The morning session closed with the AAA Boys Race. Temperatures remained cool but pleasant, and we still had plenty of sun and no wind, again setting us up for solid times. The team race was slated to be a very close battle among 3 teams. That didn't quite materialize as University put away the field to win by 19 points. Morgantown held the 2nd spot and Preston ran extremely well for 3rd. Individually, Josh Edwards did as was expected. He took control near the mile mark and continually pulled further away over the remained of the race to win by over 14 seconds.

My first checkpoint was the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. University's Josh Edwards led a tightly packed field to the top in 3:49. Hurricane's Wyatt Hanshaw narrowly held the 2nd spot in 3:50 with Parkersburg's Keegan Barnette in 3rd and Hampshire's Chris Lucas in 4th with the same time. Cabell Midland's Cooper Gibson led a tight group through in 5th in 5:17 with Morgantown's Jackson Core in 6th, University's Rocco DeVincent in 7th, and University's Jordan Thomas in 8th all matching that time. Parkersburg's Franklin Angelos was in 9th at 3:52 with Parkersburg South's Cameron Marks in 10th and Preston's Cole Friend in 11th matching that time. Spring Mills' Nate Schneider was in 12th at 3:53 with Ripley's Chase Pepper in 13th and Cabell Midland's Sam LeRose in 14th with the same time. Cabell Midland's Carter McKenna was in 15th at 3:54. Riverside's Trevor Carson was in 16th in 3:55 with Preston's Trey Smith-Tatham matching that time in 17th. Woodrow Wilson's Jonah Stevens was in 18th at 3:58 with that time being matched in 19th by Preston's Hayden Thomas. Jefferson's Cameron Jennings was in 20th at 3:59.

At the Mile Mark, Josh Edwards had opened a slight gap into the lead, coming through in 5:11. Wyatt Hanshaw had taken control of the 2nd spot in 5:13. Cooper Gibson had moved into 3rd at the front of a large pack in 5:16. Hampshire's Chris Lucas was right behind in 5:17 with Keegan Barnette in 5th, Jackson Core in 6th, Cole Friend in 7th, and Rocco DeVincent in 8th all with that time. Jordan Thomas was in 9th in 5:18 with Franklin Angelos matching that time in 10th. Sam LeRose was in 11th in 5:19. Chase Pepper had a slight lead over Cameron Marks for 12th with both at 5:20. Nate Schneider was in 14th in 5:21. Trevor Carson was in 15th in 5:22 with Carter McKenna matching that time in 16th. Trey Smith-Tatham was in 17th at 5:25 with University's Aidan Palmer matching that time in 18th. Jonah Stevens was in 19th in 5:27, and Hayden Thomas was in 20th at 5:30.

At the top of the hill at the WVU Extension Service Building, which is the highest point on the course, Josh Edwards had continued to pull away, stretching his lead to 5 seconds at 7:32. Cole Friend had made a nice move to pull into 2nd at 7:37 with Wyatt Hanshaw right on his heels with the same time. Jackson Core was up to 4th in 7:40. Chris Lucas was in 5th at 7:41, just ahead of Cooper Gibson in 6th in 7:42. Rocco DeVincent was in 7th in 7:43. Franklin Angelos was close behind in 8th in 7:44. Jordan Thomas remained in 9th in 7:46. Sam LeRose was in 10th in 7:47 with Keegan Barnette in 11th with the same time. Chase Pepper held the 12th spot in 7:50. Carter McKenna was in 13th was in 13th in 7:53. Trevor Carson was up to 14th in 7:54 with Trey Smith-Tatham in 15th in 7:55. Nate Schneider was in 16th in 7:58. Jonah Stevens had moved into 17th in 7:59. Cameron Marks was holding 18th in 8:01. Aidan Palmer was 19th in 8:02. Morgantown's Quinn Jacquez had moved into the 20th spot in 8:03.

I picked up some extra footage at about 1.85 miles. Josh Edwards had continued to extend his lead, coming through in 9:48. Wyatt Hanshaw had moved back into 2nd in 9:56 with Cole Friend close behind in 3rd in 9:57. Jackson Core was in 4th in 10:00. Chris Lucas continued to hold the 5th spot in 10:03. Cooper Gibson (my apologies to him as I believe I called him by his brother's name on the video) was in 6th at 10:06 with Rocco DeVincent in 7th and Franklin Angelos in 8th, both in 10:07. Sam LeRose had moved into 9th in 10:10. Jordan Thomas was in the 10th spot in 10:11.

At the two mile mark, Josh Edwards still held a sizeable lead, coming through in 10:29. Wyatt Hanshaw had opened a small gap for 2nd at 10:38. Cole Friend was in 3rd at 10:40. Jackson Core was in 4th at 10:44. Chris Lucas was in the 5th spot at 10:48. Cooper Gibson continued to hold a slight edge over Rocco DeVincent for 7th with both passing in 10:51. Franklin Angelos was in 8th at 10:53. Jordan Thomas had moved back into 9th in 10:55 with Sam LeRose in 10th in 10:57. Keegan Barnette was in 11th at 11:00. Chase Pepper was holding 12th in 11:03. Trevor Carson was in 13th with Carter McKenna in 14th with both at 11:04. Trey Smith-Tatham was manning the 15th spot in 11:09. Morgantown's Jackson Snyder had moved up to the 16th spot in 11:13. Nate Schneider was in 17th in 11:15. Quinn Jacquez was up to 18th in 11:17 with Jonah Stevens matching that time in 19th. Hayden Thomas was in 20th in 11:20.

Coming onto the track, Josh Edwards was all alone, having continued to extend his lead to finish in 15:49. Wyatt Hanshaw pulled further away for the 2nd spot in 16:04. Jackson Core closed well to take the 3rd spot in 16:09. Cole Friend held the 4th position in 16:15. Chris Lucas took the 5th spot in 16:24. Trevor Carson used a strong last mile and a fantastic finish on the track to move into the 6th position in 16:25. Cooper Gibson just edged out Rocco DeVincent for 7th with both recording a 16:26. Franklin Angelos took the 9th spot in 16:28. Jordan Thomas took the final podium position in 16:31. Sam LeRose was 11th in 16:38. Carter McKenna came up to 12th in 16:43. Jackson Snyder continued his 2nd half push up the field to finish 13th in 16:50. Chase Pepper was 14th in 16:55. Hayden Thomas moved up well in the last mile to get into 15th in 17:00. Keegan Barnette held the 16th spot in 17:03. Trey Smith-Tatham was 17th in 17:04. Aidan Palmer took the 18th spot in 17:08. Riverside's Trenton Green came up from 24th at the 2 mile mark to take 19th in 17:09. Quinn Jacquez was took the 20th spot in 17:10.

In considering the MVP for the meet, I always have to look at the winning team for any consideration. In this case, there was one significant performance, but it didn't give them the win. They win if he finishes exactly where he was predicted. So, I'll give special mention to Ryan Blohm, who stepped up big for University. The race for the 3rd spot was very close, and that's where I'm going. With the two teams separated by just 2 points, any step up could be the difference maker. Preston performed well across the board and had a couple in particular stood out. It's tough to pick between the two as the moves were similar. But I'm going to. The one I'm going with the one who picked up 8 spots and 7 team points from his predicted finish to his actual finish...from 32-27 to 24-20. For his step-up performance, without which his team would have pulled off a top 3 finish, Preston's Lowell Cerbone is this years RunWV MVP.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? It was a mixed bag. I didn't get the team champion and only 1 team in the entire field finished where they were predicted (thanks Hurricane), but only three finished more than one spot different from their predicted spot....but two of those were in the top end. Individually, I did get 9 of the top 10 (and the top 5 were in the top 5), and my one that didn't make it was 11th, so pretty solid. I fell to only 12 of the top 15, but did get a solid 21 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 7.50 spots of their predicted finish, a little worse than last year. The runner who joined the podium was University's Jordan Thomas (picked 16th, got 10th). Those who moved into the top 25 were University's Aidan Palmer (picked 28th, got 18th), Cabell Midland's Will Turman (picked 27th, got 22nd), Preston's Lowell Cerbone (picked 32nd, got 24th), and Jefferson's Kyle de Nobel (picked 30th, got 25th). There was a tie for the biggest mover in the meet with each moving up 25 spots. One went from a predicted 63rd to an actual 38th and the other from a predicted 66th to an actual 41st. Those two were University's Ryan Blohm and Hampshire's Colton Kile. From a team standpoint, the best point improvement was shared by two teams who each scored 32 points fewer than predicted, University and Riverside.

I offer my congratulations to the University boys. You had your work cut out for you in what was to be a closely contested championship, but you brought the proverbial "A" game with 3 on the podium, another in the top 20, and had the big mover of the day. You came to run and would not be denied.

I offer my congratulations to Josh Edwards. You had the target on your back all season, and you just ran with it. You ran your race your way and took control gradually over the entirety of the race. That target will remain.

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.