The A-AA Boys opened the day's events. The conditions were cold, windy, and drizzly. This was expected to be a Bridgeport blowout, and that was what happened as they took the win by 56 points. Webster County edged Ritchie County for the runner-up spot. Individually, the expected duel between Brettley Harris and Hayden Harrison didn't materialize as Harrison fell off the pace between 1 and 1.5 miles. Instead, it was Glenn McMillan providing the challenge, with Harris not pulling away until the final mile, but pulling away big to win by almost 14 seconds.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. The course was already soggy from the prior day's rains which generally leads to slower than normal times. There was still a big pack at this point. Webster's Brettley Harris had the early lead, just a touch over Ritchie's Daniel Cooper and with Wirt's Glenn McMillan and PikeView's Jason Weitzel there as well. Those four all came through in 4:00. Four more came through in 4:01 with Ritchie's Hunter Deem leading that group, Webster's Austin Hayes in 6th, Buffalo's Hayden Harrison in 7th, and Fairmont Senior's Jakeb Van Horn in 8th. Nicholas County's Matt Christiansen and Berkeley Springs' Steven Shetler were running 9th and 10th, respectively, at 4:02. Wirt's Logan Kerby was in 11th at 4:03. Bridgeport's Jimmy Lacaria was in 12th at 4:05 with that time matched by Doddridge's Hunter Riffle in 13th. Bridgeport's Arryn Tennant was in 14th at 4:06. Braxton's Seth Backus was in 15th at 4:07. Roane's Caleb Pell was in 16th at 4:08. Herbert Hoover's Josh McClung and Bridgeport's Ian Frailey came through at 4:10 in 17th and 18th, respectively. Bridgeport's Michael Duez wasin 19th at 4:11 and teammate Troy Pallay rounded out the top 20 at 4:12.

At the mile mark, the race was very close with 8 people still within 2 seconds of the lead. Hayden Harrison had a slight edge over Brettley Harris with both crossing at 5:29. Jason Weitzel led a large group through at 5:30. He was trailed by Glenn McMillan, Daniel Cooper, Austin Hayes, and Hunter Deem all at that time. Matt Christiansen was at 5:31 in 8th. Steven Shetler was in 9th at 5:33 with that time matched by Jakeb Van Horn in 10th. Logan Kerby remained in 11th at 5:35. Jimmy Lacaria held 12th at 5:36. Seth Backus was in 13th at 5:38. Arryn Tennant was in 14th at 5:39. Hunter Riffle was in 15th at 5:40, trailed closely by Caleb Pell with the same time. Ian Frailey and Michael Duez came through in 5:43 in 17th and 18th, respectively. Josh McClung was in 19th at 5:47 with that time matched by Sherman's Jesse Cannaday in 20th.

At the Extension Service Building at about 1.4 miles, I got there late and didn't get times. These places are probably closer to at 1.6 miles. Brettley Harris had the lead, followed by Glenn McMillan in 2nd. Jason Weitzel was in 3rd and Hayden Harrison in 4th. Daniel Cooper was in 5th with Hunter Deem in 6th. Austin Hayes was in 7th. Steven Shetler had moved into 8th with Matt Christiansen holding 9th. Hunter Riffle had made a move up to 10th. Logan Kerby remained in 11th. Jimmy Lacaria remained in 12th. Seth Backus continued to hold the 13th position, and Arryn Tennant remained in 14th. Ian Frailey had moved up to 15th with Michael Duez up to 16th. Caleb Pell was in 17th. Jakeb Van Horn had started to struggle and had fallen to 18th. Jesse Cannaday was up to 19th. I'm not 100% sure who was in 20th at this point. I think it was Roane's Caleb Shirey.

I got a little bonus footage at about 1.85 miles. Brettley Harris continued to hold a slim lead over Glenn McMillan with both coming through in 10:23. Jason Weitzel wasn't far behind in 10:24. Daniel Cooper had moved into 4th with Hunter Deem right behind in 5th with both coming through in 10:28. Hayden Harrison had fallen to 6th at 10:29. Austin Hayes was in 7th at 10:36, but had been caught by Steven Shetler and Matt Christiansen who matched that time in 8th and 9th, respectively. Hunter Riffle remained in 10th at 10:40. Logan Kerby continued to hold the 11th spot at 10:44. Seth Backus had moved up to 12th at 10:46. Jimmy Lacaria was in 13th at 10:48. Arryn Tennant was in 14th at 10:50. Michael Duez was in 15th at 10:51, and Ian Frailey was in 16th at 10:53, making it four Bridgeport runners in a row. I had to head to the two mile, so I didn't get the remainder of the top 20.

At the two mile mark, Brettley Harris continued to hold his slim lead over Glenn McMillan and Jason Weitzel with Harris crossing at 11:08, McMillan at 11:09, and Weitzel at 11:10. Daniel Cooper was still very much in reach at 11:13 in 4th. Hayden Harrison had moved back into 5th at 11:15 to stay in the hunt. Hunter Deem was just behind in 6th at 11:16. Steven Shetler was up to 7th at 11:22. Matt Christiansen was in 8th at 11:24. Hunter Riffle was in 9th at 11:27. Austin Hayes was starting to struggle and had dropped to 10th at 10:33. Jimmy Lacaria had moved into 11th at 11:35 with that time matched by Seth Backus and Logan Kerby in 12th and 13th, respectively. Arryn Tennant remained in 14th at 11:38. Ian Frailey and Michael Duez came through in 11:42 in 15th and 16th, respectively. Caleb Pell continued to hold 17th at 11:45. Jesse Cannaday was up to 18th in 11:52. Caleb Shirey had moved up to 19th at 11:55. Jakeb Van Horn was holding 20th at 11:56.

Coming onto the track, Brettley Harris was all alone. He had pulled away dramatically in the final mile to take the win by over 13 seconds in 16:30. Glenn McMillan pulled away from Jason Weitzel in the final mile to solidify a 2nd place finish in 16:44. Weitzel came through easily in 3rd at 16:49. No one else made it in under 17:00 as these three really pulled away from the field over the final mile. Daniel Cooper held off teammate Hunter Deem for 4th with Cooper scoring a 17:01 and Deem a 17:02. Hayden Harrison held onto 6th in 17:07. Hunter Riffle used a strong final mile to move up to 7th in 17:11, just ahead of Steven Shetler's 17:12 in 8th. Matt Christiansen scored a 9th with his 17:14. Arryn Tennant made several passes in the final mile to move up to 10th and take the final podium spot with a 17:24. Seth Backus claimed 11th in 17:28. Bridgeport took 12th and 13th with Jimmy Lacaria holding the 12th position in 17:32 and Ian Frailey closing well to move up to 13th late in 17:35. Austin Hayes battled his way to hold on for 14th in 17:36. Michael Duez came up to 16th in 17:42. Jesse Cannaday passed a couple in the final mile to move up to 16th in 17:51. Caleb Pell held the 17th position in 17:55. Bridgeport's Tim Kinney moved into the top 20 in the final mile to finish in 18th at 17:57. Logan Kerby came through in 19th at 17:58. Buffalo's Jonathon Wileman concluded an excellent run by moving into 20th and taking the last time under 18:00 with his 17:59.

In looking for the MVP for the A-AA Boys race, I had to look at the battle between Webster and Ritchie. There was one runner for Webster whose performance was instrumental. He didn't move up a ton from his predicted place. In fact, he only moved from 56th to 49th. But his team score moved from a predicted 43 to an actual 36...7 points. Webster beat Ritchie by 6. Just as importantly, he made it in before Ritchie's #4 and #5. If he finishes in his projected position, Webster doesn't make the podium. For these reasons, the 2014 RunWV MPV is Webster County's Kyle Humphrey.

So, how did RunWV do on the predictions. It was a little better than last year, but not significantly. I did get the team champion correct and also correctly picked 2nd and 3rd. Berkeley Springs and Buffalo each moved 3 places up the charts. Individually, 8 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. 13 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15. However, only 20 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. Additionally, four of those runners that cracked the top 25 had been picked outside the top 40. The two runners who climbed into All-State Positions were Nicholas County's Matt Christiansen (picked 16th, got 9th) and Bridgeport's Arryn Tennant (picked 15th, got 10th). The ones who climbed into the top 25 were Bridgeport's Tim Kinney (picked 27th, got 18th), Buffalo's Jonathon Wileman (picked 42nd, got 20th), Buffalo's Devin Rich (picked 44th, got 22nd), Berkeley Springs' Logan Heironimus (picked 41st, got 23rd), and Berkeley Springs' Chuckie Welch (picked 35th, got 25th). The big mover for the day was Williamstown's Ethan Collins who climbed 28 spots from a predicted finish of 86th to an actual finish of 58th. From a team standpoint, the best day was had by Berkeley Springs who scored 31 points better than their predicted finish.

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 rolled over the competition all year long. You put all 7 guys in the top 27 and all at 18:10 or better. There wasn't really any doubt heading into the meet and you left no doubt during the meet.

I offer my congratulations to Brettley Harris. You ran the race you wanted to run, with the strategy you wanted to use. When the time came to push for the finish, you simply ran away from the competition. A great effort with a great result.

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 mean very little in the grand scheme of things. Nothing is determined until the race is run.