The A-AA Boys opened the day's events. Sunny but mild temperatures greeted the runners. The morning session was set up for solid times. The team race was expected to go for Bridgeport with a close battle between three teams. Bridgeport came through with flying colors this year, turning a predicted 19 point win into a 31 point route of the field. Berkeley Springs nipped East Fairmont by a point for the 2nd podium position. In the race for the first ever Class A title, St. Marys came in as the solid favorite and left no doubt by outperforming along the way. Individually, Winfield's Aaron Withrow came in as the heavy favorite, but it was not to be. Nicholas County's Jackson Reed took the race out hard, but Withrow pulled ahead just before the two mile mark and appeared poised to take control as he did at the St. Mary's XC Festival. Not this time. Reed reasserted himself on the downhill and flat finish stretch and pulled away for the convincing win, taking the title by over 15 seconds.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. Ritchie's Nicholas County's Jackson Reed had the early lead at approximately 3:40. I'm going from memory on the first 3. My camera man didn't get the camera going in tmie. Winfield's Aaron Withrow was in 2nd at 3:42. Bridgeport's Jimmy Lacaria was running 3rd at 3:46. Braxton's Seth Backus was in 4th at 3:49, trailed closely by East Fairmont's Mark Ellis with the same time. Doddridge's Hunter Riffle was in 6th at 3:52 with that time matched by Winfield's Luke Lumadue in 7th. Ravenswood's Bryce Jarrell was in 8th at 3:53. Doddridge's Trey Heaster had a slight lead on Bridgeport's Mark Duez and Fairmont Senior's Gage Clemens for the 9th spot with all three coming through at 3:55. Berkeley Springs' Matt Chapman was in 12th at 3:56. Robert C. Byrd's Bryce Childers was in 13th with the same time. Ravenswood's Blake Jarrell was in 14th at the front of a small pack in 3:57. That time was matched by St. Marys' Walker Hashman, someone who I think might be Elkins' Mason Clark and Liberty Harrison's Corey Bunch. Williamstown's Ethan Beck was holding the 18th spot at 4:00. I think it's Sherman's Jesse Canaday in 19th in 4:01 with that time matched by Oak Hill's Zachary Webb in 20th.

At the mile mark, Jackson Reed was in control at 5:07. Aaron Withrow was in firm control of the 2nd spot at 5:10. Jimmy Lacaria was in 3rd at 5:15 with Seth Backus close behind in 5:16. Mark Ellis was in 5th at 5:19. Luke Lumadue was at the front of a three pack battling for the 6th position with each at 5:20. He was joined by Hunter Riffle and Gage Clemens. Bryce Jarrell was in 9th at 5:22. Mark Duez had a slight lead on Trey Heaster for 10th in 5:23. Matt Chapman remained in 12th at 5:24. Bryce Childers still held the 13th spot in 5:25. Walker Hashman was in 14th at 5:28. Blake Jarrell was at the front of a tight trio with Corey Bunch and Frankfort's Derek Alt holding the 15th through 17th positions, respectively and each crossing in 5:32. Ethan Beck still held 18th at 5:34. St. Marys' Brady Gorrell had moved into 19th at 5:36 with Elkins' Mason Clark in 20th with the same time.

At the Extension Service Building at about 1.4 miles, which is the highest point on the course, I once again didn't get my camera man to the spot on time and missed the leader. My apologies to Jackson Reed for missing him multiple times. He remained in the front, I'm guessing at about 7:31 or 7:32. Aaron Withrow remained firmly in 2nd at 7:36. Seth Backus had moved into 3rd at 7:45 with Jimmy Lacaria right behind in 7:46. Mark Ellis was in 5th at 7:47. I owe him an apology as well. For some reason, for at least this spot and the mile mark, I called him Jackson Reed. I have no idea why. Hunter Riffle was back in 6th at 7:48 with Luke Lumadue and Gage Clemens trailing closely at 7:49. Mark Duez was in 9th at 7:52, just ahead of Trey Heaster with the same time. Matt Chapman had moved into 11th in 7:55. Bryce Jarrell was in 12th at 7:58. Walker Hashman had moved into 13th at 8:00. Derek Alt had moved up to 14th in 8:04, just ahead of Bryce Childers, who came through in 15th in 8:05. Ethan Beck was up to 16th in 8:08. Blake Jarrell was in 17th at 8:09. Brady Gorrell was in 18th at 8:10. Berkeley Springs' Logan Heironimus had joined the top 20 in 19th in 8:11. Corey Bunch was holding 20th, also at 8:11.

I got a little bonus footage at about 1.85 miles. Jackson Reed still led, passing by in 9:55. Aaron Withrow had started to close, though, passing at 9:57. The pair were well ahead of the rest of the field with Seth Backus had taken control of 3rd at 10:09. Mark Ellis had moved into 4th at 10:12, just ahead of Jimmy Lacaria's 10;13. Hunter Riffle remained in 6th at 10:14, still in the front of that tight pack with Luke Lumadue and Gage Clemens, who matched his time. Mark Duez was in 9th at 10:17. Trey Heaster was in 10th in 10:19. Matt Chapman was in 11th with Bryce Jarrell still in 12th.

At the two mile mark *sigh* we missed the leaders again. Aaron Withrow had made a move and taken the lead at 10:35. Jackson Reed was still right there at 10:36. Seth Backus remained in control of 3rd in 10:53. Jimmy Lacaria had moved back into 4th at 10:56, just ahead of Mark Ellis in 10:57. Luke Lumadue had moved into 6th at 10:58. Hunter Riffle held a slight edge on Gage Clemens for 7th at 10:59. Mark Duez was in 9th at 11:01. Trey Heaster remained in 10th at 11:03. Those ten had established a pretty solid gap over the rest of the field. Matt Chapman remained in 11th at 11:13. Bryce Jarrell was still 12th at 11:15 with Walker Hashman right on his heels in the same time. Derek Alt remained in 14th at 11:21. Brady Gorrell had moved up to 15th in 11:26. Bryce Childers was in 16th at 11:27. Logan Heironimus was in 17th at 11:28. Blake Jarrell was in 18th, slightly ahead of Ethan Beck with with at 11:29. Berkeley Springs' Steven Shetler had moved into 20th at 11:31.

Coming onto the track, it was all Jackson Reed who had taken complete control over the final mile, coming onto the track all alone and speeding to the win in 16:06. Aaron Withrow held onto the 2nd spot in 16:21. Seth Backus closed well but couldn't quite get there, crossgin in 16:26. Mark Ellis moved back into the 4th spot in 16:35. Gage Clemens closed well and made a very late pass to sneak in for 5th in 16:39. Jimmy Lacaria held the 6th spot at 16:40. Mark Duez also closed well to finish 7th in 16:41. Hunter Riffle just held off Trey Heaster for 8th 16:44 to 16:45. Walker Hashman made the move into the 10th position late to take the final Podium Position in 16:56. He was also the last under 17:00. Derek Alt closed strong to move up to 11th in 17:05. Luke Lumadue struggled late and fell to 12th in 17:06. Bryce Jarrell was 13th in 17:11. Brady Gorrell moved up to 14th in 17:14. Bridgeport's Tim Kinney closed very strong to move up to 15th in 17:16. Logan Heironimus was 16th in 17:18. Blake Jarrell was 17th in 17:20. Berkeley Springs' Brady Price moved into 18th over the final mile to finish in 17:23. Apologies to him as I incorrectly identified him at the finish line. Ethan Beck was 19th in 17:25, and Matt Chapman also struggled in the final mile, but rounded out the top 20 in 17:29.

In looking for the MVP for the A-AA Boys race, Bridgeport won by too much for anyone to really be the difference maker there, though I will acknowledge the strong run they received from Coleton Marsh, who got 25th. The real battle was for 2nd and that position was salvaged by the strong run from Berkeley Springs' Brady Price, who wins this award for the 2nd year in a row. Last year, he was a bit of an unknown quantity. This year, his quality was known, but his level of conditioning was not as he missed over a month of the season with injury, the Regional being his first meet back. He moved up from a predicted place of 39th with 28 team points to an actual finish of 18th with 16 team points. Without that performance, Berkeley Springs falls from the podium and nearly falls to 4th. For that reason, the 2016 RunWV MVP is again Berkeley Springs' Brady Price.

So, how did RunWV do on the predictions. Not great, but not bad. I got the team Champion. 2nd and 3rd switched, but I only had them separated by 3 points and they only finished 1 point apart, so I knew that could go either way. Only 2 teams finished more than 1 spot away from their predicted place. Individually, I missed the champion, but I did get 8 of the top 10 and 13 of the top 15, but fell to just getting 20 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 7.74 places of their predicted finish, an improvement over last year. I did get the Class A Team Champion correct. Those who stepped up into a podium finish were Fairmont Senior's Gage Clemens (picked 11th, got 5th) and St. Marys Walker Hashman (picked 13th, got 10th). Those who climbed into the top 25 were Berkeley Springs' Brady Price (picked 39th, got 18th), Williamstown's Ethan Beck (picked 26th, got 19th), St. Marys' Spencer Wren (picked 32nd, got 21st), Nicholas' Juvenal Perez (picked 30th, got 22nd), and Bridgeport's Coleton Marsh (picked 41st, got 25th). The big mover of the day was Nicholas' Kyle Barker who moved up 27 spots to go from a predicted finish of 64th to an actual finish of 37th. From a team standpoint, the best day was had by Fairmont Senior who scored 32 points fewer than their predicted finish and moved up from a predicted 10th place to an actual 8th place finish.

I offer my congratulations to the Bridgeport boys. After the heartbreak of last season, you refocused and still had to run with the targets on your back. This year, you responded and had the race that you needed to have. It was a thorough beating of a solid field.

I offer my congratulations to the St. Marys boys. You go down in history as the first ever Class A Champions. You improved continually throughout the year and came in as the solid favorite. You outperformed to leave no doubt who was taking the top spot in Class A.

I offer my congratulations to Jackson Reed. You weren't the favorite, but you went for it. You ran with aggression, daring anyone to go with you, knowing that you had the conditioning to work the fast final third of the course. You left no doubt who the best was on this day.

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.