Meet:  		Class AA Boys State Meet Predictions
Location:	Cabell Midland High School
Date:		To be held October 28, 2023

Predicted Class AA Boys Team Results
This is another team race with no drama. I have Winfield clocking in at an amazingly low 23 with the front five all getting podium spots. What's crazy is that it's not 100% out of the question that they could pop a perfect 15. The battle for the runner-up spot is where the fun comes in. I have the two separated by just 1 point with Elkins having the edge over Frankfort for the spot. There are plenty of opportunities to swing things around for this spot. I don't think anyone else legitimately has a shot at the podium.
1.  Winfield               23
2.  Elkins                 88
3.  Frankfort              89
4.  Fairmont Senior       139
5.  Nitro                 149
6.  PikeView              153
7.  East Fairmont         158
8.  Lewis                 189
9.  Shady Spring          195
10. Nicholas              210

Predicted Class AA Boys Top 25
Brayden Marshall may be the most overlooked exceptional runner we've ever had. My one regret for this State Meet is that we don't get to see Marshall and Ty Steorts square off. The early season matchup saw Marshall go under 15:00 and take the win by 5 seconds. He has 3 trips under 15:00 so far this season with dehydration preventing a 4th. He should win with relative ease. Justin Lipscomb is the clear pick for the runner-up spot. Landon Brumfield looks like a solid pick for the 3rd spot. I have Ryan Hughes in the 4th spot, though he got knocked off by a couple guys below him at the Regional. He toured that course 30 seconds faster in September, though. If he runs a race of that caliber on Saturday, he could crack the top 3. I have Nathaniel Stuck in the 4th spot. He's been very steady all season. I moved Landon Jones up to the 6th spot following his exceptional Regional run in which he beat both Stuck and Hughes. Joshua Bodkins gets the 7th spot. Like Stuck, he's been quite steady all season. I put Lincoln Haynes in the 8th spot and Trace Marshall in the 9th spot. They've traded back and forth over the course of the season, and as alluded to earlier, the potential for them to move up in tandem is certainly there. Josiah Brannen gets the nod for the final podium position.
Pick	Score	Name			Year	Team
1	1	Marshall, Brayden	12	Winfield
2	2	Lipscomb, Justin	12	Winfield
3	3	Brumfield, Landon	12	Winfield
4	4	Hughes, Ryan		11	Frankfort
5	5	Stuck, Nathaniel	11	East Fairmont
6	6	Jones, Landon		10	Fairmont Senior
7	7	Bodkins, Joshua		10	Elkins     
8	8	Haynes, Lincoln		10	Winfield
9	9	Marshall, Trace		9	Winfield
10	10	Brannen, Josiah		10	Fairmont Senior
11	11	George, Trevor		9	Elkins     
12	12	Walkup, Johnny		11	Nicholas   
13	13	Brown, Gavin		11	Elkins     
14	14	Barr, Luke		11	Nicholas   
15	X	Niggemeyer, M.J.	11	Grafton   
16	15	Huffman, Tyler		9	PikeView
17	16	Gray, Darius		11	Frankfort
18	17	McDonald, Gavin		10	Frankfort
19	X	Altobello, Luca		9	Keyser     
20	X	Dobbins, Sawyer		11	Clay        
21	X	Annon, Colson		10	Grafton   
22	18	Busse, Lance		11	Nitro      
23	19	Murphy, Matt		11	PikeView
24	X	Shuman, Austin		11	Liberty Harr.
25	20	Childs, Donovan		11	East Fairmont