The A-AA Boys opened the day's events. This was expected to be Fairmont Senior's team race, and indeed it did happen that way as they took the title by 19 points over Frankfort. Frankfort held off upset-minded Doddridge for the runner-up spot. The individual race played out as expected as well with Nick Trefz pulling away midway through the race for the 12 second win over Caleb Moore.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. Doddridge's Caleb Moore held about a one stride lead over Fairmont Senior's Nick Trefz with both crossing at 3:48. Scott's Will Shaffer was running 3rd with Ritchie's Johnny Hogue at his side in 4th both at 3:49. PikeView's Jason Weitzel was in 5th, also in 3:49. He was about a stride ahead of Frankfort's Trae Miller in 6th in 3:50, with teammate Shane Ickes was in 7th at the same time. St. Marys' Jordan Whitehair was in 8th with Charleston Catholic's Marcus Black less than half a step behind in 9th also at 3:50. Buffalo's Dylan Rich was in 10th with Webster's Brettley Harris in 11th also crossing in 3:50. Brideport's Abe Merinar was running 12th at 3:51. Philip Barbour's Scott Nesland was in 13th, crossing at 3:52. Frankfort's Lucas Young was in 14th, also at 3:52. Wirt's Glenn McMillan was running 15th in 3:53. Doddridge's Matt Zorn was in 16th with the same time. Grafton's P.J. Louzy was running 17th in 3:54. Berkeley Springs' Corey Shetler was in 18th, crossing in 3:56. Bridgeport's Matt Dearth was 19th in 4:00, and Fairmont Senior's Jacob Van Horn rounded out the early top 20 at 4:01.

At the mile mark, Nick Trefz had moved to the lead. Johnny Hogue was in 2nd about a step behind. Caleb Moore was in 3rd about a step behind Hogue. The front three crossed in 5:14. Will Shaffer was running 4th with Jason Weitzel in 5th with both crossing in 5:15. Marcus Black was 6th in 5:16. Abe Merinar was in 7th at 5:18. That time was matched by Shane Ickes in 8th. Jordan Whitehair was in 9th with Dylan Rich in 10th and Brettley Harris in 11th, each coming through in 5:19. Trae Miller was in 12th with Scott Nesland in 13th, both at 5:20. P.J. Louzy and Matt Zorn both crossed at 5:21, running 14th and 15th, respectively. Lucas Young was in 16th, coming through in 5:22. Glenn McMillan was in 17th at 5:24. Corey Shetler was in 18th at 5:27. Matt Dearth was running 19th in 5:30. Jacob Van Horn completed the top 20 at the mile mark, crossing in 5:34.

At the Extension Service Building, which is approximately 1.4 miles into the race, I didn't quite get to the spot in time to catch the lead times. Nick Trefz was in the front with Caleb Moore, Johnny Hogue, and Will Shaffer right behind. I'll estimate their times at about 7:24-25. Jason Weitzel remained in 5th, coming through at about 7:29. Marcus Black was holding 6th crossing in 7:31. Jordan Whitehair was running 7th with Dylan Rich right at his side at 7:34. About a step behind in 9th was Brettley Harris, who also crossed in 7:34. Abe Merinar was in 10th at 7:35. Shane Ickes was running 11th at 7:36. Trae Miller was in 12th at 7:37. P.J. Louzy was in 13th, crossing at 7:39. Scott Nesland was holding 14th in 7:40. Matt Zorn was in 15th, crossing at 7:43. Glenn McMillan was in 16th at 7:46. Lucas Young was running 17th at 7:48. Corey Shetler was in 18th at 7:49. Matt Dearth was running 19th, crossing in 7:57. Jacob Van Horn continued to round out the top 20 at 8:02. The runners constituting the top 20 had not changed from the top of the hill.

I got a little bonus footage prior to the two mile mark. At this point, Nick Trefz had started to open his gap. He had about a 3 second lead on Johnny Hogue. Caleb Moore and Will Shaffer were close behind Hogue. Marcus Black had moved into 5th. Dylan Rich was up to 6th. Jordan Whitehair was right beside him in 7th. Jason Weitzel was in 8th with Brettley Harris in 9th. Shane Ickes was in 10th with Abe Merinar right on his heels in 11th. Scott Nesland was up to 12th. Trae Miller was in 13th with P.J. Louzy right behind in 14th. Matt Zorn was in 15th, and Glenn McMillan was in 16th. Lucas Young was in 17th. Corey Shetler was in 18th. Matt Dearth was holding 19th. And then, I ran off to the two mile mark.

And...I left too late. I missed Nick Trefz at the two mile mark. I'm estimating his time at about 10:33. He had extended his lead. Johnny Hogue was in 2nd, crossing in an estimated 10:37, a couple strides ahead of Caleb Moore in 10:38. Will Shaffer was in 4th in 10:40. Marcus Black was in 5th in about 10:44. Dylan Rich was in 6th at about 10:47. Brettley Harris was up to 7th at 10:48. He was trailed immediately by Jordan Whitehair in 10:49. Jason Weitzel was in 9th in 10:50. Shane Ickes was holding 10th, followed closely by Abe Merinar in 11th, with both hitting 10:50. Scott Nesland was in 12th at 10:57. P.J. Louzy was in 13th at 10:59. Trae Miller was in 14th at 11:00. Matt Zorn was in 15th in 11:01. Glenn McMillan was running 16th at 11:07. Lucas Young was in 17th at 11:14. Corey Shetler was in 18th at 11:18. Matt Dearth was in 19th at 11:21. Magnolia's James Haught had moved into the top 20, crossing at 11:27.

Coming onto the track, Nick Treft had continued to build his lead, taking the win by just over 12 seconds in a stellar 15:52. Caleb Moore moved up to take control of 2nd, crossing in 16:04. Johnny Hogue held 3rd in 16:11. Dylan Rich used a strong finish to move into 4th and threaten for 3rd with a 16:12. Marcus Black held a strong 5th in 16:16. Brettley Harris moved into 6th in 16:22, less than a second ahead of Will Shaffer in 16:23. Jordan Whitehair scored an 8th place finish with a 16:28. Abe Merinar came up to 9th with a 16:30. Shane Ickes rounded out the All-State Lineup with a 16:35. Scott Nesland finished 11th with a 16:41. Jason Weitzel crossed in 12th in 16:43. Matt Zorn held off Trae Miller for 13th with both crossing in 16:46. Glenn McMillan came up to 15th in 16:50. P.J. Louzy was 16th in 16:53. 3rd place last year was 16:57. This year 16:53 gets you 16th. Fast, fast year. James Haught made a late push up to 17th place in 17:11, edging Matt Dearth who had the same time. The official results show that Lucas Young was 18th and Matt Dearth was 19th, but clearly, from the video, that was not the case. Lucas Young was 19th in 17:12. The correction has now been made on the official results. Doddridge's Keith Britton moved up to 20th, crossing in 17:16.

In looking for the MVP for the A-AA Boys race, I had to look at Fairmont Senior and Frankfort, but there wasn't a single performance for those teams that made their position. So, then my look went to the only team that moved up multiple spots from their predicted place. That was Doddridge. They had a pair of runners move up fairly significantly from their predicted finish, one by 14 spots, and one by 20. So, naturally, I'm going with the one who moved up 20 spots. This runner was picked to finish 83rd, and climbed up to 63rd. He picked up 18 team points in the process. Had he not done this, Doddridge falls to 5th in this meet. For that reason, the 2012 RunWV MVP is Doddridge's Caleb Ferguson.

So, how did RunWV do on the predictions. I'm going to say it was pretty solid, at least on the individual side. There was a lot of minor movement. Only 7 of the teams finished in the spot they were predicted. Only three teams moved multiple spots, though, with Doddridge moving up 2 spots, and a pair of teams dropping two spots. Individually, 9 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. 14 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15, and 24 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. The one who moved into an All-State Posistion was Buffalo's Dylan Rich (picked 11th, got 4th). The one who moved into the top 25 was Buffalo's Hayden Harrison (picked 26th, got 23rd). The big movers for the day each moved up 24 spots from their predicted finish. They were Keyser's Craig Westfall (picked 52nd, got 28th) and Liberty Raleigh's Ryan Delaney (picked 105th, got 81st). From a team standpoint, the team that outperformed their prediction by the most was Keyser, who scored 47 points fewer than was predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Fairmont Senior boys. You came into the season as the top ranked team, and extended that lead over the course of the season. You then took care of business at the State Meet. It may not have been your best race of the year, but that kind of depth gives you that leeway. It was a championship well-earned.

I offer my congratulations to Nick Trefz. Like your team, you were the one to beat all season. You may not have held the top ranking the entire time, but anyone that watched last year's State Meet knew you were the one to beat. You had the target on your back, and you simply ran fast enough that the opponents couldn't see the target, with no Class A-AA runner coming within 10 seconds of you all season. You dominated the season, and when it was time to move, you dominated the race.

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.