The Class AA Boys closed the noon session. Temperatures continued to climb just a bit, and it remained humid and overcast. Winfield was expected to win with ease, and they did so, completely holding up their end of the bargain, scoring an incredibly low score of 22 and winning by over 50 points. Individually, Brayden Marshall was the heavy favorite to score his 3rd title, and he did so with ease. He was in control by the first checkpoint and continually stretched his lead to an eventual win by just under 45 seconds.
At the top of the hill at approximately 0.75 miles, Winfield's Brayden Marshall had already staked a 5 second lead, coming through at 3:36. Teammate Justin Lipscomb was in firm control of the 2nd spot at 3:41. These two were way ahead of the field already. Winfield was holding 1-2-3 with Landon Brumfield in the 3rd spot at 3:52. Frankfort's Ryan Hughes was in 4th at 3:54 with Elkins' Trevor George in 5th, Fairmont Senior's Josiah Brannen in 6th, and Grafton's M.J. Niggemyer in 7th, each matching that time. Keyser's Luca Altobello was in 8th at 3:55. PikeView's Tyler Huffman was in 9th at 3:56 with that matched by Elkins' Joshua Bodkins in 10th, Winfield's Lincoln Haynes in 11th, and Clay County's Sawyer Dobbins in 12th. Winfield's Trace Marshall was in 13th at 3:57 with PikeView's Matt Murphy matching that in 14th. Fairmont Senior's Landon Jones was in 15th at 3:58. East Fairmont's Nathaniel Stuck was in 16th at 3:59. Frankfort's Darius Gray was in 17th at 4:00. Nicholas County's Luke Barr was in 18th at 4:01. East Fairmont's Donovan Childs was in 19th at 4:02, and Nicholas County's Johnny Walkup was in 20th at 4:03.
At the mile mark, Brayden Marshall had pushed his lead out to 9 seconds, coming through in 5:02. Justin Lipscomb remained in 2nd at 5:11 with a big gap back to the next group. Landon Brumfield remained in 3rd at 5:23. Ryan Hughes was in 4th at 5:26. Trevor George remained in 5th at 5:27 with Josiah Brannen matching that time in 6th. M.J. Niggemyer was in 7th at 5:28. Things were really tight after this. Joshua Bodkins was in 8th, Tyler Huffman in 9th, and Nathaniel Stuck in 10th at 5:32. Lincoln Haynes was in 11th, Luca Altobello in 12th, Trace Marshall in 13th, Sawyer Dobbins in 14th, and Landon Jones in 15th at 5:33. Luke Barr was in 16th and Darius Gray was in 17th at 5:34. Johnny Walkup was in 18th at 5:35. Matt Murphy was in 19th at 5:36. Frankfort's Gavin McDonald had moved into the 20th spot at 5:40.
Near the mid-way point, Brayden Marshall had further extended his lead, passing by at 7:08. Justin Lipscomb remained in firm control of 2nd at 7:23. Landon Brumfield continued to hold the 3rd spot at 7:37. Ryan Hughes remained in 4th at 7:40. Trevor George continued to run 5th at 7:42 with Josiah Brannen still close behind in 6th at 7:43. The trailing pack remained tight. Lincoln Haynes had made a nice move up to 7th at 7:48. Nathaniel Stuck had moved up to 8th with Trace Marshall moving up to 9th and Landon Jones up to 10th with each at 7:49. Joshua Bodkins was in 11th at 7:50. Tyler Huffman was in 12th, Darius Gray in 13th, and Luca Altobello in 14th with each at 7:51. Luke Barr was up to 15th at 7:52. M.J. Niggemyer was hanging on to 16th at 7:53. Johnny Walkup was up to 17th at 7:55 with Sawyer Dobbins in 18th at 7:56. Elkins' Benjamin Tenney had moved into 19th at 8:01 with Gavin Mcdonald matching that time in 20th.
At about 1.8 miles, Brayden Marshall had pushed the lead to 22 seconds, coming by at 9:07. Justin Lipscomb was easily in 2nd at 9:29. Ryan Hughes had made a move into 3rd, and Landon Brumfield was in 4th.
At the 2 mile mark, Brayden Marshall came through at 10:10, taking the lead out even further. Justin Lipscomb was in complete control of the 2nd spot at 10:36. Ryan Hughes was holding 3rd at 10:53. Landon Brumfield was in 4th at 10:55. Josiah Brannen had moved into 5that 11:02. Trevor George was close behind in 6th at 11:03. Landon Jones was up to 7th at 11:07. Trace Marshall was in 8th at 11:10 with that time matched by Nathaniel Stuck in 9th, Joshua Bodkins in 10th, and Lincoln Haynes in 11th. Darius Gray was in 12th at 11:16 with that time matched by Luke Barr, now up to 13th. Johnny Walkup was up to 14th at 11:19. Tyler Huffman was in 15th at 11:21. Luca Altobello was in 16th at 11:29. Benjamin Tenney was up to 17th at 11:30. Sawyer Dobbins was holding 18th at 11:32. Gavin McDonald was in 19th at 11:38, and M.J. Niggemyer was in 20th at 11:38.
Brayden Marshall hit the track all alone and cruised home for the 45 second win in 15:29. Justin Lipscomb continued to own the 2nd spot, scoring a 16:14. The 3rd spot got interesting, Landon Brumfield had taken the spot back before hitting that track. Ryan Hughes pulled even mid-way through the final turn, but Brumfield was able to respond and keep the spot by less than one second with Brumfield scoring a 16:37 and Hughes a 16:38. Josiah Brannen held the 5th spot in 16:53. Trace Marshall used a big last 50 to sneak by Landon Jones right before the line for 6th with both recording in 16:56. Trevord George scored the 8th position in 16:58. Nathaniel Stuck was the last to get under 17:00 in 9th place in 16:59. Lincoln Haynes took the final podium spot in 17:03, giving Winfield 5 of the top 10. Joshua Bodkins was 11th in 17:07. Johnny Walkup finished his strong second half by moving up to 12th in 17:12. Darius Gray was 13th in 17:14 with Luke Barr close behind in 15th in 17:15. Tyler Huffman held the 15th spot in 17:29. Gavin McDonald closed well to move up to 16th in 17:35. Sawyer Dobbins moved up to 17th in 17:40. Benjamin Tenney was 18th in 17:43 with Frankfort's Zane Nelson moving up to 19th in 17:44, and Donovan Childs moving back up to 20th in 17:50.
So, how did RunWV do on the predictions? It was a solid set. I got the team champion correct, but again, who didn't? I did miss the other podium spot, but there were only two spot swaps in the group, 2-3 and 6-7. Everyone else held their predicted spot. Individually, I got the champion and got 9 of the top 10 and 13 of the top 15. I did only get 21 of the top 25. I think it's best described as "meh." I got the team champion correct and the runner-up, but there was more movement among the teams than in any other group this year. I got the individual champion correct as well. I got 8 of the top 10, but that dropped to just 11 of the top 15 and 21 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 5.16 places of their predicted finish. That is over a full spot better than last year. The runner who claimed podium position was Elkins' Trevor George (picked 11th, got 8th). Those who climbed into the top 25 were Elkins' Benjamin Tenney (picked 26th, got 18th), Frankfort's Zane Nelson (picked 30th, got 19th), Winfield's Ben Cobb (picked 29th, got 23rd), and Frankfort's Eric Alexander (picked 32nd, got 25th). The big mover of the day was Shady Spring's Vaughn York, who moved up 15 spots from his predicted 60th place finish to his actual 45th place finish. From a team standpoint, Frankfort had the best day, scoring 16 points less than their predicted total.
In searching for an MVP, I have to bypass Winfield. Winning by that much will almost always exclude you getting picked for this honor. The only place swaps were 2-3 and 6-7. With 2-3 being for a podium spot, I have to look in that direction. Frankfort won the spot by 36 points, though, so there isn't a true difference maker there. East Fairmont was the other team that moved up a spot. They took their spot by 18 points, so there ins't a true difference maker there either. They just missed moving up another spot, which would have made this easy. With nothing really standing out, we'll take a look at spot preservation. Nitro held their spot over East Fairmont by a single point, and they did have a guy that stepped up. With a couple others being slightly off their predicted finishes, they needed someone to take a step forward, and this guy did just that. He only picked up 5 places and 5 team points, but they were critical to the team placement. For his effort in preserving his team's spot, the 2023 RunWV MVP is Nitro's Dylan Poston.
I offer my congratulations to the Winfield boys. You were dominant all season and continued in that same fashion when it mattered. You crushed the field by 51 points and put 5 guys on the podium. There was no doubt who was going to win and you all came in and did your jobs well. I only wish we got to see you and University square off at some point during the season.
I offer my congratulations to Brayden Marshall. Three in a row. Winning one is difficult. Winning three is incredible. You took control early and never looked back. You continually extended your lead. You were the overwhelming favorite, and you showed why.
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.