The Class A Boys closed the day's festivities. While the rain had finally stopped, aside from some light mist here and there, the damage to the course was done. There would be no really fast times today. Williamstown was expected to completely run away with the team title and did so with ease, blistering the field by 58 points. Individually, it was expected to be a 3 way battle, maybe 4, and we did indeed end up with a 3 way fight that saw all three lead at some point in the 2nd half of the race and that didn't get settled until hitting the track. Aidan Scott proved to have the superior kick on the day to take that title over Michael Cline and Patrick Reilly.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill which is about 0.7 miles into the race. Wheeling Central's Aidan Scott took out hard and had established a large gap by the time they reached the top, coming through in 3:54. Doddridge's Trent Gola was in 2nd at 4:04. Wood County Christian's Michael Cline was in 3rd at 4:05. Buffalo's Patrick Reilly was in 4th at 4:06 with that time matched by Richwood's Trey Stanley in 5th. Wirt's A.J. Petrovsky was in 6th at 4:07. Williamstown's Zach Cannon was in 7th at 4:08 with Notre Dame's Ashton Nardella matching that time in 8th. Ravenswood's Cade Curfman was in 9th at 4:09. Tyler Consolidated's Jaden Ebert was in the 10th spot at 4:10. Sherman's A.J. Skeens was in 11th at 4:11. Ritchie's Jeremiah Dalton was out well in 12th at 4:14. Tyler Consolidate'd Haygen Baker was in 13th at 4:16. Williamstown's Julian Johnson and Magnolia's Brady Renner were in 14th and 15th, respectively at 4:17. Buffalo's Nicholas Pitchford was in 16th at 4:19. Williamstown's Dawson Winsett was in 17th at 4:21. Buffalo's Jackson Mallett was in 18th at 4:22, Trinity Christian's Peyton Dixon was in the 19th position at 4:23, and Notre Dame's Chris Schumacher was in 20th at 4:24.

At the mile mark, Aidan Scott continued to hold a large lead, coming through in 5:30. Trent Gola had a slight edge over Michael Cline for 2nd with both at 5:42. Patrick Reilly was right behind them in 4thd at 5:43 with Trey Stanley in 5th at 5:44. Zach Cannon was in 6th at 5:47 with A.J. Petrovsky in 7th at 5:48. Ashton Nardella remained in 8th at 5:49. Jaden Ebert was up to 9th at 5:50. Cade Curfman was in 10th at 5:52. A.J. Skeens was in 11th at 5:53. Haygen Baker was in 12th at 5:56 with that time matched by Jeremiah Dalton in 13th. Julian Johnson was running 14th at 5:57. Nicholas Pitchford was up to 15th at 6:05 with that time matched by Dawson Winsett in 16th. Brady Renner was in 17th at 6:06. Williamstown's Chase Trembly had moved into 18th at 6:07 with that time matched by Jackson Mallett in 19th. Peyton Dixon was in the 20th spot at 6:09.

At the Extension Service Building at about 1.4 miles, which is the highest point on the course, Aidan Scott continued to hold a solid lead, but it had decreased with Scott coming through at 8:13 and Michael Cline in 2nd at 8:20. Patrick Reilly was right with him at 8:21. Trent Gola was still in the mix at 8:23 in 4th. Trey Stanley was in 5th at 8:25. Zach Cannon remained in 6th at 8:28. Jaden Ebert had made a move into 7th at 8:32. Ashton Nardella remained in that 8th spot at 8:35. A.J. Petrovsky was holding the 9th position at 8:38 with A.J. Skeens now in 10th at 8:39. Cade Curfman was in 11th at 8:41. Julian Johnson was starting move, now up to 12th at 8:42. Haygen Baker was in 13th at 8:43 with Jeremiah Dalton in 14th at 8:44. Nicholas Pitchford was in 15th at 8:53 with Dawson Winsett in 16th at 8:54. Chase Trembly was up to 17th at 9:00. Peyton Dixon was up to 18th at 9:01 with that time matched by Jackson Mallett in 19th. Williamstown's Will Coiner was now in 20th at 9:03.

I got a fair amount of bonus footage at about 1.85 miles. The lead had been completely erased, and now Patrick Reilly was in the lead at 10:45, but it was tight with Aidan Scott and Michael Cline matching that time in 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Trent Gola was in 4th but had lost contact with the group at 10:55. Trey Stanley remained in 5th at 11:00. Zach Cannon remained in 6th at 11:03. Jaden Ebert was still running 7th at 11:09. Ashton Nardella continued to hold that 8th spot at 11:12. Julian Johnson had climbed into 9th a 11:16. Haygen Baker had moved into 10th at 11:19 with that time matched by A.J. Skeens in 11th. Cade Curfman was in 12th at 11:21 with Jeremiah Dalton matching that time in 13th. A.J. Petrovsky was in 14th at 11:22.

At the two mile mark, we had a new leader with Michael Cline now in front (I think...going from memory). Patrick Reilly was in and Aidan Scott was in 3rd, all very close. Trent Gola was in the 4th spot at 11:46. Trey Stanley was still in 5th at 11:52. Zach Cannon was in 6th at 11:54. Jaden Ebert continued to hold the 7th spot at 12:01 with Ashton Nardella remaining in 8th at 12:04 and Julian Johnson close behind at 12:05. Cade Curfman led a tight pack for the 10th spot at 12:12. That time was matched by Haygen Baker in 11th and A.J. Skeens in 12th. Just one second back at 12:13 were A.J. Petrovsky in 13th and Jeremiah Dalton in 14th. Dawson Winsett was in 15th at 12:25. Nicholas Pitchford was in 16th at 12:31. Chase Trembly was in 17th at 12:35. Peyton Dixon was still in 18th at 12:36. Will Coiner was up to 19th at 12:37, and Jackson Mallett was in 20th at 12:40.

Views from the Video Productions live feed showed a few lead changes as they went through the starting field and around the baseball field, but Aidan Scott made a move shortly before returning onto the track to generate a small gap, and he came onto the track with a small lead. Michael Cline came on just a couple strides later and then Patrick Reilly a couple seconds behind that. Aidan Scott was able to maintain his lead until about midway through the final turn when he opened up and put to rest any doubt that he was going to win. He extended more than doubled his lead down the final stretch to take the win in 17:29. Michael Cline held the 2nd spot in 17:34. Patrick Reilly held the 3rd spot in 17:40. Trent Gola held onto the 4th position in 17:55. Zach Cannon moved up to 5th in 18:01. Trey Stanley held the 6th position, barely holding off the late kick fo Julian Johnson as they finished in 18:10 and 18:11, respectively. Ashton Nardella finished in that 8th position that he held every time I saw him, finishing in 18:18. Jaden Ebert just held onto the 9th spot over the late kick of Cade Curfman with both getting an 18:28. Jeremiah Dalton moved up to 11th in 18:33. A.J. Skeens took the 12th spot in 18:40 with Haygen Baker in 13th in 18:44. Dawson Winsett came back up to 14th in 18:51. A.J. Petrovsky took the 15th spot in 18:55. Nicholas Pitchford was 16th in 19:04. Will Coiner moved up to 17th and won the kick battle for the spot over teammat Chase Trembly with Coiner at 19:14 and Trembly at 19:15. Jackson Mallett took the 19th spot in 19:17. Doddridge's Caleb Lloyd made a pass in the last 30 meters to take the 20th position in 19:20.

There wasn't a lot of movement in the team standings, but one of them was the 2-3 swap, so that's the natural place to look for an MVP. It was a 1 point difference, so it could have been from a lot of places. No one from Buffalo finished far head of his predicted spot, so I'm going with the one that's hardest to get...at the front. Patrick Reilly only finished 1 spot ahead of his predicted finish, but that spot was a team point. Prior to the Regional, he wasn't really considered a threat to the top 3. The Regional changed that, and the State Meet showed why. After briefly taking the lead, he held on for 3rd, taking down one of the "big 3." That team point made all the difference because if he finishes 4th instead of 3rd, Ritchie wins the podium spot on the tie-breaker. For his late season push into the title picture, the 2021 RunWV MVP is Buffalo's Patrick Reilly.

So, how did RunWV do on the predictions? It's a mixed bag. I got the team champion. 2-3 was a swap, and there was one team that finished 2 spots away from its predicted spot. Individually, I only got 7 of the top 10, which didn't really surprise me as I didn't have much confidence in anything after the top 7. That improved dramatically to 14 of the top 15 and 23 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 4.62 places of their predicted finish. The runners who gained those coveted podium positions were Notre Dame's Ashton Nardella (picked 13th, got 8th), Tyler Consolidated's Jaden Ebert (picked 11th, got 9th), and Ravenswood's Cade Curfman (picked 12th, got 10th). Those who climbed into the top 25 were Ritchie's Tatum Elliott (picked 26th, got 24th) and Doddridge's Josh Berke (picked 31st, got 25th). The big mover of the day was Ritchie's Dalton Settle who rose 22 spots from his predicted 55th place finish to his actual 33rd place finish. The top team improvement on the day came from Doddridge, who scored 7 points less than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Williamstown boys. There was little doubt as to the outcome heading into the meet, and you took care of business, putting 2 of the podium and 5 in the top 18. You left no doubt who was the class of the field.

I offer my congratulations to Aidan Scott. After a bit of a rough start to the season, you asserted yourself at the Ritchie meet. Then on the big stage, you had to overcome a little adversity as a pair ran you down and took the lead from you. You did not fold when the 12 second lead was erased. You fought back, and you made a smart and strong move just before coming onto the track. You had confidence in your kick and for good reason. It made for an exciting and appropriate 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 don't mean a thing. That's why we run the race.