The Class AAA Boys closed noon session with the temperatures starting to rise but still quite pleasant for running. University was expected to run away with the title, and they certainly did so, winning by a whopping 38 points. Cabell Midland stepped up into the 2nd spot with Jefferson having an excellent day to rise to 3rd. Individually, it was expected the Ty Steorts would also run away with the title. The only question was whether or not he'd be able to score a course record. He gave it a go, but as he entered the final stretch, the time of the old record passed, and he cruised it in to take the 2nd Best Time ever on the course in 15:11 for the 25 second victory.

At the top of the hill at approximately 0.75 miles, Hurricane's Ty Steorts had already staked a nice lead, coming through at 3:31. Cabell Midland's Aidan Kneeland was in the 2nd spot at 3:36 with University's Tyler Umbright close behind in 3:37. There was another gap back to 4th and 5th with University's Ethan Conroy and Micah Gainer holding those spots at 3:41. Cabell Midland's Dylan Dial was in 6th at 3:42 with Morgantown's Joaquin Summers in 7th matching that time. Hurricane's Mason Lewis was in 8th at 3:43 with that time matched by Jefferson's Conner Myers in 9th and Parkersburg South's Josh Gill in 10th. University's Logan Conroy was in 11th at 3:44 with Parkersburg's Connor George in 12th with Winfield's Trace Marshall in 13th and Fairmont Senior's Landon Jones in 14th, each also at 3:44. Morgantown's James Stacy was in 15th at 3:46. Teammate Andrew Carlton was in 16th at 3:48. University's Colin Schrull was in 17th at 3:49. Bridgeport's William Northey was in 18th at 3:50. Morgantown's Finlay Lorimer was in 19th at 3:53 with Wheeling Park's Redick Moore matching that time in 20th. If you watch my video from this spot, you can hear Moore just about puke on me (maybe just a dry heave).

At the Mile Mark, Ty Steorts had really gotten away, opening a 9 second lead coming through at 4:55. Aidan Kneeland had opened a small gap for the 2nd spot at 5:04 with Tyler Umbright at 5:07 in 3rd. Ethan Conroy remained in 4th at 5:12 with Micah Gainer matching that in 5th, and with Conner Myers moving up to 6th matching that time as well. Dylan Dial was at the front of a big pack at 5:13 with Dial in 7th, Connor George in 8th, Josh Gill in 9th, Mason Lewis in 10th, Landon Jones in 11th, and Logan Conroy in 12th all at 5:13. Trace Marshall was in 13th at 5:15. I think it was Joaquin Summers in 14th at 5:16. Andrew Carlton was in 15th at 5:20 with James Stacy in 16th at 5:21. Colin Schrull was in 17th and Finlay Lorimer was in 18th also at 5:21. William Northey was in 19th at 5:22. Buckhannon-Upshur's Joey Nolte had moved into 20th at 5:27.

Near the mid-way point, Ty Steorts had pulled further away, coming through at 6:52. Aidan Kneeland had extended his gap for the 2nd spot at 7:06. Tyler Umbright was alone in 3rd at 7:12. Logan Conroy was still in 4th at 7:21 with Conner Myers now into 5th also at 7:21. Micah Gainer was in 6th at 7:22 with Dylan Dial in 7th at 7:23. Connor George was at the front of a pack at 7:24 that included George in 8th, Josh Gill in 9th, Landon Jones in 10th, and Logan Conroy in 11th. Mason Lewis was in 12th at 7:27 with Trace Marshall matching that in 13th. Andrew Carlton was up to 14th in 7:31. Joaquin Summers was in 15th at 7:33 with Colin Schrull matching that in 16th. Finlay Lorimer was in 17th at 7:37. William Northey was up to 18th at 7:38. Jefferson's Shane Burkhardt had entered the picture, moving into 19th at 7:40 with that time matched by James Stacy in 20th.

At about 1.8 miles, Ty Steorts continued to hold a commanding lead at 8:53. Aidan Kneeland remained in 2nd at 9:16, but Tyler Umbright had cut into his lead, running 3rd at 9:19. Micah Gainer was now up to 4th at 9:31 with Ethan Conroy and Conner Myers matching that in 5th and 6th, respectively. Dylan Dial remained in 7th at 9:32 with Landon Jones up to 8th at 9:33 and Connor George in 9th, also at 9:33.

At the two mile mark, Ty Steorts had further extended his lead, coming through at 9:55. Aidan Kneeland remained in 2nd at 10:21 with Tyler Umbright still 3 seconds back at 10:24. Conner Myers had now moved into 4th at 10:37 with Micah Gainer matching that time in 5th and Ethan Conroy still right there in 6th at 10:38. Dylan Dial was in 7th and Landon Jones was in 8th, also at 10:38 as the race for 4th place had really heated up. Connor George was in 9th t 10:40. Josh Gill was in 10th at 10:50. Logan Conroy was in 11th at 10:51 with Trace Marshall matching that in 12th. Andrew Carlton was up to 13th at 10:57. Shane Burkhardt continued to move up through the field and was now in 14th at 11:00 and was closing on those in front of him, cutting a 16 second deficit to Conroy down to 9. Finlay Lorimer was up to 15th at 11:09 with William Northey and Colin Schrull matching that time in 16th and 17th, respectively. Joey Nolte was up to 18th at 11:13. Wheeling Park's Rylan Moore had moved into 19th at 11:14 with Redick Moore back up to 20th at 11:14.

Coming onto the track, Ty Steorts had a comfortable lead, and he pushed until the time on the course record rolled by. He then cruicsed to the finish in 15:11, good for 2nd Place on the All-Time list. I think it could have been 15:07-8 if he hadn't shut it down. Aidan Kneeland pulled strongly away over the last 1.1 to easily take the 2nd spot in 15:36. He actually covered that last 1.1 a second faster than Steorts. Tyler Umbright easily held the 3rd spot in 15:55. Conner Myers got slightly away to take 4th in 16:05 with Ethan Conroy taking 5th in 16:07, Micah Gainer taking 6th in 16:08, and Landon Jones taking 7th, also in 16:08. Dylan Dial held the 8th position in 16:15. Connor George kept the 9th spot in 16:23. Shane Burkhardt continued his 2nd half push, moving up to take the final podium position in 16:26. Andrew Carlton moved up to the 11th spot in 16:34. Trace Marshall made a late pass to take 12th in 16:36. Josh Gill took 13th in 16:37. Logan Conroy was 14th in 16:38. Redick Moore closed well to move up to 15th in 16:49. Finlay Lorimer was 16th in 16:52. George Washington's Kirkln Hinamon also closed well to move into an award position, taking 17th in 16:55. Rylan Moore scored 18th in 16:59. Preston's Landon Griffith also moved up late to take 19th in 17:00 with William Northey in 20th, also in 17:00.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Not very well. I got the team champion, but after that only 10-11-12 finished where predicted. 4 teams finished 2 spots away from their predicted finish. Individually, I got the Individual Champion and the top 3, and a solid 8 of the top 10 and 13 of the top 15, but that fell apart as I dropped to getting just 19 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 7.31 places of their predicted finish. That's over 1.3 spots worse than last year as there 5 runners that were over 20 spots off. Those who worked their way into those podium spots were Fairmont Senior's Landon Jones (picked 12th, got 7th) and Shane Burkhardt (picked 19th, got 10th). Those who climbed into the top 25 were Wheeling Park's Rylan Moore (picked 30th, got 18th), Buckhannon-Upshur's Joey Nolte (picked 29th, got 21st), Cabell Midland's Colson Elswick (picked 31st, got 22nd), University's Colin Schrull (picked 40th, got 23rd), Jefferson's Travis Jenkins (picked 42nd, got 24th), and Wheelign Park's Jacob Murphy (picked 37th, got 25th). The big mover of the day was Wheeling Park's Tyler Bishop, who climbed 19 spots from his predicted 60th place finish to his actual 41st place finish. The biggest improvement in team score easily came from Jefferson, who scored 39 points fewer than predicted.

In searching for the MVP, University is pretty much tossed out just like last year. When you win by that much, you probably aren't going to have this award. Cabell Midland climbed onto the podium. Jefferson and Wheeling Park each moved up 2 spots. I tend to lean toward the podium moves when possible for this, and we have such a move this year. Given that Cabell Midland took the 2nd place spot by just 6 points, there was one move that was definitely the difference maker. The runner moved up just 9 places from his predicted finish to his actual finish. That's not a ton, but it was 8 team points in a 6 point win for the podium. Had he finished in his predicted spot, not only would he have lost those 8 points, but would have lost two more to Jefferson. For coming through for his team, the 2024 RunWV MVP is Cabell Midland's Colson Elswick.

I offer my congratulations to the University boys. You were predicted to win by 32 points, and you outperformed your prediction, scoring 4 points fewer than predicted and winning by 38 points. Everyone did what they needed to do, and your #5 sealed the deal by moving up 17 spots from his predicted finish. You put three guys in the top 6, four in the top 14, and 6 in the top 26. I believe this makes 6 in a row for the University juggernaut.

I offer my congratulations to Ty Steorts. You took control early and never looked back. You made a great run at the record and showed why you are one of the top ranked runners in the nation. 4 State Meet races equals 3 titles and never worse than 2nd. You continue to stand out as one of our State's All-Time Best.

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.