The morning session closed with the AAA Boys Race. University came in as a heavy favorite and came through with the win. It wasn't easy, though, as Cabell Midland gave them a run. Individually, as expected, Matthew Brafford pulled away for the easy win, taking the title by 26 seconds.

My first checkpoint was the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. At this point, Jefferson's Andrew Milliron had the slightest of leads on George Washington's Matthew Brafford with both coming through in 3:38. University's Andy Paladino was in 3rd in 3:41. University's Seth Edwards and Oak Hill's Cody Gillespie were in 4th and 5th, respectively, with both crossing at 3:42. Cabell Midland's Nick Salmons was in 6th at 3:43. Hurricane's Jake Henley was at the front of a big pack that crossed in 3:44. He was followed by Jefferson's Jackson Jacobs, Morgantown's Anthony Laurita, Morgantown's Connor Riley, and Wheeling Park's Albert Schrimp. Winfield's R.J. Weiford was in 12th at the front of a group that included Hampshire's Casey Feezle and Elkins' Matt Wallace. They each crossed at 3:45. Greenbrier East's Levi Snedegar was in 15th at 3:46 along with Elkins' Austin Hamrick. University's Tristan Harvey and Alex Minor were in 17th and 18th, respectively, both crossing in 3:47. Parkersburg's Nic Cheuvront was in 19th at 3:49. Musselman's Shane Rigsby was in 20th at 3:52.

At the mile mark, Matthew Brafford had moved into a slight lead over Andrew Milliron with Brafford crossing in 5:01 and Milliron in 5:02. Any Paladino was in 3rd at 5:08. There was a big pack battling for 4th with Seth Edwards, Nick Salmons, Jake Henley, Connor Riley, and Anthony Laurita all crossing at 5:11. Cody Gillespie and Albert Schrimp were in 9th and 10th, respectively at 5:12. Then came another pack with R.J. Weiford in 11th, Austin Hamrick in 12th, Levi Snedegar in 13th, and Jackson Jacobs in 14th, all in 5:13. Matt Wallace was in 15th with Alex Minor in 16th at 5:14. Tristan Harvey was in 17th at 5:15. Casey Feezle was in 18 at 5:18. Nic Chreuvront was in the 19th position at 5:19. Shane Rigsby was in 20th at 5:21.

At the top of the hill at the WVU Extension Service Building, which is about 1.4 miles into the race, Matthew Brafford had taken control, generating a 9 second gap. Brafford came through in 7:12 with Andrew Milliron in 2nd at 9:21. There was quite a battle going on for 3rd with Andy Paladino holding a slight leaver of Connor Riley and Anthony Laurita with all crossing in 7:27. Nick Salmons was in the 6th spot at 7:28. Jake Henley and R.J. Weiford came through in 7th and 8th, respectively, with both crossing in 7:29. Seth Edwards was in 9th at 7:30. Alex Minor had a slight edge over Austin Hamrick for 10th with both at 7:32. Matt Wallace, Albert Schrimp, and Levi Snedegar all came through in 7:33. Jackson Jacobs was running 15th in 7:35. Cody Gillespie was holding 16th at 7:38. Shane Rigsby was up to 17th in 7:40. Tristan Harvey was in 18th at 7:41. Cabell Midland's Brandon Atkinson was 19th in 7:46 with Nic Cheuvront coming through in 20th at the same time.

I picked up some extra footage prior to the 2 mile mark. Matthew Brafford had extended his lead to 16 seconds, passing in 9:28. Andrew Milliron remained in 2nd at 9:44. Connor Riley was up to 3rd in 9:47. Anthony Laurita had moved into 4th at 9:48. R.J. Weiford had made the move into 5th at 9:52 with Jake Henley matching that time in 6th. Nick Salmons was in 7th with Andy Paladino in 8th with both at 9:53. Seth Edwards was in 9th at 9:54. Alex Minor was holding 10th in 9:57. Austin Hamrick was in 11th at 9:58. Levi Snedegar was in 12th at 9:59. Matt Wallace had a slight lead over Jackson Jacobs with both crossing in 10:01. Shane Rigsby had mvoed up to 15th in 10:04, just ahead of Albert Schrimp.

At the two mile mark, I didn't quite make it in time to catch Matthew Brafford. I'm estimating that he was at about 10:15. He had continued to extend his lead. Connor Riley had caught Andrew Milliron, but Milliron still held the slightest of advantages with both crossing in 10:33. Anthony Laurita was in 4th in 10:38. Andy Paladino was in 5th, Jake Henley in 6th, and R.J. Weiford in 7th with each crossing in 10:40. Nick Salmons was running 8th in 10:41, trailed closely by Seth Edwards in 10:42. Alex Minor remained in 10th at 10:45 with Austin Hamrick at 10:46 in 11th. Levi Snedegar was in 12th at 10:47 with that time matched by Shane Rigsby who had continued his rise, moving up to 13th. Jackson Jacobs and Matt Wallace were in 14th and 15th, respectively, with both at 10:48. Albert Schrimp was in 16th at 10:51. Brandon Atkinson had moved up to 17th in 10:58. Cabell Midland's Jonathan Hathaway had moved into 18th at 11:02, just ahead of Nic Cheuvront who had the same time. Tristan Harvey rounded out the top 20 at 11:04.

Matthew Brafford was all alone coming onto the track and cruised in for the 26 second victory in 15:39. Connor Riley continued his second half push to take control of 2nd and finish in 16:05. Andrew Milliron held onto the 3rd spot in 16:11. A nice race on the track ended with Seth Edwards in 4th at 16:13. Jake Henley won a tight kick to the finish over Anthony Laurita by 0.06 seconds, with Henley officially getting a 16:13 and Laurita getting a 16:14. Andy Paladino was just a stride back, also crossing in 16:14. Those four were separated by less than a second. Nick Salmons was 8th in 16:16 with R.J. Weiford just kicking past Shane Rigsby for the 9th spot with both matching Salmons' 16:16 time. Rigsby had completed his climb into an podium position. Those 10 had distanced themselves from the field. Austin Hamrick and Matt Wallace were 11th and 12th, respectively, with both getting in under 16:30 with a 16:28 and a 16:29, respectively. Alex Minor was 13th in 16:31. Brandon Atkinson used a strong last mile to move up to 14th in 16:34. Jackson Jacobs held the 15th spot in 16:35. Nic Cheuvront moved up to 16th in the final mile to finish in 16:46. Jonathan Hathway finished 17th in 16:47. Cabell Midland's Eric Wooten moved up to 18th in the final mile, finishing in 16:51. Tristan Harvey finished 19th in 16:53. Cabell Midland's Hunter Adkins moved into the 20th position and was the last one in under 17:00 at 16:57.

In considering the MVP for the meet, I first looked to the battle for the championship, but there was no single performance that defined the win. So, then I looked to Morgantown's rise from a predicted 5th place to an actual 3rd place. They took that spot by a mere 5 points and were only 17 points ahead of the 5th place team. Obviously, they got stellar runs from both Connor Riley and Anthony Laurita either of which was enough to solidify the gap over 4th. But they also had one athlete who rose enough to give them both spots. If this runner didn't make his rise from a predicted finish of 65th to an actual finish of 45th and pick up 18 team points in the process, the team still gets 5th. For that reason, Morgantown's Stephen Riffon is the 2013 RunWV MVP.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? University and Cabell Midland took the top 2 spots as expected. Matthew Brafford took the individual title as expected. There was a lot of movement in the other predicted places. Individually, only 7 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. One of them did not finish the race but was not in the top 10 when he dropped out. 12 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15. 21 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. The ones who moved up into a spot on the podium were Hurricane's Jake Henley (picked 17th, got 5th), Morgantown's Anthony Laurita (picked 16th, got 6th), and Winfield's R.J. Weiford (picked 11th, got 9th). Those who cracked the top 25 were Cabell Midland's Eric Wooten (picked 29th, got 18th), University's Reed Phares (picked 28th, got 21st), Hedgesville's Daniel Beavers (picked 32nd, got 24th), and Parkersburg's Logan Wooten (picked 31st, got 25th). The big mover of the day was Musselman's Jared Hallow who jumped a whopping 32 spots from a predicted finish of 79th to an actual finish of 47th. From a team standpoint, Musselman had the best day, scoring 35 points fewer than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the University boys. You were the team to beat all season long and proved it on Saturday. You came to Ona and did what you had to do.

I offer my congratulations to Matthew Brafford. You owned this season. You've turned in stellar performances one after another. Good luck in the pursuit of a Footlocker National appearance.

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 don't mean anything. That's why we run the race.