The A-AA Boys closed the days events. The rain continued but, mercifully, continued to be mild. The temperatures had continued to drop, though not dramatically. This one was expected to be a fairly solid East Fairmont victory, though a lack of depth left them vulnerable. Fairmont Senior ran a valiant race, scoring a lower total than East Fairmont's predicted score, but East Fairmont got enough of a step up to take the win by 8 points. For Class A, Doddridge was expected to take a narrow win over Ravenswood, and they ended up cruising away for a large win in the Class A Division. Individually, it was expected that Aaron Withrow would take the race. He not only took it...he dominated it. He was ahead by 7 seconds at 0.7 miles and over 10 seconds at the mile, and went on to win it by over 20 seconds.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. Ritchie's Winfield's Aaron Withrow had already established a large gap on the field, coming through in 3:42. Bridgeport's Mark Duez had a slight lead over East Fairmont's Mark Ellis for 2nd with both passing in 3:49. St. Marys' Walker Hashman was in 4th at 3:50. Robert C. Byrd's Danah Phillips was 5th in 3:51. Elkins' Mason Clark was running 6th in 3:52. Philip Barbour's Noah Ward leg St. Marys' Brady Gorrell and Oak Hill's Zachary Webb for 7th, with each passing in 3:53. Doddridge's Carter Lipscomb was in 10th at 3:54, slightly ahead of Winfield's Luke Lumadue and Nicholas' Isaac Prather, who matched his time. Ravenswood's Blake Jarrell was next through in 3:55 in 13th, just ahead of twin brother Bryce Jarrell in 14th in 3:56. Point Pleasant's Luke Wilson was in 15th at 3:58. Fairmont Senior's Miguel Figueroa was running 16th in 3:59. Robert C. Byrd's Sam Starkey was in 17th at 4:00. Philip Barbour's Tyler Channell was in 18th at 4:01 with that time matched by Bridgeport's Jackson Jacobs in 19th. Frankfort's Benjamin Ridgel was in 20th, also at 4:01.

At the mile mark, Aaron Withrow had extended his lead to 11 seconds, coming through in 5:12. Walker Hashman had moved into 2nd at 5:23, slightly ahead of Mark Ellis, who matched that time. They were at the front of a large pack, the next 5 of which each passed in 16:54. It was Brady Gorrell in 4th, Noah Ward in 5th, Mark Duez in 6th, Mason Clark in 7th, and Danah Phillips in 8th. Carter Lipscomb was in 9th at 5:26. He was trailed closely by Luke Lumadue in 11th and Isaac Prather in 12th with both at 5:27. Bryce Jarrell was in 13th in 5:29, just ahead of Blake Jarrell who matched that time. Luke Wilson was in 14th at 5:30. That time was matched by Miguel Figueroa and Zachary Webb in 15th and 16th, respectively. Sam Starkey remained in 17th at 5:32. Fairmont Senior's Caleb Carlson had moved into 18th in 5:38 with Tyler Channell matching that time in 19th. Jackson Jacobs was in 20th at 5:40.

At the Extension Service Building at about 1.4 miles, which is the highest point on the course, Aaron Withrow had continued to assert himself, now stretching his lead out 15 seconds. He came through in 7:36. Mark Ellis had moved into control of 2nd place in 7:51. Noah Ward had was just ahead of Walker Hashman for 3rd, with both at 7:53. Luke Lumadue had made a big move into 5th at 7:54. Brady Gorrell was in 6th at 7:55 with Danah Phillips matching that in 7th. Mark Duez had a slight edge on Carter Lipscomb for 8th with both passing in 7:56. Bryce Jarrell had moved up to 10th in 7:59. Mason Clark was close behind in 11th at 8:00. Sam Starkey had made a move up to 12th in 8:02. Luke Wilson was in 13th in 8:03. Blake Jarrell had a slight lead on Isaac Prather for 14th with both passing in 8:04. Miguel Figueroa was in 16th in 8:05. Caleb Carlson was up to 17th in 8:11, with Jackson Jacobs matching that time in 18th. Benjamin Ridgel had moved back into the top 20 at 19th in 8:14 with Tyler Channell also coming through in that time in 20th.

I got a little bonus footage at about 1.85 miles. Aaron Withrow continued to lead by about 16 seconds, passing by in 9:58. Mark Ellis was edging further out into 2nd at 10:14. Luke Lumadue continued his ascent through the field, moving into 3rd in 10:17. Brady Gorrell was in 4th at 10:19 with Noah Ward also coming through in that time. Danah Phillips was in 6th in 10:23. Carter Lipscomb was in 7th at 10:24 with Walker Hashman matching that time in 8th. Bryce Jarrell was up to 9th in 10:29. Mason Clark had a slight edge over Sam Starkey for the 10th position with each coming by in 10:30. Mark Duez had fallen to 12th at 10:35 with Luke Wilson matching that time in 13th. Miguel Figueroa was in 14th, Blake Jarrell was in 15th, Caleb Carlson was in 16th, and Isaac Prather was in 17th.

At the two mile mark, I didn't quite get over there in time, but Aaron Withrow remained clearly in control of the race and appeared to still be extending his lead. I'm estimating that he went through in about 10:40. Mark Ellis remained in 2nd in 10:58. Luke Lumadue was still lingering near at 11:01 in 3rd. Noah Ward was in 4th at 11:05 with Brady Gorrell trailing closely at 11:06. Walker Hashman and Danah Phillips came through in 11:09 with Hashman holding a slight advantage for 6th. Carter Lipscomb was in 8th at 11:10. Sam Starkey had moved up to 9th in 11:14. Bryce Jarrell was in 10th in 11:15. Mason Clark was in 11th at 11:16. Luke Wilson had worked his way up to 12th in 11:21. Miguel Figueroa was up to 13th in 11:24. Caleb Carlson was up to 14th in 11:25, with that time matched by Mark Duez in 15th. Blake Jarrell was in 16th in 11:26. Isaac Prather remained in 17th in 11:29. Jackson Jacobs was in 18 at 11:33. Wheeling Central's Quintin Thomas had moved into 19th in 11:34. Benjamin Ridgel was in 20th at 11:37.

Coming onto the track, it was as it had been all race long...Aaron Withrow all alone. He finished up his solo effort in 16:09 to take the win by over 20 seconds. Mark Ellis extended his hold on 2nd to finish in 16:30. Luke Lumadue continued to extend his hold on 3rd with an excellent run to finish in 16:35. Noah Ward just squeezed by Brady Gorrell for 4th a step before the finish line with both getting a 16:45, but with Ward taking the spot by a mere 0.03. Walker Hashman pulled away for 6th in 16:50. Things got really tight after this. Carter Lipscomb came onto the track in 7th, but four others came on right after and immediately started closing. I can't tell the order but alphabetically, it was Bryce Jarrell, Danah Phillips, Sam Starkey, and Luke Wilson. By the middle of the turn, it was anyone's game. Starkey made the pass on Lipscomb, but Lipscomb fought back to take the 7th spot in 16:53. Starkey was 8th in 16:54. Bryce Jarrell was next in at 16:54 with Luke Wilson taking the final podium spot, also in 16:54. Danah Phillips ended up the odd man out in 11th at 16:55. Places 7-11 were decided by 1.98 seconds with 8 to 10 decided by just 0.62. Caleb Carlson closed well to move into 12th in 17:17. Mason Clark held the 13th position in 17:20. Blake Jarrell moved up to 14th in 17:22. Miguel Figueroa was 15th in 17:26. Isaac Prather took 16th in 17:30. Benjamin Ridgel closed well to moved up to 17th in 17:32. Jackson Jacobs took the 18th position in 17:34, just ahead of Jarrett Allender, who also crossed in 17:34. Berkeley Springs' Logan Heironimus moved up to the 20th spot late to finish in 17:40.

In looking for the MVP for the A-AA Boys race, I had to take a look at Frankfort as they moved up from a predicted 6th to 4th. They did it with nearly across the board strong runs. Oh, and by the way, in case you didn't notice, Region I took the top 4 team spots in the State Meet. I had to take a look at Fairmont Senior as they moved from a predicted 3rd to a podium spot. They also got strong runs across the board. And of course, I had to look at East Fairmont, who was standing at the top of the podium. Fairmont Senior ran really well, which meant that someone from East Fairmont needed to step up. And one did. I had this athlete predicted for a 60th place finish, but he climbed up to 41st. If he finished 60th as predicted, his team doesn't get to take home that title. For that reason, the 2017 RunWV MVP is East Fairmont's Blake Ashcraft.

So, how did RunWV do on the predictions. Decent, but not great. I got the team champion correct. 2nd and 3rd switched. I did have 4 teams deviate from their predicted place by 2 spots as 4th and 6th switched and 9th and 11th switched. I also did get the Class A Champion correct. Individually, I got the champion correct, and 8 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10 (I really like that to be at least 9). 13 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15, and 21 of the top 25 finished in the top 25. On average, runners finished within 9.36 places of their predicted finish, which is pretty significantly worse than last years' 7.74. Those who stepped up to take a podium position were Philip Barbour's Noah Ward (picked 12th, got 4th) and Robert C. Byrd's Sam Starkey (picked 15th, got 8th). Those who moved into the top 25 were Frankfort's Benjamin Ridgel (picked 29th, got 17th), Ritchie's Jarrett Allender (picked 30th, got 19th), Frankfort's Ryan Zirk (picked 49th, got 22nd), and Philip Barbour's (picked 46th, got 24th). The big mover of the day was Doddridge's Cole Garvin who moved up 29 spots from a predicted 98th place finish to an actual 69th place finish. From a team standpoint, there were two teams who scored 35 points fewer than predicted, Frankfort and Doddridge.

I offer my congratulations to the East Fairmont boys. It wasn't until part-way through the season that you assumed the top spot, but you never relinquished it. You came into the meet knowing that you couldn't be off, and you weren't. You got everything you needed to to secure the title, the strong run from your leader, the solid runs from your 2-4, and the step-up performance from your number 5.

I offer my congratulations to the Doddridge boys. You were runner-up last year and lost 5 of your top 7. You ran with 4 Freshman, and you won it anyway. You ignored the weather and ran what you needed to run.

I offer my congratulations to Aaron Withrow. You left absolutely no doubt who was winning this year. You controlled the race from the beginning, and no one could go with you. You gapped the field early and stretched your lead continuously to the end. It was a dominant performance.

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.