The afternoon session opened with the AAA Boys Race. Mercifully, the rain had stopped, and the temperature had climbed a little, but the wind was probably a little stronger. The team race was supposed to be a battle between Cabell Midland and University, but that battle didn't materialize as University simply dominated, putting four guys in the top 10. This was a case in which I should have gone with my first instincts, as my initial prediction set had University winning. Individually, Seth Edwards came through, pulling away in the final mile for the convincing win.

My first checkpoint was the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. At this point, University's aggression was in full display as they held the top 3 spots. It was Alex Minor in 1st at 3:47, Seth Edwards in 2nd at 3:48, and Tristan Harvey in 3rd also at 3:48. Morgantown's Anthony Laurita was in 4th at 3:49 with that time being matched by Parkersburg's Nic Cheuvront in 5th. Morgantown's Connor Riley was in 6th at 3:50. Musselman's Shane Rigsby, who held the early lead in the race, was in 7th at 3:55. Hurricane's Jake Henley was in 8th at 3:57. Elkins' Matt Wallace was in 9th at 3:58, with Winfield's R.J. Weiford matching that time in 10th. Hedgesville's Daniel Beavers was in 11th at 3:59. Cabell Midland's Brandon Atkinson was in 12th at 4:02 with Unviversity's Philip White and Cabell Midland's Coy Smith coming through in 13th and 14th, respectively with the same time. Cabell Midland's Josh Minor was in 15th at the front of a pack including Oak Hill's Cody Gillespie in 16th, Cabell Midland's Nick Salmons in 17th, and Hurricane's Alex Hughes in 18th, all at 4:03. Cabell Midland's Austin Jordan was in 19th at 4:04, giving Midland 5 of the top 20. Parkersburg's Evan Wooten was in 20th at 4:05.

At the mile mark, Alex Minor had a solid lead, coming through in 5:11. The next five all crossed at 5:15 with Tristan Harvey in 2nd, Seth Edwards in 3rd, Connor Riley in 4th, Anthony Laurita in 5th, and Nic Cheuvront in 6th. Shane Rigsby was in 7th at 5:23. Matt Wallace was in 8th at 5:27, with Jake Henley there as well in 9th. R.J. Weiford continued to hold the 10th spot at 5:28. Daniel Beavers was in 11th at 5:31, just ahead of Coy Smith with the same time. Cody Gillespie was at the front of a large group that came through in 5:32. The rest of that group was Philip White in 14th, Michael Ruhnke in 15th, Josh Minor in 16th, and Alex Hughes in 17th. Brandon Atkinson was in 18th at 5:33. Nick Salmonds was in 19th at 5:34, and Austin Jordan was in 20th at 5:35.

At the top of the hill at the WVU Extension Service Building, which is about 1.4 miles into the race, things had tightened back up at the front at five of the pack had reeled Alex Minor in. At this point, Seth Edwards was in the front at 7:39, with that time matched by Anthony Laurita in 2nd and Tristan Harvey in 3rd. Connor Riley was in 4th with Alex Minor in 5th with each at 7:40. Nic Cheuvront had dropped off the pack but remained in 6th at 7:47. Shane Rigsby remained in 7th at 7:51. Jake Henley held a slight edge over Matt Wallace for 8th with both passing at 7:58. R.J. Weiford continued to hold the 10th position at 7:59. Daniel Beavers remained in 11th at 8:01, but was being challenged by Philip White who passed at the same time. Cody Gillespie and Coy Smith came through at 8:02 in 13th and 14th, respectively. Josh Minor was in 15th at 8:03. Musselman's Jared Hallow had made a nice move into the top 20, coming through in 16th place at 8:05. Michael Ruhnke was in 17th at 8:06. Austin Jordan, Alex Hughes, and Evan Wooten each passed in 8:07 and held the 18th through 20th spots, respectively.

I picked up some extra footage at about 1.85 miles. There were still three in the race at this point. Seth Edwards had a slight lead on Anthony Laurita with both coming through at 10:00. Connor Riley was right behind at 10:01. Tristan Harvey and Alex Minor had fallen off the lead pack but remained in the 4th and 5th positions, respectively at 10:11 and 10:12. Shane Rigsby had moved into 6th and was closing on the University pair, coming through at 10:14. Nic Cheuvront held the 7th spot at 10:16. Matt wallace and Jake Henley continued their battle with both coming through at 10:25 but with Wallace having the slight edge for 8th. R.J. Weiford was still running 10th at 10:26. Daniel Beavers was in 11th with Josh Minor in 12th and Philip White in 13th with each coming through in 10:28. Jared Hallow had moved up a couple more spots to 14th at 10:30. Coy Smith was in 15th at 10:31. Cabell Midland's Jonathan Hathaway had moved into the top 20 at 16th in 10:35 with that time matched by Cody Gillespie in 17th. Brandon Atkinson was running 18th at 10:36. Michael Ruhnke was holding 19th at 10:37. Austin Jordan was in 20th at 10:38.

At the two mile mark, the front 3 remained close with Edwards leading the way at approximately 10:45. Connor Riley was in 2nd at 10:46. Anthony Laurita was in 3rd at 10:47. They had slightly extended their lead on the remainder of the field. Tristan Harvey remained in 4th at 10:58. Shane Rigsby had moved into 5th at 11:00 with Alex Minor close behind in 6th at 11:01. Nic Cheuvront continued to hold the 7th spot at 11:06. Matt Wallace still held a slight lead over Jake Henley for 8th with both at 11:14. R.J. Weiford continued to hold the 10th spot at 11:15. Philip White had moved into 11th at 11:16. Josh Minor was in 12th at 11:17. Jared Hallow continued his rise, moving up to 13th at 11:18. Daniel Beavers was in 14th at 11:19. Coy Smith matched that time in 15th. Jonathan Hathaway, Michael Ruhnke, and Brandon Atksinson each came through in 11:24, holding the 16th through 18th spots, respectively. Cody Gillespie had fallen to 19th at 11:25. Austin Jordan continued to hold the 20th position at 11:27.

Seth Edwards put away the field over the final mile and came onto the track alone. He sped home to the 11 second win in 16:15. Anthony Laurita moved back into 2nd to finish in 16:26. Connor Riley easily held the 3rd spot at 16:30. Shane Rigsby continued his climb, moving into 4th, finishing in 16:41. Alex Minor held the 5th position at 16:47. Tristan Harvey held onto the 6th position at 16:51. Nic Cheuvront held onto the 7th spot at 16:54. Jared Hallow used a big final move on the track to climb into 8th spot, up 5 positions from the two mile mark, and crossing in 16:55. He just nipped Matt Wallace and Philip White at the line with those two getting 9th and 10th, respectively, and also getting 16:55's. Jake Henley finished 11th at 17:01. Brandon Atkinson made several passes in the last mile to move up to 12th at 17:05. Coy Smith moved up to 13th in 17:08. R.J. Weiford fell to 14th in 17:09, just holding off the late push of Michael Ruhnke, who finished 15th with the same time. Jonathan Hathaway was 16th in 17:10. Josh Minor was 17th in 17:12. Daniel Beavers fell to 18th in 17:14. Nick Salmons finished 19th in 17:15. Austin Jordan took the 20th spot in 17:19.

In considering the MVP for the meet, there wasn't really one thing that stood out to make a big difference. There were only two instances in which teams didn't finish in the projected order. In the end, I had to look at the mental aspect. When you're expecting to be in a battle for a State Championship, there can be things that change the outlook of a meet. In this case, to me, University getting a 4th runner in front of Cabell Midland's first runner had to be somewhat demoralizing to Cabell. For that reason, the 2014 RunWV MVP is University's Philip White.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Despite not getting the team champion correct, this ended up being my best set of picks overall. University and Cabell Midland swapped spots and 1-2. Parkersburg and Hurricane swapped spots at 4-5. Everyone else finished exactly where they were predicted. Seth Edwards picked up the predicted win. In all, 8 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. 13 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15. Best of all 23 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. The two who made the climb into a podium position were Musselman's Jared Hallow (picked 11th, got 8th) and University's Philip White (picked 20th, got 10th). The two who moved into the top 25 were Capital's Joe Schwartz (picked 29th, got 21st) and University's Jacob Hough (picked 38th, got 23rd). The big mover of the day was University's Eric Cappellini who climbed 27 spots from a predicted finish of 63rd to an actual finish of 36th. Yes, that means that University put 4 in the top 10, had another climb 15 spots into the top 25 and had the big mover of the day. Talk about having everything come together. From a team standpoint, the best day was had by, you guessed it, Universit, who scored 25 fewer points than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the University boys. What a day. You took control of the race early and never looked back. You absolutely dominated what was supposed to be a close battle.

I offer my congratulations to Seth Edwards. When the time came to take control of the race, that is exactly what you did. You ran an aggressive, yet disciplined race and ran with strength and confidence.

I offer my congratulations to the boys who shook up the 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.