The Class A Boys closed the morning session. Temperatures remained comfortable, but the humidity remained as well. Buffalo came in as the favorite for the team title with Williamstown hoping to mount a challenge. The challenge did not materialize as Buffalo sped away to the convincing 26 point victory. Individually, it was expected to be a pretty tight race with 4 or 5 guys having a legitimate shot at it. But pre-race favorite Patrick Reilly of Buffalo was having none of that as he took over a the mile mark and steadily pulled away to win by over 30 seconds.
My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill which is about 0.75 miles into the race. Doddridge's Carter Sias led the way up the hill at 3:48 but was trailed closely by the Buffalo duo of Patrick Reilly and Nicholas Pitchford who matched that time. Wheeling Central's Aidan Scott was in 4th at 3:49. Magnolia's Landen Davis was in 5th at 3:50. St. Marys' Max Dauch was out well in 6th at 3:52 with Paw Paw's Donovan Tanouye in 7th at 3:53. A close race for 8th existed with Ritchie's Dylan Malolepszy in 8th and Buffalo's Jackson Mallett in 9th with both at 3:54 and Tyler Consolidated's Amos Kimble in 10th at 3:55. This group of 10 had separated slightly from the pack with Williamstown's Frank Conner the next one through in 11th at 3:59. Doddridge's Gunner Kimball was in 12th at 4:01 with Williamstown's Will Coiner in 13th at 4:02. Williamstown's Julian Johnson made it 3 Yellowjackets packed close together in 14th at 4:03 with that time matched by Doddridge's Josh Berke in 15th. Charleston Catholic's Isaac Collins was in 16th at 4:04. Notre Dame's Evan McElwayne was in 17th at 4:05. Charleston Catholic's Peter Basdekis was in 18th at 4:06 with that time matched by teammate Will Barton in 19th. Magnolia Shiv Patel was in 20th at 4:07.
At the mile mark, Patrick Reilly had moved into the lead, coming through at 5:18. Carter Sias was in 2nd at 5:19. These two had opened a bit of a gap on the field. A trio came through at 5:23 with Nicholas Pitchford in 3rd, Aidan Scott in 4th, and Landen Davis in 5th. Max Dauch was in 6th at 5:25. Amos Kimble had moved up to 7th at 5:28. Donovan Tanouye was in 8th at 5:30 with Dylan Malolepszy matching that time in 9th. Jackson Mallett was in the 10th spot at 5:31. Their gap on the field had grown with Gunner Kimball now in 11th at 5:37 and Frank Conner in 12th matching that time. Julian Johnson was up to 13th at 5:40. Evan McElwayne had moved up to 14th at 5:41 with that time matched by Will Coiner in 15th. Josh Berke was in 16th at 5:43. Tyler Consolidated's Travis Moore had moved up well, now in 17th at 5:44. Shiv Patel was up to 18th at 5:45. Isaac Collinson was in 19th at 5:46 with Peter Basdekis matching that time in 20th.
Nearing the mid-way point, Patrick Reilly had taken control, stretching that slight lead out to 8 seconds, passing by at 7:26. Carter Sias remained in 2nd at 7:34. Aidan Scott had moved into 3rd at 7:37. Nicholas Pitchford was in 4th at 7:39. Landen Davis remained in 5th at 7:42 with Max Dauch matching that time in 6th. Amos Kimble remained in 7th at 7:46. Donovan Tanouye was still in 8th at 7:48 with Dylan Malolepszy matching that time in 9th. Jackson Mallett continued to run 10th at 7:50. Gunner Kimball was still in 11th at 7:59. Frank Conner was still in 12th at 8:01. Will Coiner was back up to 13th at 8:03 with Julian Johnson matching that in 14th. Evan McElwayne was in 15th at 8:06 with Travis Moore matching that in 16th. Josh Berke was in 17th at 8:08. Shiv Patel was in 18th at 8:09. Buffalo's Dylan Blackshire had moved into 20th at 8:15 with Isaac Collins matching that time in 20th.
At about 1.8 miles, Patrick Reilly had continued to extend his lead, taking out to 14 seconds, coming through at 9:29. Carter Sias was still in 2nd at 9:43. Aidan Scott remained in 3rd at 9:47. Nicholas Pitchford was still in 4th at 9:49. Max Dauch had a slight lead over Landen Davis for 5th with both at 9:51. Amos Kimble remained in 7th at 9:59. Donovan Tanouye was still in 8th, Dyland Malolepszy was still in 9th, Jackson Mallett was still in 10th, and Gunner Kimball was still in 11th.
At the two mile mark, the rain started to fall, but Patrick Reilly continued to stretch the lead, coming through at 10:35. Carter Sias remained in 2nd place at 10:53. Aidan Scott had closed the gap while remaining in 3rd at 10:55. Nicholas Pitchford was still in 4th at 10:58. Landen Davis had moved back into 5th at 10:59. Max Dauch was in 6th at 11:00. Amos Kimble remained in 7th at 11:10. Donovan Tanouye was still in 8th at 11:14. Jackson Mallett had moved into 9th at 11:15. Dylan Malolepszy was in 10th at 11:16. This front 10 continued to solidify as the gap to 11th was getting bigger. Gunner Kimball was in the 11th spot at 11:26. The Williamstown trio came through virtually together with Julian Johnson leading Frank Conner and Will Coiner with each at 11:31. Evan McElwayne had moved back into 15th at 11:36 with Travis Moore in 16th at 11:37. Shiv Patel had moved into 17th at 11:43. Josh Berke was in 18th at 11:47. Isaac Collins was in 19th at 11:51 with Will Barton back into the 20th spot at 11:54.
At the finish line, it was all Patrick Reilly. Like in the Class A Girls race, it was a race against the clock, and Reilly was flying. An excellent finish on the track just got him a sub-16:00 by the narrowest of margins with an official time of 15:59.98. Following his strong Regional close, Landen Davis did it again, moving up into the 2nd spot in 16:31, taking the spot in the final straight stretch over Nicholas Pitchford, who took the 3rd spot in 16:32. Aidan Scott held the 4th position in 16:41 with Max Dauch moving up to 5th in 16:43. Carter Sias held the 6th position in 16:52. Amos Kimble was the last to make it in under 17:00 in 7th with a 16:57. Dylan Malolepszy closed well to take 8th in 17:01. Donovan Tanouye was 9th in 17:03, and Jackson Mallett took the final podium spot in 17:07. These guys were the top 10 at the top of the hill and held those 10 spots throughout the entire race. Julian Johnson used a late push to move into the 11th spot in 17:25. Gunner Kimball held the 12th spot in 17:26. Travis Moore closed really well to move up to 13th in 17:28. Frank Conner was 14th in 17:37. Will Coiner was 15th in 17:41. Evan McElwayne held the 16th spot in 17:49. Shiv Patel kept the 17th position in 17:51. Josh Berke used a strong last 50 meters to recapture 18th, crossing in 18:02, just ahead of Trinity Christian's Mile Steptoe, who claimed the 19th spot, also in 18:02. Isaac Collins held onto the 20th spot in 18:04.
So, how did RunWV do on the predictions? It was a pretty good set. I got the team champion correct. However, two teams did finish more than one spot off their predicted team finish. I got the indivdiual champion correct and nailed of the top 10. Things continued to go well, as I got 14 of the top 15, and topped it off by getting 23 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 4.93 places of their predicted finish, a 0.39 place improvement from last year. The runner who snagged a podium spot was Ritchie's Dylan Malolepszy (picked 11th, got 8th). The ones who cracked the top 25 were Doddridge's Josh Berke (picked 35th, got 18th) and Summers County's Dakota Pettry (picked 48th, got 22nd). The big mover of the day was Summers County's Dakota Pettry who rose 26 spots from his predicted 48th place finish to his actual 22nd place finish. The top team improvement for the day came from Doddridge, who scored 20 points fewer than predicted.
Buffalo won by enough that there wasn't really anything to stand out for them. Williamstown preserved the 2nd spot, which warrants consideration. Doddridge, St. Marys, Ritchie, and Magnolia each moved up a spot, warranting consideration for them as well. I thought I found one that was going to make 2 team spots worth of difference, but it was a point short of that. Ulimately, when I can't find something that really jumps out at me, I skew toward the higher end of the standings. And I'm going to do that again. In fact, I'm going to completely cop out and split the award this year. Doddridge was picked to finish 18 points out of 3rd and 31 points away from the podium. Instead, the easily held the 3rd spot and contended for the podium, coming up just 6 points short. Two guys made up most of that difference. One rose from 23rd to 12th and the other from 35th to 18th, both picking up a lot of team points along the way. For their strong performances, the 2023 RunWV MVPs are Doddridge's Gunner Kimball and Josh Berke.
I offer my congratulations to the Buffalo boys. The target was on your backs and you responded in a big way with a dominant performance. You put 3 on the podium, 5 in the top 25 and 6 in the top 30. You left no doubt who the best team was on this day.
I offer my congratulations to Patrick Reilly. You came in as the favorite, but I'd say as a very narrow one. There was no "narrow" to this finish. You took control on the horeshoe after the mile mark and never looked back, continually stretching that lead over the remainder of the course. Feeling no ill effects of the early pace, you looked completely fresh coming onto the track and fought for that sub-16:00 time. It was an excellently executed race and a well-deserved victory.
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.