7:52 with Charlie Drazba right on his heels with the same time. Wes Stowers was running in 6th with a 7:53. Clint Hardman was running in 7th with a 7:56. Tyler Kosut was running 8th with a 7:57. Bill Feeney was up to 9th with a 7:59. That time was matched by Brandon Perdue in 10th and Jordan Whitehair in 11th. Marcus Black was running 12th with an 8:00. Forrest Reed was holding 13th with an 8:02 with Jason Weitzel coming through in the same time in 14th. Alec Hinerman was running in 15th with an 8:04. Shane Ickes was running in 16th with an 8:07. Lucas Gardner was right behind in 17th with the same time. Caleb Moore was holding 18th with an 8:09. Philip Barbour's Wes Anderson had moved into 19th place with the same time, and Berkeley Springs' Corey Shetler rounded out the top 20, also with an 8:09.

At the two mile mark, Will Shaffer continued to lead Andrew Shaffer by a little over a second. I didn't get to the two mile in time to get a time, but it was likely around 10:50 and 10:51. Johnny Hogue had control of 3rd coming through in 11:07. Somewhere between 1.4 and 1.8, Evan Childers dropped out of the race. Wes Stowers had moved up to 4th in 11:15 with Charlie Drazba right behind in 11:15. Bill Feeney had moved up to 6th in 11:17. Clint Hardman was running 7th, crossing in 11:19. Tyler Kosut was in 8th at 11:22 with Jordan Whitehair matching that time in 9th. Brandon Perdue was in 10th with a 11:24. Marcus Black was in 11th with an 11:26. Forrest Reed was in 12th with an 11:28 with Jason Weitzel matching that time in 13th. Alec Hinerman was running 14th in 11:30. Wes Anderson had moved up to 15th, crossing in 11:32. Westside's Cameron Davis had moved into 16th place in 11:33. Philip Barbour's Matt King had moved up into 17th place with an 11:34. Shane Ickes was holding 18th place with an 11:38. Lucas Gardner was running 19th with an 11:39, and Caleb Moore rounded out the top 20, also with an 11:39.

Coming onto the track, Andrew Shaffer had made his move and pulled to a large lead. He crossed the line in 16:27 to take the win by a little over 15 seconds. Will Shaffer easily held the 2nd spot with a 16:42. Johnny Hogue completed his strong run with a 16:57, the last of the field to come in under 17:00. Bill Feeney moved up again in the last mile to finish 4th in 17:02 winning a kick to the finish with Charlie Drazba, who claimed the 5th position with a 17:03. Wes Stowers easily maintained the 6ht position with a 17:08. Places 7 through 11 were decided on the track with Tyler Kosut maintaining the 7th position in 17:12. Jordan Whitehair edged out Clint Hardman for 8th as both hit a 17:13. Wes Anderson continued his late surge to finish 10th, also in 17:13. He came onto the track about 30 meters behind this group. Marcus Black took the 11th position and was the only other runner in contention as he finished in 17:16. Alec Hinerman moved up to 12th with a 17:29. Jason Weitzel claimed 13th with a 17:34. Matt King also made a final climb up to 14th with a 17:36. Philip Barbour's Scott Nesland joined his Philip Barbour teammates in making a big push in the final mile as he climbed from outside the top 20 to 15th with a 17:37. Lucas Gardner moved up to 16th in the last mile to finish in 17:38. Huntington St. Joseph's Mike Mayes was another who made a big move in the last mile to climb into the top 20 with his 17:40. Brandon Perdue held on for 18th with a 17:41, just ahead of Forrest Reed who also ran a 17:41. Doddridge's Matt Zorn also moved into the top 20 in the last mile and finished in 17:44.

In looking for the MVP for the A-AA Boys Race, I have to look at Philip Barbour. They were picked 3rd and pulled off the win. Everyone on their team finished better than expected, and several were quite a bit ahead of prediction. There was one performance, though, that was absolutely critical. If this performance doesn't happen, it doesn't matter how well the others ran. This runner was picked 67th and got 46th. He picked up a full 20 team points in the process. Without that performance, the excellent runs of his teammates still leaves them in 3rd. But that performance did indeed happen, and for that reason the 2011 RunWV MVP is Philip Barbour's Andrew Phillips.

So, how did RunWV do on the predictions? Pretty lousy. Philip Barbour was picked 3rd and took the win. Two other teams moved up 2 spots. Three teams dropped at least two spots. Some DNF's contributed to those movements. Individually, only 7 of the predicted top 10 claimed podium spots (there was a DNF in the predicted top 10. 12 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15. 22 of the predicted top 25 did finish in the top 25, so at least there was that. The three who moved into All-State positions were Shady Spring's Tyler Kosut (picked 12th, got 7th), Ritchie's Clint Hardman (picked 20th, got 9th), and Philip Barbour's Wes Andersons (picked 13th, got 10th). Those who moved into the top 25 were Huntington St. Joseph's Mike Mayes (picked 27th, got 17th), Sherman's Brandon Perdue (picked 29th, got 18th), and Frankfort's Shane Ickes (picked 32nd, got 22nd). The big moved of the day was another Philip Barbour runner. Tyler Baldwin was picked 92nd and got 63rd, a 29 place improvement.

I offer my congratulations to the Philip Barbour boys. You were expected to be on the outside looking in but you performed exceptionally well from top to bottom. All 7 guys topped expecatations. You ran disciplined races and moved up continuously throughout the meet. At the 2 mile mark, you were still a 3rd place team, but you made it happen in the last mile. Desire and determination brought home a State Championship.

I offer my congratulations to Andrew Shaffer. There were doubters, and I was among them. You hadn't had an opportunity to square off against the top guns, but on the big stage when you finally got that chance you came up big. You made a big move late in the race and pressed that move to the finish to put away the competition. Your sole goal this year was to improve upon last season's 2nd place performance, and you did it. This was a well-deserved championship.

I offer my congratulations to the boys who shook up our predictions. You prove what I try to tell people every year. Rankings and predictions mean very little in the grand scheme of things. Nothing is determined until the race is run.