The afternoon session opened with the AAA Boys Race. The rain had finally gone away, but after being in the A-AA Awards Ceremony, it seemed that the temperature had dropped a little. Cabell Midland was supposed to take the win but with a couple teams having a shot, and that's pretty much what happened. Cabell ran well and held up their end of the bargain to take the 20 point win. Individually, I figured three guys had a good shot, and it somewhat held up that way with two of them battling it out for over 2 miles before Wheeling Park's Ronnie Saunders pulled away over the final mile to win by 12 seconds over University's Josh Edwards.

My first checkpoint was the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. I forgot I had zoomed in on the Class A-AA Girls finish, so things are a little shaky, but I think I have these right. Woodrow Wilson's Chris Barbera had a slight lead at 3:46, but all coming through with the same time were University's Josh Edwards, Wheeling Park's Ronnie Saunders, and Cabell Midland's Steven Ball in 2nd through 4th, respectively. Coming through in 5th and 6th in 3:47 were Hurricane teammates Wyatt Hanshaw and Justin Belcher. George Washington's Jacob Birurakis was in 7th at 3:48. Cabell Midland's Sam LeRose was in 8th at 3:49 with that time matched by Parkersburg's Benjamin Lake in 9th. Cabell Midland's Cooper Gibson was in 10th in 3:50 with that time matched by Parkersburg's Keegan Barnette and Preston's Cole Friend in 11th and 12th, respectively. Ripley's Chase Pepper was in 13th at 3:51. University's Nathaniel Edwards was in 14th at 3:52 with Parkersburg's Franklin Angelos matching that time. Morgantown's Jackson Core led a trio coming through at 3:53. He was followed by University's Aidan Palmer, Morgantown's Mikael Virji, and Woodrow Wilson's Jonah Stevens. I'm not sure about 20th. I'm pretty sure it was a Cabell Midland guy, but I'm not sure which one. I think it may have been Brett Armbruster.

At the Mile Mark, Josh Edwards and Ronnie Saunders had started to separate themselves from the pack with Edwards holding a slight lead but with both coming through in 5:11. Chris Barbera had a slight lead over Steven Ball and Justin Belcher for 3rd with all three coming through in 5:14. Jacob Birurakis was just ahead of Wyatt Hanshaw for 6th with both at 5:15. Sam LeRose was just off of them at 5:16 in 8th. Cole Friend had moved up to 9th in 5:17. Keegan Barnette was holding the 10th spot in 5:20. Benjamin Lake was in 11th at 5:21, just ahead of Cooper Gibson, who matched that time in 12th. Nathaniel Edwards was at the front of a pack of four in 13th at 5:22. He was shadowed by Chase Pepper, Jackson Core, and Jonah Stevens in 14th through 16th, respectively. Franklin Angelos was in 17th in 5:23 with Aidan Palmer matching that time in 18th. St. Albans' Ethan Endres had moved into 19th place at 5:26 with that time matched by...I believe...Cabell Midland's Will Turman.

At the top of the hill at the WVU Extension Service Building, which is the highest point on the course, Ronnie Saunders had just moved into a slight lead over Josh Edwards with both passing at 7:33. Steven Ball continued his excellent run, moving into into 3rd at 7:35. Chris Barbera was in 4th at 7:36. Jacob Birurakis had moved up a slot into 5th at 7:38. Justin Belcher was in 6th at 7:39 with Wyatt Hanshaw matching that time in 7th. Same LeRose was close behind in 8th at 7:40. Cole Friend remained in the 9th position at 7:42. Those 9 had generated a gap on the remaining field. Jonah Stevens had moved all the way up to the 10th spot in 7:49. Hampshire's Chris Lucas had also made a major move, coming from outside the top 20 into 11th in 7:50. That time was matched by Jackson Core and Cooper Gibson in 12th and 13th, respectively. Keegan Barnette was in the 14th position in at 7:52. Nathaniel Edwards was in 15th at 7:54. Aidan Palmer was in 16th at 7:55 with Chase Pepper matching that time in 17th. Hampshire's Andrew Dorsey had moved into 18th at 7:57. Will Turman was in 19th in 7:58 with Franklin Angelos matching that time in 20th.

I picked up some extra footage at about 1.85 miles. Josh Edwards had moved back into a slight lead in 9:53 with Ronnie Saunders right on his shoulder with the same time. Steven Ball was still controlling 3rd and had created a small gap at 9:56. Jacob Birurakis was up to 4th in 10:00 with Chris Barbera in 5th at 10:01. Cole Friend had moved into 6th in 10:03 with Sam LeRose in 7th in 10:04. Wyatt Hanshaw and Justin Belcher manned the next two spots at 10:05. Chris Lucas had moved into 10th in 10:09. Jonah Stevens was in 11th in 10:10. Jackson Core was in 12th at 10:17 with Cooper Gibson in 13th at 10:18.

At the two mile mark, Josh Edwards continued to hold the lead, putting a step or two in between he and Ronnie Saunders, finally giving us a 1 second separation between the two with Edwards at 10:38 and Saunders at 10:39. Steven Ball remained in 3rd at 10:44. Jacob Birurakis was still holding 4th in 10:47. Chris Barbera was in the 5th spot in 10:48. Cole Friend remained in 6th in 10:50 with Sam LeRose still in 7th in 10:51. Justin Belcher was in 8th in 10:54 with Wyatt Hanshaw 9th in 10:55. Chris Lucas continued to hold the 10th position in 10:56 with Jonah Stevens right behind in 10:57. Cooper Gibson was in 12th in 11:06 with Jackson Core right behind in 13th in 11:07. Chase Pepper was back up to 14th in 11:13. Keegan Barnette was in 15th in 11:15. Will Turman had moved up to 16th in 11:17 with Wheeling Park's Quintin Thomas matching that time while climbing up to 17th. Aidan Palmer was in 18th in 11:18. University's Rocco DeVincent had moved into 19th place in 11:20, just ahead of Hurricane's Bryer McPherson, who matched that time. Somewhere in that last half mile, Jonah Stevens, who had been contending for a top 10, collapsed and did not finish.

Coming onto the track, Ronnie Saunders was all alone. He had asserted himself over the final mile of the race and taken complete control and sped to a convincing 12 second victory in 15:55. Josh Edwards easily held onto the 2nd spot in 16:07. Chris Barbera closed well over the last mile to move back into the 3rd spot in 16:15. Jacob Birurakis held the 4th position in 16:20. Steven Ball held off Sam LeRose for 5th 16:25 to 16:26. Cole Friend took the 7th spot in 16:31. Justin Belcher claimed the 8th spot in 16:34. Jackson Core close really well to move up to 9th in 16:38, just ahead of Wyatt Hanshaw's 16:39 to round out the podium spots. Chris Lucas finished a strong 11th in 16:41. Cooper Gibson held the 12th position in 16:49. Brycer McPherson also closed really well to move up several spots to 13th in 16:51. Will Turman completed his excellent outing in 14th in 16:54 to give Cabell Midland 4 of the top 14. Chase Pepper took the 15th spot in 17:00. Hurricane's John Casey moved up to 16th in the final mile to finish in 17:01. Aidan Palmer was 17th in 17:08. Keegan Barnette took 18th in 17:12. Quintin Thomas was 19th in 17:14, and Rocco DeVincent completed the top 20 in 17:15.

In considering the MVP for the meet, like last year, it came down to making the podium and not making the podium. The race for the win didn't end up being exceptionally close, but I will give a nod to Will Turman, who turned in an exceptional race for Cabell Midland, but they would still have won had he finished where picked. So, the guy who gets the award this year didn't climb up a ton of spots, just 12, but he picked up 11 team points along the way, very critical when the podium spot is decided by 8 points. In addition, he made up 8 team points in the final mile of the race, moving up 6 team spots and passing a couple University guys along the way. For this clutch performance, Hurricane's Bryer McPherson is this years RunWV MVP.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? It was a pretty solid set. I got the team champion correct. I did have 2nd and 3rd backwards. Wheeling Park and Morgantown each moved up a couple spots. There were 3 teams overall that moved up or down 2 spots or more. Individually, I nailed the top 4 right in order and had all 10 of the podium finishers. Things degraded a little after that as I only got 11 of the top 15, but it rebounded to 22 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 6.77 spots of their predicted finish, almost a full spot better than last year. No one cracked the top 10. Those who moved into the top 25 were Cabell Midland's Will Turman (picked 31st, got 14th), Wheeling Park's Quintin Thomas (picked 28th, got 19th), and University's Rocco DeVincent (picked 27th, got 20th). The big mover of the day was University's Alex Dean, who moved up 26 spots from a predicted finish of 54th to an actual finish of 28th. From a team standpoint, the best day was had by Musselman, who scored 24 points fewer than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Cabell Midland boys. You ascended to the top early in the season, and then were met with adversity when one of your top runners went down with injury. But you were not deterred and put together an outstanding race to run away with the title. You had several guys step up with big-time performances when they were most needed.

I offer my congratulations to Ronnie Saunders. This almost looked inevitable two years ago, and last year, this almost looked impossible. What a winding course you have run to get here. It was great to see you back in top form, and you took control of the race on your terms and in your timeframe and ran away for the convincing win.

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.