The A-AA Boys closed the day's events. The conditions were similar to the girls race with temperatures warming to around 60. The team race was expected to go Bridgeport's way unless they had an off day and Ritchie, or maybe, just maybe, Berkeley Springs had a great day. And that is exactly what we got, and Berkeley Springs pulled off a pretty big upset with some big performances. It was a close one as only 5 points separated the top 3 teams. Berkeley Springs took the win by just 2 points over Bridgeport, with Ritchie just another 3 behind. Individually, the favorite was Buffalo's Hadyen Harrison despite Ritchie's Hunter Deem having the top ranking coming in. And that was exactly what transpired as Harrison pulled away from Deem in the last mile to win the title by just under 15 seconds.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. Ritchie's Daniel Cooper had the top spot at 3:40 with teammate Hunter Deem close behind at 3:41. Their agression had them five seconds ahead of the next competitor with Buffalo's Hadyen Harrison being the 3rd one through at 3:46. Bridgeport's Jimmy Lacaria was in 4th at 3:49 with that time matched by Berkeley Springs' Steven Shelter, Braxton's Seth Backus, and East Fairmont's Mark Ellis in 5th through 7th, respectively. Bridgeport's Ian Frailey was in 8th at 3:51. Webster's Austin Hayes and Keyser's Lelan Henderson crossed at 3:52 in 9th and 10th, respectively. Nicholas County had the next two spots with Jackson Reed at 3:53 and Cody Kelley at 3:54. Berkeley Springs' Logan Heironimus was in 13th, also at 3:54. Wirt County's Logan Kerby and Buffalo's Devin Rich held the next two spots at 3:55. Fairmont Senior's Jakeb Van Horn was in 16th at 3:56. Bridgeport's Drake Bolle had a slight lead over Clay County's Trevor Armes and Scott's Nikoles Mulligan with all three coming through at 3:57. Ritchie's Jarett Allender was in 20th at 3:59.

At the mile mark, Hayden Harrison had made up the ground on the Ritchie duo and moved into the lead by about half a stride at 5:10. Hunter Deem was in 2nd with the same time. Daniel Cooper was in 3rd at 5:11. There was a significan gap back to 4th place Seth Backus at 5:19. Jimmy Lacaria was in 5th at 5:20. Mark Ellis had a slight lead over Ian Frailey for 6th with both at 5:21. Steven Shetler had a slim advantage over Leland Henderson and Austin Hayes for 8th with each at 5:22. Jakeb Van Horn had moved up to 11th in 5:23. Logan Heironimus was in 12th at 5:24. Logan Kerby led a pack of four through in 5:25. He was followed closely by Drake Bolle, Jackson Reed, and Devin Rich. Cody Kelley was in 17th at 5:27. Bridgeport's Mark Duez was in 18th at 5:29 with Ravenswood's Bryce Jarrell and Keyser's Jeremy Robertson matching that time in 19th and 20th, respectively.

At the Extension Service Building at about 1.4 miles, which is the highest point on the course, Hayden Harrison remained in the lead at 7:37. Hunter Deem remained right on his heels at 7:38. They had generated a gap on Daniel Cooper, who remained in 3rd at 7:44. He still had a good lead on the trailing group, but the margin had started to shrink. Mark Ellis had a slight lead over Seth Backus with both coming through at 7:50. Three came through at 7:53 with Steven Shetler trailed closely by Leland Henderson and Austin Hayes. Jakeb Van Horn had moved into 9th at 7:55. Ian Frailey held a slight edge over Logan Heironimus for 10th with both passing at 7:56. Drake Bolle was up to 12th in 7:57. Jimmy Lacaria was in 13th at 7:59. Mark Duez gave Bridgeport four of the top 14 at this point, passing at 8:00. That time was matched by Jeremy Robertson, who was moving up the field, and Logan Kerby. Devin Rich was in 17th at 8:01. Jackson Reed was right behind at 8:02. Bryce Jarrell remained in 19th at 8:04. Doddridge's Trey Heaster was in 20th at 8:08.

I got a little bonus footage at about 1.85 miles. Hayden Harrison had stretched his lead a little, but it was still close as he passed at 10:00 and Hunter Deem came through at 10:02. Mark Ellis had made the move into 3rd at 10:14 with Daniel Cooper and Seth Backus right behind in 10:15. Leland Henderson had moved into 6th at 10:18 with Austin Hayes right there at 10:19 in 7th. Steven Shetler was in 8th at 10:22. Jakeb Van Horn remained in 9th at 10:23. Logan Heironimus had moved into 10th at 10:24. Drake Bolle was up to 11th at 10:16 with that time matched by Jeremy Robertson in 12th. Ian Frailey was in 13th at 10:30, and Mark Duez was in 14th at 10:33.

At the two mile mark, Hayden Harrison had finally started to generate a cushion passing at an estimated 10:40. Hunter Deem remained in a very strong 2nd at an estimated 10:44. Mark Ellis was in 3rd at 10:58 with that time matched by Seth Backus in 4th. Daniel Cooper was in 5th at 10:59. Leland Henderson and Austin Hayes were still running 6th and 7th, respectively at 11:01. Steven Shetler remained in 8th at 11:04. Jaken Van Horn remained in 9th at 11:05. Logan Heironimus had stayed in 10th at 11:06. Drake Bolle was still in 11th at 11:08. Jeremy Robertson remained in 12th at 11:09. Ian Frailey still held 13th at 11:14. Mark Duez was still in 14th at 11:16. Bryce Jarrell had moved up to 15th at 11:18. Devin Rich was up to 16th in 11:21. Jackson Reed held a slight edge over Logan Kerby for 17th with both at 11:22. Jimmy Lacaria was in 19th a 11:24. Doddridge's Hunter Riffle was had moved into 20th at 11:27.

Coming onto the track, it was all Hayden Harrison as he had stretched the lead to nearly 15 seconds, finishing in 16:10. Hunter Deem easily held the 2nd spot at 16:25. The trail group closed, but he was never in jeopardy of losing the spot. There was a lot of shifting around over the last mile. Leland Henderson moved up to a strong 3rd in 16:33. Austin Hayes moved up to 4th at 16:38, just ahead of Seth Backus who had the same time. Logan Heironimus made a strong move up to 6th to finish in 16:42. Daniel Cooper held onto 7th at 16:46. Mark Ellis was close behind in 8th with a 16:47. Jakeb Van Horn held the 9th position at 16:49. Jeremy Robertson closed well for 10th in 16:51. Steven Shelter was 11th with a 16:53, the last one in under 17:00. Bryce Jarrell continued his move up the field to finish 12th in 17:01. Drake Bolle was 13th with a 17:03, just ahead of teammater Mark Duez, who ran 17:04. Ian Frailey made it three in a row for Bridgeport with a 17:12. Devin Rich was 16th with a 17:15. Berkeley Springs' Brady Price moved up to 17th in the last mile to finish in 17:18. Hunter Riffle moved up to 18th with a 17:19. St. Marys' Richard Butler closed well to finish 19th in 17:20. Berkeley Spring's Matt Chapman also moved up in the last mile to finish 20th in 17:22.

In looking for the MVP for the A-AA Boys race, I didn't have to look far. This one was easy. Berkeley Springs took the win by just 2 points and made the podium at all by just 5 points. They had three different guys who could account for those points, but one was clearly the difference maker. I had him picked 50th and scoring 33 team points. Instead, he decided to get 17th and score just 15 team points. He was 23rd at the two mile mark and picked up 3 critical team points along the way. He could have run exceptionally well and gotten, say 30th, and Berkeley Springs just has a good meet in which they still finish 3rd, but with his run, they became State Champions. For that reason, the 2015 RunWV MPV is Berkeley Springs' Brady Price.

So, how did RunWV do on the predictions. In a word...lousy. This may well have been my worst set of picks ever. I failed to get the team champion as it was my 3rd place team that won the meet. The only team that actually finished in the spot that I predicted was Richwood in 14th. My 11th place team got 5th, my 4th place team was 9th, my 6th place team was 4th, my 5th place team was 8th. I didn't have a ton of difference between my 4th and my 11th coming in, but it certainly got shaken up more than I could have imagined. Individually, it wasn't much better. I did get the individual champion and the runner up, but only 6 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. Only 11 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15, and only 19 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. On average, runners finished within 8.64 places of their predicted finish. Those who stepped up into a podium position were Webster's Austin Hayes (picked 13th, got 4th), Berkeley Springs' Logan Heironimus (picked 12th, got 6th), Fairmont Senior's Jakeb Van Horn (picked 18th, got 9th), and Keyser's Jeremy Robertson (picked 16th, got 10th). Those who moved into the top 25 were Bridgeport's Mark Duez (picked 27th, got 14th), Berkeley Springs' Brady Price (picked 50th, got 17th), St. Marys' Richard Butler (picked 28th, got 19th), Berkeley Springs' Matt Chapman (picked 30th, got 20th), Nicholas County's Jackson Reed (picked 26th, got 21st), and Sherman's Jesse Canaday (picked 40th, got 25th). The big mover of the day was Berkeley Springs' Brady Price who moved up a whopping 33 places from a predicted 50th place finish to an actual 17th place finish. I'll also give a tip of the cap to 3 other guys who moved up 31 places (I told you this was a lousy set of picks) - Fairmont Senior's Gage Clemens (picked 62nd, got 31st), Ritchie's Sam Summers (picked 69th, got 38th), and Nicholas County's Isaac Sergeon (picked 75th, got 44th). From a team standpoint, the best day was had by Keyser who scored 44 points fewer than their predicted finish (and moved up from 11th to 5th).

I offer my congratulations to the Berkeley Springs boys. No one really though you could pull this off, but after running within 8 points of Bridgeport at the Regional meet, you believed. And you ran with purpose and had multiple people pick up crucial spots in the final mile. You ran smart, and you ran strong, and you left as Champions.

I offer my congratulations to Hayden Harrison. Your season wasn't without setbacks, but you overcame them and left no doubt over the last third of the race who was going to win. When the time came, you powered away.

I offer my congratulations to the (many, many) 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.