The Class A Boys closed the day's festivities. Temperatures remained warm and the sun remained in full force. Charleston Catholic came in as the favorite, but it was St. Marys putting together the excellent day to snag the title away. Individually, Tyler Consolidated's Amos Kimble was the heavy favorite to take the title, and he pulled far away in the last half of the race to do just that, getting the win by nearly 19 seconds.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill which is about 0.75 miles into the race. Tyler Consolidated's Amos Kimble was the first to top the hill at 3:41, but right on his heels matching that time was Paw Paw's Donovan Tanouye. Those two had a gap on the field. Magnolia's Landon Davis was in 3rd at 3:46. Ritchie's Dylan Malolepszy was in 4th at 3:47. Tyler Consolidated's Travis Moore was in 5th with St. Marys' Bryce Bills in 6th with both at 3:48. Doddridge's Carter Sias was in 7th at 3:52. St. Marys' Max Dauch was in 8th at 3:53. Charleston Catholic's Peter Basdekis was in 9th at 3:54 with that time matched by teammmate Will Barton and Summers' Dakota Pettry in 10th and 11th, respectively. St. Marys' Reece Westfall was in 12th at 3:55 with Doddridge's Samuel Gola matching that time in 13th. Trinity Christian's Miles Steptoe was in 14th at 3:56. St. Marys' Parker Barnes was in 15th at 3:58 with Tyler Consolidated's Brody Nice in 16th at 3:59. Doddridge's Gunner Kimball was in 17th at 4:00. Tucker's Lynk Suesli was in 18th at 4:01. Charleston Catholic's Isaac Collins and teammate Charlie Barton held the 19th and 20th spots, respectively with both at 4:03.

At the mile mark, Amos Kimble continued to lead, but Donovan Tanouye continued to ride right on his shoulder with both crossing at 5:14. The gap on the rest of the field had grown. Dylan Malolepszy had moved into 3rd at 5:22 with Carter Sias up to 4th, also at 5:22. Landen Davis was in 5th at 5:23 with Bryce Bills matching that time in 6th. Travis Moore was in 7th at 5:24. Max Dauch remained in 8th at 5:29. Peter Basdekis, Will Barton, and Dakota Pettry still held spots 9-11 with each crossing at 5:31. Reece Westfall was 12th at 5:32 with Miles Steptoe moving up to 13th with the same time. Samuel Gola was in 14th at 5:33 with Parker Barnes matching that in 15th. Brody Nice was in 16th at 5:38, fronting a group that included Lynk Suesli in 17th, Isaac Collins in 18th, and Charlie Barton in 19th each hitting 5:38. Gunner Kimball was in 20th at 5:39.

Nearing the mid-way point, Amos Kimble remained at the front and had opened a gap of just a few meters, coming by at 7:22. Donovan Tanouye was still there, though, at 7:23. They had further extended their lead on the field. Dylan Malolepszy was still in 3rd at 7:37, but Bryce Bills had moved up to 4th at 7:38. Carter Sias was in 5th at 7:39. Landen Davis was in 6th at 7:41 with Travis Moore matching that time in 7th. Max Dauch remained in 8th at 7:46. Mile Steptoe had made a nice move up to 9th at 7:49. Will Barton was in 10th at 7:49 with Peter Basdekis matching that in 11th. Reece Westfall was still in 12th at 7:50. Dakota Pettry was in 13th at 7:51 with that time matched by Samuel Gola in 14th. Parker Barnes remained in 15th at 7:52. Isaac Collins had moved up to 16th at 7:56 with Lynk Suesli matching that time in 17th. Charlie Barton was in 18th at 7:58. Brody Nice was in 19th at 8:06 with that time matched by Magnolia's Riley Dennis.

At about 1.8 miles, Amos Kimble had finally generated a noticeable gap, coming by at 9:34. Donovan Tanouye was still within reach at 9:37 in 2nd. Bryce Bills had continued to move up, now in 3rd at 9:54. Dylan Malolepszy was in 4th at 9:55. Carter Sias was still in 5th at 10:00. Landen Davis was in 6th at 10:03 with Travis Moore again matching his time in 7th. Max Dauch remained in 8th at 10:09. Mile Steptoe continued to hold the 9th position at 10:12. Peter Basdekis was back up to 10th at 10:13 with Will Barton matching that time in 11th. Parker Barnes had made a nice move up to 12th at 10:17 with Reece Westfall in 13th at 10;18. Isaac Collins was now up to 14th at 10:19 with Samuel Gola in 15th at 10:20. Lynk Suesli was also at 10:20 in 16th. Dakota Pettry was in 17th at 10:21, and Charlie Barton was in 18th at 10:24.

At the two mile mark, Amos Kimble had slightly extended his lead, coming through at 10:42. Donovan Tanouye remained in firm control of 2nd at 10:46. Bryce Bills had opened a gap to take control of 3rd at 11:03. Dylan Malolepszy was in 4th at 11:08 with Carter Sias now right behind him in 5th at 11:09. Landen Davis was in 6th a 11:14 with Travis Moore still shadowing him in 7th. Max Dauch remained in 8th at 11:22. Peter Basdekis led a trio through at 11:25 in 9th with Will Barton in 10th and Mile Steptoe in 11th. Parker Barnes was in 12th at 11:29 with Isaac Collins now in 13th right beside him. Reece Westfall was in 14th at 11:31 with Lynk Suesli in 15th at 11:32. Samuel Gola was in 16th at 11:34. Dakota Pettry remained in 17th at 11:38 with that time matched by Charlie Barton in 18th. Brody Nice was in 19th at 11:45 with Riley Dennis still in 20th at 11:46.

At the finish line, Amos Kimble had ran away from the competition over the final mile to win by nearly 19 seconds in 16:09. Donovan Tanouye was not remotely threatened for 2nd, taking that spot in 16:28. Bryce Bills continued to pull away in 3rd, crossing in 16:50. Dylan Malolepszy took the 4th spot in 16:59. Carter Sias held 5th in 17:03. Landen Davis kept the 6th spot in 17:06 with Travis Moore staying close in 7th in 17:08. Mile Steptoe moved back up to 8th and got a gap, taking the spot in 17:13. Peter Basdekis was 9th in 17:19 with Will Barton taking the final podium spot in 17:21. Reece Westfall won a spirited sprint to the finish over Isaac Collins for 11th with both clocking a 17:26. Max Dauch was 13th in 17:30. Lynk Suesli finished well to move to 14th in 17:37, holding off Charlie Barton who moved up to 15th in 17:38. Parker Barnes held 16th in 17:40. Samuel Gola was 17th in 17:47. Brody Nice took the 18th spot just nipping Riley Dennis at the line for the spot with both at 17:52. Dakota Pettry held the final award position in 17:58.

So, how did RunWV do on the predictions? It was a solid set overall. I did miss the team champion, which I knew could go either way, but that 1-2 swap and a 6-7 swap were the only teams who finished off their predicted places. Individually, I got the Champion correct, and got 8 of the top 10. That ratio held steady at 12 of 15, but improved to hitting a very nice 23 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 4.52 places of their predicted finish, which was a 0.41 place improvement from last year. The runners who stepped up to a podium spot were St. Marys' Bryce Bills (picked 11th, got 3rd) and Trinity Christian's Mile Steptoe (picked 22nd, got 8th). The ones who cracked the top 25 were Doddridge's Cory Swentzel (picked 27th, got 23rd) and Tucker's Alex Collar (picked 26th, got 24th). There was a tie for the big mover of the day with the duo moving up 14 spots from their predicted finish. Both were from Trinity Christian with one being Miles Steptoe who moved up from 22nd to 8th and the other was Chase Livengood who rose from a predicted 52nd place finish to an actual 38th place finish. The top team improvement for the day should come as no surprise given the two big movers. It was Trinity Christian, who scored 23 fewer points than predicted.

In searching for an MVP, I clearly have to look at the 1-2 swap. St. Mary was predicted to lose by 7 points, and they won by 6. I could actually go two ways here as there were two performances that actually made the difference. I'll mention both. First, I'll acknowledge St. Marys' Jay Mote. He climbed from a predicted 38th place finish to an actual 31st place finish and picked up 6 team points in the process. One of those spots was a Charleston Catholic runner, making it a 7 point swing. If he finishes 38th, St. Marys loses by a point. However, for the MVP, I'm going with the guy who plowed his way up the field and ran away with 3rd place. That was 8 spots higher than predicted, and he picked up 7 team points in the process, and two of the guys he picked off were Charleston Catholic guys. That's a 9 point swing. If he finishes 11th, St. Marys loses by 3. Well, actually two because him dropping to 11th would have moved another of their guys up a spot. For his big time run, the 2024 RunWV MVP is St. Marys' Bryce Bills.

I offer my congratulations to the St. Marys boys. It certainly was not a season without adversity, but the end made the struggles worth it. You dealt with injury and illness and still came out clean on the other side. You got solid runs from your core and a couple step-up performances to seal the deal. You sent 4 guys home with individual awards, and took home the Team Championship.

I offer my congratulations to Amos Kimble. You dominated Class A all season long, and today was no different. You did not let the pressure of the moment get to you and you proved your strength over the final mile. Hard work and consistency pay off, and you exemplified that today.

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.