The A-AA Boys closed the day's events. This was expected to be a Bridgeport blowout, and that was what we got. Philip Barbour had a stellar day to take the 2nd spot. Individually, Abe Merinar took the title as expected, taking the lead shortly before the two mile mark and pulling away over the last mile before cruising in for the win.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. PikeView's Jason Weitzel (to whom I must apologize, I think I referred to him repeatedly on my video by his older brother's name) was in the front, coming through in 3:46. A group of four came though in 3:48 with Ritchie's Johnny Hogue at the front of that group, trailed by Bridgeport's Abe Merinar, Ritchie's Daniel Cooper, and Webster's Brettley Harris. Bridgeport's Matt Dearth was in 6th at 3:49. Philip Barbour's Scott Nesland, Buffalo's Hayden Harrison, and Wirt's Glenn McMillan all crossed in 3:50 and were in 7th through 9th place, respectively. Herbert Hoover's Josh McClung and Fairmont Senior's Jakeb Van Horn were battling for the 10th position, with McClung having a slight edge and both coming through in 3:51. Webster's Austin Hayes was in 12th at 3:53. Frankfort's Lucas Young had a slight lead over Williamstown's Chandler Antill for 13th with both crossing at 3:55. Berkeley Springs' Zac Simmons had a slight edge over Charleston Catholic's Caden McClanahan for the 15th spot with each hitting 3:56. Roane's Caleb Pell was in 17th at 3:59. Fairmont Senior's Zac Linger, Bridgeport's Arryn Tennant, and Bridgeport's Zachary Abbott all crossed at 4:00 as they held the 18th through the 20th positions, respectively.

At the mile mark, there race was very close. I don't have times because once again, my watch got stopped while I was running from spot to spot. Johnny Hogue held a slight lead with Hayden Harrison in 2nd, Abe Merinar in 3rd, and Jordan Weitzel in 4th, all crossing within one second of each other. Brettley Harrison was in 5th and Matt Dearth in 6th one second behind. Daniel Cooper was in 7th another second back. Scott Nesland was in 8th another second back. Glenn McMillan was two more seconds behind in 9th. Zach Simmons and Josh McClung were battling for 10th another 4 seconds back. Caden McClanahan and Austin Hayes were another 2 seconds behind in 12th and 13th, respectively. Chandler Antill was in 14th another 2 seconds back. Jaken Van Horn and Lucas Young were just a second behind, battling for 15th. Arryn Tennant was another two seconds behind in 17th. Zac Linger, Zachary Abbott, and Troy Pallay were just one second back, rounding out the top 20.

At the Extension Service Building, I have approximate times. These may be off by a few seconds, but they're in the ballpark. Johnny Hogue had made a move and opened a 4 second lead, coming by in 7:28. Abe Merinar was next through in 7:32. Jason Weitzel had a slight lead over Brettley Harris for 3rd in 7:33. Hayden Harrison was in 5th at 7:40, with Matt Dearth close behind in 7:41. Scott Nesland was in 7th at 7:43. Daniel Cooper held 8th at 7:48, just ahead of Glenn McMillan at 7:49. Josh McClung was holding 10th at 7:55. Caden McClanahan was in 11th at 7:57. Austin Hayes was in 12th 7:58. Zac Simmons was in 13th at 7:59. Chandler Antill was in 14th at 8:02. Arryn Tennant and Zach Abbott were next through in 8:03 and 8:05, respectively. Berkeley Springs Freshman Steven Shetler had moved into the top 20 at 17th in 8:07. Troy Pallay was in 18th at 8:08. Jaked Van Horn was in 19th at 8:09, and Roane's Caleb Shirey had moved into the 20th position at 8:11.

I got a little bonus footage prior to the two mile mark. Johnny Hogue remained in the lead, but Abe Merinar was closing, and the gap was down to a single second. Jason Weitzel held a slight edge over Brettley Harris for 3rd, 3 seconds behind Merinar. Hayden Harrison was another 9 seconds back in 5th. Matt Dearth was just a second behind in 6th. Scott Nesland was just two more second behind in 7th. Daniel Cooper and Glenn McMillan remained in 8th and 9th, respectively.

At the two mile mark, the times are again estimated. Abe Merinar had made his move and opened up quite a gap, establishing a 6 second lead in less than 1/4 of a mile. He came through at 10:40. Jason Weitzel had moved into 2nd in 10:46, just a stride ahead of Brettley Harris and Johnny Hogue, who both came through in 10:47. Hayden Harrison remained in 5th at 10:55. Matt Dearth remained in 6th at 10:57. Scott Nesland continued to hold 7th in 11:00. Daniel Cooper and Glenn McMillan were fighting for 8th at 11:12 with Cooper having a slight edge. Austin Hayes and Josh McClung were battling for 10th at 11:21 with Hayes holding a slight lead. Chandler Antill was 12th in 11:24. Zac Simmons, Arryn Tennant, and Caden McClanahan all came through in 11:26, holding the 13th through 15th spots. Zach Abbott was in 16th at 11:32. Steven Shetler was in 17th at 11:34. Caleb Shirey was up to 18th in 11:37. Troy Pallay was in 19th in 11:39. Philip Barbour's Trevor Matko was up to 20th in 11:40.

Coming onto the track, it was all Abe Merinar. He cruised home to a 7 second win in 16:20. Brettley Harris outdueled Hayden Harrison down the stretch for the 2nd spot in 16:27 to Harrison's 16:28. Matt Dearth came up to 4th in 16:30. Johnny Hogue claimed the 5th spot in 16:44 with Jason Weitzel in 6th in 16:46. Scott Nesland remained 7th with a 16:54. Daniel Cooper was 8th and the last one in under 17:00 with his 16:58. Glenn McMillan took the 9th spot in 17:01. Austin Hayes won a three man race for 10th in 17:13. Josh McClung was 11th in 17:14 with Chandler Antill taking 12th, also in 17:14. Arryn Tennant claimed the 13th position with a 17:24. Zach Abbott moved up to 14th in the last mile to finish in 17:26. Zac Simmons took the 15th spot with a 17:33. Trevor Matko continued his surge with a late pass to finish 16th in 17:37. Steven Shetler took the 17th spot, also with a 17:37. Caleb Shirey was 18th in 17:38. Keyser's Pierce Miller capped a strong run with a 19th place finish in 17:39. Fairmont Senior's Drew Trefz moved into the 20th position in the final mile and finished in 17:44.

In looking for the MVP for the A-AA Boys race, I had to look at Philip Barbour. The rise from a predicted 7th to an actual 2nd was impressive. They had several runners substantially from their predicted finishes, but I'm going to go with the one that did from the highest up in the field. It's harder to rise from 40th to 16th than it is from 81st to 50th. You can't credit this runner alone for the spot, but his contribution was critical. FOr that reason, the 2013 RunWV MVP is Philip Barbour's Trevor Matko.

So, how did RunWV do on the predictions. I'm going to sum it up in a single word...meh. I did get the first place team and the first place individual, but when you have one team rise 5 spots and one drop 6 spots, perhaps "meh" is being kind. Although, I guess only 3 teams deviated more than one spot from their predicted finish. Individually, 9 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. Only 11 of my predicted top 15 finished in the top 15 finished in the top 15 (but one was a DNF, and my 16th place guy did finish in the top 15, so you could give me that one). Even worse, only 19 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25, and they had the odd distinction of all being picked outside the top 30. It was an odd year in the A-AA State Meet. The one who rose to an All-State position was Webster's Austin Hayes (picked 18th, got 10th). The ones who climbed into the top 25 were Philip Barbour's Trevor Matko (picked 40th, got 16th), Roane's Caleb Shirey (picked 39th, got 18th), Keyser's Pierce Miller (picked 37th, got 19th), Fairmont Senior's Drew Trefz (picked 35th, got 20th), Ritchie's Hunter Deem (picked 31st, got 24th), and Philip Barbour's Tyler Baldwin (picked 53rd, got 25th). The big mover for the day was Philip Barbour's Ian Nuzum who climbed 31 spots from a predicted finish of 81st to an actual finish of 50th. Yes, that means that Philip Barbour had a guy that moved up 24 spots, another that moved up 28, and another that moved up 31. They had two others that moved up at least 12 spots as well. I expect my "I told you so" card in the mail any day now. So, obviously from a team standpoint, the best day was had by Philip Barbour who scores a whopping 73 points fewer than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Bridgeport boys. You were dominant today, as you had been throughout the season. You started out on top and just continued to rise. You put all 7 guys in the top 31 and all under 18:00. Only two AAA teams managed that feat. You left no doubt on Saturday.

I offer my congratulations to Abe Merinar. You were willing to run your own race, trusting your training and your strategy. You were the one to beat, the one with the target on your back, and you responded with a champions effort.

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.