The Class AA Boys closed the 2nd session. The ideal race conditions remained in place. Frankfort was favored for the title, but it was learned a couple days prior to the meet that they would be without their #1 runner, who was shelved by quarantine. That made things look really close for a prediction. I didn't update the picks, but removing him would have made the predicted score Frankfort 68 and Fairmont Senior 72, so Frankfort still favored. They came through with an excellent race and did indeed still win that title, and they had to have a great race because Fairmont Senior had a great day as well, but Frankfort proved to be just a little too deep, and they took the title 54-59. Individually, a close battle was expected between Logan Zuchelli and Matthew Scheneberg, but Zuchelli took control very early and continually stretched his lead and took the win by over 30 seconds.

I didn't get to stay for the Class AA and Class AAA races. I am creating my recap from the race coverage provided by www.wvvideoproductions.com. The races are on their Facebook page. I'd provide a link, but I haven't yet found the races on their actual website.

An early look at things showed Fairmont Senior's Logan Zuchelli in the lead, trailed closely by Winfield's Matthew Scheneberg. Then we moved on to after they topped the hill. I'm estimating this checkpoint at about 0.8 miles. Logan Zuchelli was in the lead at 4:01. Matthew Scheneberg was in 2nd at 4:04. Those two had distanced themselves from the field. Winfield's Brayden Marshall was in 3rd at 4:13. Fairmont Senior's Tyler Hayes was in 4th at 4:14, so the top 4 spots were occupied by these two teams. Elkins' Charlie Smoak was in the 5th spot at 4:16. Wayne's Chace Thompson was in 6th at 4:19 with Wayne's Chance Thompson there with him at the same time. Lewis' Slate Swiger was in 8th at 4:20 with East Fairmont's Drew Moore matching that time in 9th. Frankfort's Anthony Sanders was in 10th at 4:21. Elkins' Lucas Anger was in 11th at 4:23. Shady Spring's Jaeden Holstein was in 12th at 4:24 with that time matched by Fairmont Senior's Jasper Brown in 13th. Frankfort's Xander Shoemake was in 14th at 4:25. Oak Glen's Konnor Allison was in 15th at 4:26. Fairmont Senior's Elijah Hannig was in 16th at 4:27. Frankfort's Peyton Slider was in 17th at 4:28. East Fairmont's Luke Hawranick was in 18th at 4:29. Nicholas' Ethan Board was in 19th at 4:30 with that time matched by Nitro's Colin Simmons in 20th.

At the mile mark, Logan Zuchelli remained in the lead at 5:03. Matthew Scheneberg remained in 2nd at 5:08. Brayden Marshall and Tyler Hayes continued to battle for 3rd with both coming through at 5:19. Charlie Smoak continued to hold the 5th spot at 5:21. Things are a little murky after that. It was had to make out who was who in a tight pack that saw the next 10 within 3 seconds. My best guess is...Chance Thompson in 6th and Anthony Sanders in 7th at 5:27...Chace Thompson in 8th, Drew Moore in 9th, Xander Shoemake in 10th, Lucas Anger in 11th, and Slate Swiger in 12th at 5:28...and Jaeden Holstein in 13th, Jasper Brown in 14th, and Konner Allison in 15th at 5:29. I think it's Elijah Hannig in 16th at 5:33 with that time matched by Peyton Slider in 17th. Luke Hawranick was in 18th at 5:34. Ethan Board was in 19th at 5:36 with that time matched by Colin Simmons in 20th.

At the Extension Service Building at about 1.4 miles, which is the highest point on the course, Logan Zuchelli had completely taken control of the race, extending his lead from 5 seconds to 12 seconds, coming through in 7:25. Matthew Scheneberg was in 2nd at 7:37. Brayden Marshall was in 3rd at 7:46, just ahead of Tyler Hayes in 4th at 7:47. Charlie Smoak remained in the 5th spot at 7:52. The angle and distance made it too hard to tell the rest.

The next spot was at the 180 degree turn just before the 2 mile mark. Logan Zuchelli continued to extend his lead, coming through in 10:15. Matthew Scheneberg remained in 2nd at 10:29. Brayden Marshall was still in 3rd at 10:41 with Tyler Hayes still on his heels at 10:42. Charlie Smoak was still in 5th at 10:49. Xander Shoemake had made a nice move up to 6th at 11:00, just ahead of Anthony Sanders in 7th at 11:01. Drew Moore was in 8th at 11:04 with Peyton Slider having also made an upward move into 9th at 11:05. Chance Thompson was in 10th at 11:06. Konnor Allison was up to 11th at 11:09. Jasper Brown was in 12th at 11:10. Ethan Board was up to 13th at 11:14. Chace Thompson was in 14th at 11:15. Slate Swiger was in 15th at 11:16 with that time matched by Luke Hawranick at 11:16. Colin Simmons was up to 17th at 11:18. Frankfort's Christian Cimaglia had moved into the top 20 at 18th at 11:20. Elijah Hannig was in 19th at 11:21. Herbert Hoover's Caleb Siders was in 20th at 11:23.

The next checkpoint was the corner of the starting field, which leaves a little over 1/2 mile left in the race. Logan Zuchelli had continued to extend his leading, rounding the corner at 13:09. Matthew Scheneberg was still easily holding the 2nd spot in 13:31. Brayden Marshall had taken control of the 3rd spot in 13:44. Tyler Hayes was still in the 4th spot in 13:49. Charlie Smoak still controlled the 5th spot in 13:54. Xander Shoemake was still in the 6th spot at 14:06. Anthony Sander was still 7th at 14:09. Peyton Slider was up to 8th at 14:13 with that time matched by Drew Moore in 9th. Konnor Allison was in 10th at 14:18. Chance Thompson was in 11th at 14:19. Jasper Brown was in 12th at 14:21. Ethan Board was in 13th at 14:22. Luke Hawranick was up to 14th at 14:28. Chace Thompson was in 15th at 14:29. Slate Swiger was in 16th at 14:31. Colin Simmons was still in 17th at 14:32. Christian Cimaglia remained in 18th at 14:34. Elijah Hannig was in 19th at 14:38. Frankfort's Landyn Sell had moved into 20th at 14:40.

Coming onto the track, it was Logan Zuchelli all alone, having further extended his lead, and plowed through the line in a strong 15:57. Matthew Scheneberg easily maintained the 2nd spot in 16:30. Brayden Marshall kept the 3rd spot in 16:37. Tyler Hayes held the 4th position in 16:41. Charlie Smoak kept the 5th spot in 16:55. Xander Shoemake was the first of a trio of Frankfort runners in 6th at 17:01. He was followed by Anthony Sanders in 7th at 17:04 and Peyton Slider in 8th at 17:06. Drew Moore took the 9th spot in 17:10, giving us two Freshmen (along with Marshall) in the top 10. Ethan Board closed well and made a last second pass on Konnor Allison for the final podium spot with both recording a 17:11. Chance Thompson was 12th in 17:22. Jasper Brown was 13th in 17:25. Luke Hawranick took 14th in 17:32. Slate Swiger moved back up to 15th in 17:36. Colin Simmons made a late pass for 16th in 17:37. Chace Thompson matched that time in 17th. Christian Cimaglia was 18th in 17:39. Landyn Sell moved up to 19th in 17:41. Elijah Hannig rounded out the top 20 in 17:45.

There wasn't a lot of movement in the standings, but we had quite a battle for the team title. Frankfort ran very well as a group, and they had to because Fairmont Senior ran very well also with Jasper Brown finishing 8 spots better than predicted, Elijah Hannig finishing 6 spots better than predicted, Tyler Morris finishing 13 spots better than predicted, and Griffin Thomas making a heck of a run as an unranked #6 runner for Fairmont Senior, finishing 22 spots better than predicted. With all that going on and their #1 out of action, someone had to step up for Frankfort. They got nice moves from Xander Shoemake (up 6 spots), Anthony Sanders (up 7 spots), Peyton Slider (up 7 spots), and Landyn Sell (up 9 spots) . But the big one moved up 15 spots from predicted finish to actual finish and picked up 10 team points along the way. He was slated to be the #7 on the day (#6 without Garrett Ferguson), and ran as the #4. For his step up performance, the 2020 RunWV MVP is Frankfort's Christian Cimaglia.

So, how did RunWV do on the predictions. Pretty poorly. The team standing actually worked out really well with the top 5 all finishing in their predicted spots. Only one team finished more than one place off their predicted place. Individually, I only got 7 of the top 10. That improved to 12 of the top 15, but fell back to just 20 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 6.19 places of their predicted finish. The runners who moved into the podium positions were Frankfort's Anthony Sanders (picked 14th, got 7th), Frankfort's Peyton Slider (picked 15th, got 8th), and East Fairmont's Drew Moore (picked 13th, got 9th). Those who moved into the top 25 were East Fairmont's Luke Hawranick (picked 30th, got 14th), Lewis' Slate Swiger (picked 32nd, got 15th), Frankfort's Christian Cimaglia (picked 33rd, got 18th), Frankfort's Landyn Sell (picked 28th, got 19th), and Fairmont Senior's Elijah Hannig (picked 26th, got 20th). The big mover on the day was Fairmont Senior's Griffin Thomas, who moved up 22 spots from his predicted 59th place finish to his actual 37th place finish. The team that improved their score the most was Fairmont Senior, who scored 16 points fewer than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Frankfort boys. You were expected to win, but you were dealt a blow late in the week with the loss of a perfectly healthy #1. You had two choices...you could whine, fold up, and go through the motions...or you could say "screw it... let's win anyway." Depth as has been the case in the races, thus far, was critical. You lost your #1, who was predicted 4th, so you stepped up and took 6th, 7th, and 8th. You put 3 in the top 10, 5 in the top 20, and 6 in the top 22. You knew you were in for a fight, and you took their best shot and came out on top. It was an excellent race and a well-deserved victory.

I offer my congratulations to Logan Zuchelli. You took control early and never looked back. It was a convincing victory, and you made it look easy. You took a big step forward in the middle of last year, and you've been excellent ever since. This year took you to another level, and you dominated the field.

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 a thing. That's why we run the race.