The Class A-AA Boys opened the day's festivities. The race opened in a cold, drizzly rain. A close team battle was expected, and we got one that was even closer. In a sport in which every spot matters, Fairmont Senior made the most of it in the final mile to edge past Winfield for the title by a single point. Bridgeport had an excellent day to claim the expcected 3rd place, making it much closer than anticipated. Ritchie claimed the Class A title as expected and wasn't really threatened. Individually, Aaron Withrow was expected to cruise to victory, but there was no cruise to it. He applied pressure early, and continually pulled away for a dominating win of 40 seconds.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. Winfield's Aaron Withrow was already well in front of the field coming through in 3:40. Doddridge's Carter Lipscomb was in 2nd at 3:47 with Ravenswood's Bryce Jarrell in 3rd at 3:48. Bridgeport's Jackson Jacobs was in 4th at 3:50. Fairmont Senior's Tavian Richardson was in 5th at 3:52. Tyler Consolidated's Spencer Corley was in 6th at 3:53. St. Mary's Caleb Campbell was in 7th at 3:54 followed by Bridgeport's Cade Robinson in 3:55. Ravenswood's Blake Jarrell was in 9th at 3:56. Philip Barbour's Noah Ward was holding the 10th spot in 3:57 with that time matched by Winfield's Matthew Scheneberg and Oak Glen's Nathan Atkinson. Winfield's Jordon Thompson was in 13th at 3:58. Point Pleasant's Luke Wilson and Robert C. Byrd's Sam Starkey were in 14th and 15th, respectively with both coming through at 4:00. Ritchie's Clayton Bee was in 16th at 4:01 with teammate Kent Bee in 17th at 4:02. His time was matched by Winfield's Will Whaley in 18th. Braxton's Kaleb Brown was in 19th at 4:03 with Bridgeport's Logan Carr rounding at the early top 20.

At the mile mark, Aaron Withrow had extended his lead to 9 seconds, coming through in 5:06. Carter Lipscomb remained in 2nd at 5:15 with Bryce Jarrell right behind in 5:16. Tavian Richardson had moved into 4th at 5:19. Jackson Jacobs was in 5th at 5:21. There was a small gaps back to a tight pack led by Spencer Corley in 5:26 with that time being matched by Matthew Scheneberg in 7th and Blake Jarrell in 8th. Caleb Campbell was right behind in 9th in 5:27 with Jordon Thompson in 10th at 5:28. Luke Wilson and Sam Starkey were in 11th and 12th, respectively at 5:29. Noah Ward was in 13th in 5:30 with Cade Robinson matching that time in 14th. Nathan Atkinson was in 15th at 5:32. Clayton Bee was in 16th in 5:33 with Kent Bee in 17th in 5:34. Will Whaley was in 18th in 5:35. Philip Barbour's Tyler Channell had moved into 19th at 5:36. Kaleb Brown completed the top 20 at 5:37.

At the Extension Service Building at about 1.4 miles, which is the highest point on the course, Aaron Withrow continued to pull away, now stretching the lead to 15 seconds, coming through in 7:30. Carter Lipscomb remained in 2nd at 7:45 with Bryce Jarrell still there at 7:47. Tavian Richarson remained close at 7:49. Jackson Jacobs continued to hold the 5th spot in 7:53. Jordon Thompson had moved into 6th at the front of a pack of 5 in 7:59. Matthew Scheneberg was also through in 7:59 in 7th with Sam Starkey and Blake Jarrell holding the next two spots at 8:00 with Caleb Campbell in 10th at 8:01. Spencer Corley had a slight lead on Luke Wilson for 11th with both at 8:03. Noah Ward was in 13th in 8:05. Cade Robinson was in 14th in 8:10. Clayton Bee was in 15th in 8:12 with Deshone Cooper in 16th at 8:13. Will Whaley was in 17th in 8:14, just ahead of Kent Bee with the same time. Nathan Atkinson was in 18th at 8:15 with Logan Carr in 20th at 8:17.

I got a little bonus footage at about 1.85 miles. Aaron Withrow continued to push the lead out, now at 21 seconds, passing in 9:51. Carter Lipscomb continued to hold the 2nd spot in 10:13. Bryce Jarrell was still running close behind in 10:16. Tavian Richardson remained in the 4th spot at 10:21. Sam Starkey had continued his push up through the field, now moving into 5th at 10:27, just ahead of Jackson Jacobs, who matched that time. Matthew Scheneberg was running in 7th with Jordon Thompson in 8th. Caleb Campbell was in 9th with Blake Jarrell in 10th. Noah Ward was in 11th, and Luke Wilson was holding 12th.

At the two mile mark, Aaron Withrow had moved out to a commanding 25 seconds, coming through in 10:35. Carter Lipscomb remained in the 2nd spot at 11:00 with Bryce Jarrell still lingering right behind in 11:03. Tavian Richardson remained in the 4th position in 11:09. Sam Starkey was in 5th and closing at 11:12. Jackson Jacobs was in 6th at 11:14. Matthew Scheneberg was holding the 7th spot in 11:18, just ahead of Jordon Thompson in 11:19. Noah Ward had moved into 9th in 11:21. Caleb Campbell was in 10th at 11:22, just ahead of Blake Jarrell with the same time. Luke Wilson was in 12th in 11:24 and starting to close. Spencer Corley was holding the 13th spot in 11:32 with Cade Robinson right behind in 11:33. Will Whaley was in 15th at the front of a tight pack in 11:37 with Clayton Bee, Fairmont Senior's Caleb Carlson and Deshone Cooper holding the next 3 spots in 11:38. Kent Bee was in 19th in 11:41, and Logan Carr continued to hold the 20th position in 11:42.

Coming onto the track, it was as it had been all race long...Aaron Withrow all alone. He closed out the race in 16:02, nearly doubling his gap over the final mile and winning by 40 seconds. Bryce Jarrell made the pass on Carter Lipscomb for the 2nd spot when Lipscomb made wrong turn shortly after the two mile, and then pulled away over the final mile to take the 2nd spot in 16:42. Lipscomb had to hold off a late charge from Sam Starkey to take the 3rd position, with both recording a 16:48 and Lipscomb winning the kick race by just 0.23 seconds. Tavian Richardson used a strong finish on the track to take back the 5th position in 16:55. Luke Wilson used a good last mile to move all the way up to 6th in 16:57. Noah Ward also closed well to move up to 7th in 16:59. A nice race to the finish saw the next three each finish with a 17:01 with Jordon Thompson winning that kick race, just ahead of Jackson Jacobs in 9th and Matthew Scheneberg in 10th. Those 10 had gotten far away from the rest of the field. Blake Jarrell claimed the 11th spot in 17:17. Cade Robinson moved back up to the 12th spot in 17:23. Caleb Campbell held on for 13th in 17:27. Caleb Carlson moved up the field into 14th at the finish in 17:29. Spencer Corley was 15th in 17:32. Will Whaley took the 16th spot in 17:35 to give Winfield 4 in the top 20. Deshone Cooper held the 17th position in 17:38. Logan Carr moved up to 18th in 17:41. Kent Bee held the 19th spot in 17:44, just ahead of Fairmont Senior's Logan Zuchelli, who moved into the 20th position in 17:45.

When you have a Championship decided by a single point, that's the obvious place to look for an MVP...and I found one. Fairmont Senior needed someone to step up because Winfield got an excellent race from Will Whaley. They got it in the form of a guy who finishe 21 spots ahead of his predicted finish and who I believe moved up 6 spots in the final mile. If he finishes where he was predicted to finish, not only do the Polar Bears not win, they don't even make the podium. So, this year's RunWV MVP for the Class A-AA Boys race is Fairmont Senior's Tyler Hayes.

So, how did RunWV do on the predictions. I'll call it adequate. I did better on Individuals than I did the teams. I missed on the team champion with Fairmont Senior taking the narrow victory over Winfield. Ravenswood made the biggest jump in the team standings from a predicted 8th to an actual 5th as their #4 came through for them in a big way and put them on the podium over Doddridge. Their jump was actually matched by Wyoming East, who climbed from a predicted 13th to an actual 10th. Only one other team moved more than one spot up or down. Individually, I got the Champion correct, but who didn't? I got 9 of the top 10, 14 of the top 15, and 21 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 9.95 places of their predicted finish. The larger field, I think makes these gaps larger. The runner who stepped up into a podium position was Winfield's Jordan Thompson (picked 12th, got 8th). Those who stepped up into the top 25 were Winfield's Will Whaley (picked 45th, got 16th), Fairmont Senior's Logan Zuchelli (picked 29th, got 20th), Fairmont Senior's Tyler Hayes (picked 42nd, got 21st), and Buffalo's Malachi Woods (picked 33rd, got 22nd). The big moved of the day was Liberty Raleigh's A.J. Williams, who was picked 98th and moved up a whopping 49 spots to finish 49th. The team having the best day was Ravenswood who scored 43 fewer points than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Fairmont Senior boys. You came in as the favorite and didn't back away from it. Late in the season, it looked like it was slipping away, but you didn't back down. You executed an excellent race and moved when you needed to move.

I offer my congratulations to the Ritchie boys. After two years of Regional heartbreak, you come home with a well-earned title. You were the Class A team to beat all season, and showed why on Saturday.

I offer my congratulations to Aaron Withrow. Once again, there was no doubt as you dominated the race from start to finish.

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.