The Class AAA Boys closed the day's festivities. With temperatures sitting in the low 70's, high humidity, and the sun popping out from time-to-time. University came in expected to dominate this race, and they delivered, winning by a massive 60 points. The battle for the 2nd spot was fun with three teams finishing within 5 points of each other with Jefferson coming out on the front end of that battle. Individually, Ty Steorts was expected to win with ease, and he did so, leading pretty much from the gun and cruising to the 14 second win.
At the top of the hill at approximately 0.75 miles, it was close, but Hurricane's Ty Steorts was in the lead at 3:32. Cabell Midland's Aidan Kneeland was right on his heels, matching that time. Hurricane's Aaron Kidd was in 3rd at 3:37 with Cabell Midland's Tristan Blatt matching that time in 4th. University held the next three spots with Drew Zundell in 5th at 3:38, Ethan Conroy in 6th at 3:39, and Tyler Umbright in 7th at 3:40. Umbright's time was matched by Bridgeport's Troy Zorick in 8th and Jefferson's Conner Myers in 9th. Woodrow Wilson's Brandon Canaday was in the 10th spot at 3:42. University's Jacob West was in 11th at 3:44 with that time matched by Wheeling Park's Seth Franke in 12th. Jefferson's Owen Thompson was in 13th at 3:45. Huntington's Andew Bowen was in 14th at 3:46 with Hurricane's Mason Lewis matching that in 15th. University's Jack Overfield was in 16th at 3:47. Teammate Gavin Whorton was in 17th at 3:50. Matching that time in 18th...I think was Parkersburg's Jack Mills. Wheeling Park's Redick Moore was in 19th, also at 3:50. George Washington's Gage Fox was in 20th at 3:51.
At the Mile Mark, Ty Steorts had opened a gap on the field, coming throught at 4:56. Aidan Kneeland was in 2nd at 5:01, but Aaron Kidd had closed to within a second at 5:02. Tristan Blatt was right there as well in 4th at 5:03. Drew Zundell remained in 5th at 5:07. The next 4 were very close, but I believe it was Tyler Umbright first to the line in 6th, Ethan Conroy in 7th, Troy Zorick in 8th, and Conner Myers in 9th with each at 5:09. Jacob West had moved into 10th at 5:14. Seth Franke was in 11th at 5:15 with Brandon Canaday matching that time in 12th. Owen Thompson remained 13th at 5:16. Andrew Bowen was still 14th at 5:18. Mason Lewis continued to hold the 15th spot at 5:20 with Jack Overfield matching that time in 16th. Jack Mills was in 17th at 5:21 with Bridgeport's Sam Dodson matching that time in 18th. Gavin Whorton was in 19th at 5:23, and Parkersburg's Connor George was in 20th at 5:23.
Near the mid-way point, Ty Steots had further asserted himself, stretching the lead out to 9 seconds at 6:56. Aaron Kidd had taken over the 2nd spot and created a gap, coming through at 7:05. Aidan Kneeland was in 3rd at 7:10 with Tristan Blatt in 4th at 7:12. Drew Zundell was in 5th at 7:15. Tyler Umbright was in 6th and Ethan Conroy in 7th with both at 7:21. Troy Zorick was in 8th at 7:23. Jacob West was in 9th at 7:26 with Conner Myers matching that in 10th. Seth Franke was in 11th at 7:30. Owen Thompson was up to 12th at 7:33. Brandon Canaday was in 13th at 7:34. Andrew Bowen continued to maintain that 14th spot at 7:36 with Jack Overfield matching that time in 15th. Mason Lewis was in 16th at 7:37. Connor George was in 17th at 7:41 with Gavin Whorton matching that in 18th. Sam Dodson was in 19th at 7:43 with Jack Mills matching that in 20th.
At about 1.8 miles, Ty Steorts came by at 8:54, adding a little more to his lead. Aaron Kidd was now in complete control of 2nd at 9:05. Aidan Kneeland was still in 3rd at 9:16 with Drew Zundell now in 4th having closed up on his heels at 9:17. Tristan Blatt was in 5th at 9:18. Jack Overfield was in 6th at 9:25 with Ethan Conroy in 7th at 9:26. Troy Zorick continued to hold the 8th spot at 9:31. Jacob West was in 9th at 9:33. Conner Myers remained in 10th at 9:37. Seth Franke was still in 11th, and Owen Thompson was still in 12th.
At th two mile mark, Ty Steorts had added another second to his lead and came through sub-10:00 at 9:57. Aaron Kidd was easily 2nd at 10:09. Drew Zundell had moved into 3rd with Aidan Kneeland in 4th with both at 10:23. Tristan Blatt remained a close 5th at 10:25. Jack Overfield was in 6th at 10:32. Ethan Conroy remained 7th at 10:34. Troy Zorick was in 8th at 10:40 with Jacob West having closed the gap to match that time in 9th. Conner Myers was in 10th at 10:48. Owen Thompson had moved into 11th at 10:51. Seth Franke was in 12th at 10:54. Andrew Bowen had moved into 13th at 11:00 with Connor George moving up to match that time in 14th. Jack Overfield was in 15th at 11:01. Brandon Canaday was holding 16th at 11:04. Mason Lewsi was in 17th at 11:06. Morgantown's Quinn Mudry and Andrew Carlton had moved into the top 20 at 18th and 19th, respectively, and both at 11:08. Cabell Midland's Dylan Dial had moved into 20th at 11:09.
Coming onto the track, Ty Steorts had a comfortable lead and cruised to the finish line in a strong 15:15. Aaron Kidd continued to distance himself from the rest of the field and easily took 2nd in 15:29 to give Hurricane a 1-2 finish. Drew Zundell held the 3rd position in 15:46 with Aidan Kneeland putting on a final kick to make it close in 15:47 in 4th. Tyler Umbright closed well to move into 5th in 15:56. Tristan Blatt took the 6th spot in 16:00. Ethan Conroy held the 7th spot in 16:02. Jacob West moved up to 8th in 16:24 with Conner Myers moving up to 9th in 16:32. Troy Zorick held the final podium position in 16:34. Owen Thompson was 11th in 16:38. Seth Franke was 12th in 16:42. Jack Overfield closed well to move up to 13th in 16:43. Quinn Mudry moved up nicely in the final mile to take 14th in 16:44. Connor George held the 15th spot in 16:45 with Andrew Bowen in 16th in 16:46. Andrew Carlton moved up to finish 17th in 16:52. George Washington's Kirklen Hinamon had a huge final mile to move from 33rd to 18th in 16:56. Preston's Damian Rumer also moved up in the final stages to take 19th in 16:58. Mason Lewis took the 20th spot in 17:01.
How did RunWV do on the predictions? I'm going to say not very well. I got the team champion, as did anyone with a pulse. I had a lot of movement in places 2 through 5 with two teams finishing 2 or more spots different than predicted. From 6 on held form. Individually, I started off well, getting the champion and hitting 9 of the 10. But that faded to getting just 11 of the top 15 correct and an even worse 19 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 5.99 places of their predicted finish, which is actually a little better than last year. The runner who climbed into that podium spot was Bridgeport's Troy Zorick (picked 11th, got 10th). Those who climbed into the top 25 were George Washington's Kirklen Hinamon (picked 30th, got 18th), Preston's Damian Rumer (picked 26th, got 19th), University's Logan Conroy (picked 29th, got 21st), Morgantown's Finlay Lorimer (picked 33rd, got 23rd), George Washington's Gage Fox (picked 31st, got 24th), and Morgantown's James Stacy (picked 36th, got 25th). The big mover of the day was Washington's A.J. Atkinson who rose 17 spots from his predicted 62nd place finish to his actual 45th place finish. The biggest improvement in team points came from Washington who scored 36 points better than predicted.
In searching for the MVP, University is pretty much tossed out. When you win by that much, you probably aren't going to have this award. So, I look at the place swaps. Morgantown and Jefferson being the teams that moved up, they have to be considered, but really with Jefferson making the big move from a predicted 5th to an actual 2nd, it's pretty easy to figure it's going to come from them. I could really go with 3 different guys here. 4 actually moved way up, but one of them was the #6 guy, so it's hard to pick him. If any of these other 3 finish where they were predicted, Jefferson falls to 4th instead of climbing onto the podium. I'm going to mention all 3 because they deserve mention, but I'm only going to give it to the one that moved up the most. The three guys were Travis Jenkins, Shane Burkhardt, and Shawn Swartz. They each finished at least 10 places higher than predicted. The one that moved up the most, rising 14 places and 13 team points above his prediction, and the 2023 RunWV MVP, is Jefferson's Shane Burkhardt.
I offer my congratulations to the University boys. It wasn't going to be a race. Everyone knew that. You made sure of it all season long. Many races with that sea of red at the front turned into another year with multiple guys on the podium 4 on the podium. 5 in the top 13, and all 7 in the top 22. Another absolutely dominant year, and the 5th in a row for University.
I offer my congratulations to Ty Steorts. You did exactly what was expected. You ran your race and pulled away steadily after the top of the hill. This makes two individual titles (and a runner-up) in your 3 seasons. It's simply exceptional.
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.