The afternoon session opened with the AAA Boys Race. Temperatures had gotten considerably warmer during the break with a starting temperature of 76 degrees. The wind had picked up as well. This was expected to be a tight battle between defending champion Cabell Midland and Morgantown. We did not get that tight battle. Morgantown absolutely dominated the race and Cabell Midland underperformed. The result was a 55 point slaughter of the field by the Mohigans. Individually, Philip White came in as the predicted winner despite being ranked only 3rd, and he came through for me, running away in the final mile to win by 14 seconds.

My first checkpoint was the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. University's Philip White had taken the front position in 3:43, but it was very close as the first five all came past at that time. Capital's Samuel Thomas was in 2nd. George Washington's Jacob Birurakis was in 3rd. University's Geandre Jones was in 4th, and Cabell Midland's Coy Smith was in 5th. Cabell Midland's Austin Jordan was running 6th in 3:46. I believe if was Jefferson's Nick Whitehair in 7th at 3:47, with that time matched by University's Michael Gharib and Hurricane's Russell Carroll in 8th and 9th, respectively. Parkersburg's Ian Domenick was in 10th at the front of a large group that all came through in 3:48. He was trailed by Parkersburg's Scott Barker, I think St. Albans' Josh Endres, Morgantown's John Gullion, Morgantow's Kevin Donnelly, and South Charleston's Josh Greear. Preston's Ward Ries had the 16th position in 3:49 with that being matched by Morgantown's Andrew Christy in 17th. University's Nick Summerlin was in 18th at 3:50. That time was matched by Morgantown's Gideon Temple and Woodrow Wilson's Miles Kominsky.

At the mle Mark, things were starting to take shape. The pack was large but strung out. Philip White remained in the lead at 5:10 with Jacob Birurakis crossing right behind in the same time. Geandre Jones had a slight edge over Coy Smith for 3rd with both at 5:11. Austin Jordan was in 5th 5:12. Michael Gharib was in 6th with the same time. Samuel Thomas was running 7th in 5:13 with that being matched by Russell Carroll and John Gullion. Josh Greear had moved up to 10th in 5:15, just ahead of Josh Endres with the same time. Kevin Donnelly was up to 12th in 5:16. Ward Ries had climbed to 13th in 5:17. That was matched by Scott Barker, Ian Domenick, Andrew Christy, and Miles Kominsky, who held the 14th through 17th spots, respectively. Nick Whitehair and Woodrow Wilson's Chris Barbera were 18th and 19th, respectively in 5:18. Gideon Temple matched their time in 20th.

At the top of the hill at the WVU Extension Service Building, which is the highest point on the course, things had opened up as three runners had completely broken away from the field. Philip White was still in the lead at 7:38, but Jacob Birurakis remained just a stride behind with the same time. Geandre Jones was just another stride back in 7:39. Those three had opened a 7 second gap on the trail pack. The battle for 4th was strong with the next five all passing in 7:46. Samuel Thomas was at the front of that group with Coy Smith, Russell Carroll, John Gullion, and Austin Jordan all right there. Michael Gharib was just off that group in 9th at 7:47. Andrew Christy had moved into the top 10 at 7:49. Ward Ries was up to 11th in 7:50. Wheeling Park's Ronnie Saunders had made a significant move from 24th at the mile up to 12th in 7:52. Miles Kominsky was up to 13th in 7:53. Kevin Donnelly was in 14th at 7:54 with that time matched by Ian Domenick in 15th. Josh Greear was in 16th at 7:55 with Gideon Temple at the same time in 17th. Morgantown's Vitaly Cuff was up to 18th in 7:56 with Scott Barker and Morgantown's Andrew Jones at the same time in 19th and 20th, respectively. With 6 in the top 20, it was becoming apparent that Morgantown was running away with the race at this point.

I picked up some extra footage at about 1.85 miles. Jacob Birurakis had moved into a slight lead over Philip White with both passing at 10:06. Geandre Jones had dropped out of te race. Austin Jordan had pulled up into 3rd at 10:17 with John Gullion right with him at the same time. Russell Carroll was in 5th at 10:19. Ronnie Saunders had continued to work up through the field and was up to 6th in 10:20. Andrew Christy was up to 7th in 10:21. Samuel Thomas was there as well with the same time in 8th. Michael Gharib was in 9th in 10:24. Coy Smith had fallen to 10th in 10:25 and looked to be struggling. Ward Ries was in 11th at 10:26. Miles Kominsky was in 12th at 10:28.

At the two mile mark, Philip White had retaken the lead at 10:47, but Jacob Birurakis was still right on his tail with the same time. Austin Jordan had maintained the 3rd position in 11:00. John Gullion was close behind in 11:01. Ronnie Saunders had moved into 5th at 11:02 with Russell Carroll matching that time in 6th. Samuel Thomas had a slight lead over Andrew Chrsity for 7th with both at 11:05. Michael Gharib was in 9th at 11:08. Coy Smith was holding 10th at 11:10. Ward Ries was in 11th at 11:11. Miles Kominsky was in 12th at 11:13. Vitaly Cuff had moved up to 13th in 11:16. Ian Domenick was in 14th at 11:17. That was matched by Kevin Donnelly and Gideon Temple. Andrew Jones was up to 17th in 11:18. Wheeling Park's Corbin Rutan had made a move into the top 20 at 17th in 11:20. Chris Barbera was in 19th at 11:21 with Parkersburg's Will Lemaster matching that time in 20th. It was even more apparent now that Morgantown was dominating this race.

Coming onto the track, Philip White as all alone. He had significantly pulled away and strode to the finish in 16:14, taking the win by a full 14 seconds. Jacob Birurakis easily held the 2nd position in 16:28. Ronnie Saunders continued his assault up the field to move up to the 3rd position in 16:37. He just held off the last stretch challenge of Austin Jordan, who finished 4th, also with a 16:37. John Gullion held the 5th position in 16:40. Russell Carroll took the 6th spot in 16:42. Mile Kominsky closed very well in the last 1.1 to move up to 7th in 16:52. Andrew Christy tried to run him down in the homestretch but didn't quite get there in taking 8th, also with a 16.52. Samuel Thomas and Ward Ries battled down the stretch with Thomas holding off Ries for 9th and Ries taking the final podium position with both at 16:58. Vitaly Cuff close well for Morgantown to finish 11th in 17:05. Michael Gharib took the 12th spot in 17:06. Corbin Rutan moved up a lot in the final mile to finish 13th in 17:07. Will Lemaster also closed well to finish 14th in 17:08. Gideon Temple took the 15th spot in 17:13. Jefferson's Mason Young made a move over the final 1.1 to finish 16th in 17:17. Kevin Donnelly just held off teammate Andrew Jones by 0.01 with both finishing in 17:19 in 17th and 18th, respectively. Cabell Midland's Brett Armbruster moved into the top 20 at 19th on 17:22. Ian Domenick took the 20th position in 17:23.

In considering the MVP for the meet, I, of course, looked at Morgantown, but they won by so much any one of them could have not shown up and they would have still won convincingly. I will note, however, the really strong run they received from Vitaly Cuff. Ulimately, I found a runner who moved up 20 places from his predicted finish to his actual finish and gained 18 team spots along the way. Had he finished where predicted, his team would have been relegated to a 6th place finish. Since he ran the race he did, his team finished 3rd. For his performance, the 2016 RunWV MVP of the State Meet goes to Parkersburg's Benjamin Lake.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Awful. Just awful. I didn't get the team champion. I knew Morgantown had a shot, but their dominance of the field was completely unexpected. My # 3 team fell to 8th, and in all, 4 of the 12 teams finished more than one spot away from where they were predicted. I did get the individual champion correct, but things went drastically downhill after that. It didn't help that four of my top 25 either didn't run or didn't finish. Ultimately, only 6 of my predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. Only 11 of the top 15 finished in the top 15, and disgustingly, only 16 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. In all, 8 on my prediction list either didn't run or didn't finsh, and on average, runners finished with 9.87 places of their predicted finish. That's over 2 places worse than last year. Those that cracked the top 10 were Wheeling Park's Ronnie Saunders (picked 27th, got 3rd), Woodrow Wilson's Miles Kominsky (picked 12th, got 7th), Capital's Samuel Thomas (picked 15th, got 9th), and Preston's Ward Ries (picked 14th, got 10th). An extra tip of the cap to Ronnie Saunders for his race. I don't think I've ever had anyone picked outside the top 25 score a top 3. It's extremely rare that anyone picked outside the top 25 scores a top 10. I doubt there was anyone who was expecting that one. Great race! Those that climbed into the top 25 were Wheeling Park's Ronnie Saunders (picked 27th, got 3rd), Morgantown's Vitaly Cuff (picked 37th, got 11th), Morgantown's Gideon Temple (picked 35th, got 15th). Jefferson's Mason Young (picked 34th, got 16th), Morgantown's Andrew Jones (picked 26th, got 18th), St. Albans' Jeb Brady (picked 31st, got 22nd), Hurricane's Justin Belcher (picked 28th, got 23rd), Jefferson's Nick Whitehair (picked 32nd, got 24th), and Parkersburg's Benjamin Lake (picked 45th, got 25th). I'd get 3 of those back if you toss out the DNR/DNF's. The big mover of the day was Jefferson's Delmar Hagedorn who climbed 33 spots from a predicted finish of 64th to an actual finish of 31st. From a team standpoint, the best day was had by Jefferson, who scored a whopping 72 points fewer than they were predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Morgantown boys. After 3 straight years of finishing one spot off the podium, you dedicated yourselves to the pursuit of the title. You ran a disciplined race, not letting yourselves get caught up in the early push. That discipline helped you handle the heat and the result was a destruction of the field. There was no doubt you were the best team today.

I offer my congratulations to Philip White. You ran smart and strong and put the race away when it was time to do so, continuing a tradition of excellence.

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.