The Class A Boys closed the morning session. In the team race, Charleston Catholic was expected to pretty much demolish the field. While it was closer than expected due to an excellent run from runner-up Trinity Christian, Charleston Catholic easily took home the top spot with a 14 point win. Individually, Charleston Catholic's Peter Basdekis was expected to make it a Charleston Catholic sweep, and he came through with the solid win. Teammate Will Barton won the 2nd spot in a kick race to the line.

At the top of the hill at approximately 0.7 miles, Charleston Catholic's Peter Basdekis had established a solid lead, passing by at 3:49. Magnolia's Riley Dennis had a slight edge over Charleston Catholic's Will Barton for 2nd with both at 3:56. St. Marys' Bryce Bills was close behind in 4th at 3:57. Wood County Christian's Koa Navarro was in 5th at 4:00. Charleston Catholic's Charlie Barton led a close pack at 4:01 in 6th with Wheeling Central's Michael Hutnick in 7th and St. Marys Parker Barnes in 8th matching that time. Tucker's Lynk Suesli was in 9th at 4:03 with a trio behind him at 4:04 with Ritchie's Jenner Stewart in 10th, Trinity Christian's Mile Steptoe in 11th, and Tucker's Cameron Judy in 12th. Charleston Catholic's Luke Passmore was in 13th at 4:05. Wirt's Matthew Batlis was in 14th at 4:07 with Ritchie's Kenson Roman in 15th at 4:08. Trinity Christian's Mason Melohn was in 16th at 4:09 with that time matched by teammate Jake Stephens in 17th. Two more Trinity Christian's came through at 4:11 with Channing Baldwin in 18th and Ben Hancox in 19th. Charleston Catholic's Cole Boggs was in the 20th spot at 4:12.

At the Mile Mark, Peter Basdekis had slightly extended his lead, coming though at 5:23. Koa Navarro had made a nice move into the 2nd spot at 5:31, just ahead of Bryce Bills in 3rd, also at 5:31. Will Barton had a slight lead over Riley Dennis for 4th with both at 5:32. Parker Barnes had moved into 6th at 5:36. Charlie Barton was in 7th at 5:38 with Mile Steptoe moving up to 8th with the same time. Michael Hutnick was in 9th at 5:40. Lynk Suesli was in 10th at 5:42 with Cameron Judy matching that time in 11th. Jenner Stewart was in 12th at 5:43 with Luke Passmore close behind in 13th at 5:44. Matthew Balis remained 14th at 5:46 with that time matched by Kenson Roman in 15th. A foursome of Trinity Christian guys came through almost together at 5:49 with Channing Baldwin in 16th, Jake Stephens in 17th, Mason Melohn in 18th, and Ben Hancox in 19th. Cole Boggs remained in 20th at 5:50.

Near the mid-way point (roughly at 1.4 miles), Peter Basdekis continued to hold his solid lead at 7:38. Bryce Bills had moved into 2nd at 7:45. Koa Navarro was in 3rd at 7:47 with Will Barton matching that time in 4th. These four had opened a gap on the rest. Riley Dennis was slightly ahead of Parker Barnes for 5th with both at 7:52. Miles Steptoe was up to 7th at 7:56. Charlie Barton was close behind in 8th at 7:57. Michael Hutnick was in 9th at 7:59 with Lynk Suesli still in 10th at 8:00. Cameron Judy was in 11th at 8:01. Matthew Balis had moved up to 12th at 8:03. Jenner Stewart was in 13th at 8:06 with Luke Passmore and Kenson Roman at 8:07 in 14th and 15th, respectively. Mason Melohn was in 16th at 8:09 with Jake Stephens in 17th at 8:10. Ben Hancox was in 18th at 8:13 with Channing Baldwin in 19th at 8:14. Ritchie's Blake Seese had moved into 20th at 8:15.

At about 1.8 miles, Peter Basdekis continued to lead with the gap neither growing nor shrinking, coming through at 9:47. Bryce Bills was still in 2nd at 10:04. Will Barton was in 3rd at 10:06 with Koa Navarro in 4th at 10:07. Riley Dennis remained in 5th at 10:13. Parker Barnes remained in 6th at 10:15. Mile Steptoe was still in 7th at 10:17. Lynk Suesli had moved into 8th at 10:19, just ahead of Charlie Barton in 9th with the same time. Matthew Balis had moved up to 10th at 10;22. Cameron Judy was in 11th at 10:23 with that time matched by Michael Hutnick in 12th. Jenner Stewart remained in 13th at 10:35 with Luke Passmore in 14th and Kenson Roman in 15th with both at 13:06. Mason Melohn was in 16th at 10:37, and Jake Stephens was in 17th at 10:38. The next two were Trinity as well, but I didn't catch the numbers on the camera before I moved on.

At the two mile mark, Peter Basdekis continued to hold that 7 second lead at 11:06. Bryce Bills was still in 2nd at 11:13 with Will Barton right behind at 11:14. They had gotten slightly away from Koa Navarro in 4th at 11:17. Riley Dennis remained in 5th at 11:26 with Parker Barnes still in 6th at 11:27. Mile Steptoe was still in 7th but had closed right up on them at 11:28. Matthew Balis had continued to rise and was now up to 8th at 11:31. Charlie Barton was in 9th, matching that time, and Lynk Suesli was in 10th at 11:32. Michael Hutnick was in 11th at 11:34 with Cameron Judy in 12th at 11:35. With a 13 second gap to 13th, it's probably down to these 12 to determine who is on the podium. Mason Melohn had made a nice move in this short stretch to move into 13th at 11:48, and he brought Jake Stephens with him into 14th with the same time. Jenner Stewart was in 15th at 11:50. Luke Passmore and Kenson Roman were in 16th and 17th, respectively at 11:51. Ben Hancox was in 18th at 11:52. Channing Baldwin was in 18th at 11:57, and Trinity Christian added another guy to the mix with Harper Jacquez moving into 20th at 12:00.

Coming onto the track, Peter Basdekis had extended his lead to about 10 or 11 seconds. He took a peak behind him a couple times to make sure he was safe, and cruised down the stretch to take to 6 second win in 16:54. Bryce Bills came onto the track in 2nd, but Will Barton was right behind. Barton started to make his charge with about 100 meters to go and made the pass coming out of the turn and got away down the stretch to give Charleston Catholic the 1-2 finish with a 17:00 finish. Bills easily held the 3rd spot in 17:01. Koa Navarro got closed on but held onto the 4th spot in 17:20. Charlie Barton closed really well to move from 9th to 5th in the final mile, finishing in 17:22. Mile Steptoe moved up to 6th and held off Parker Barnes for the spot down the stretch with Steptoe finishing in 17:24 and Barnes in 17:25. Riley Dennis held the 8th spot in 17:35 with Matthew Balis taking 9th in 17:38. Cameron Judy used a strong final 75 meters to snag the final podium spot in 17:41. Lynk Suesli took the 11th spot in 17:42 with Michael Hutnick in 12th at 17:43. Jake Stephens took the 13th spot in 17:57, and he was followed by a pair of teammates following behind with Mason Melohn holding off the kick of Ben Hancox for 14th with both at 18:02. Jenner Stewart was 16th in 18:09 with teammate Kenson Roman in 17th in 18:12. Harper Jacquez won a tight kick race over Luke Passmore for 18th with both finishing in 18:13. Channing Baldwin held the final medal position in 18:24.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? This could be one of my all-time best sets. I got the Team Champion and runner up. In fact, all 9 teams finished exactly where they were predicted. I got the Individual Champion and the runner-up. I got 9 of the top 10 (and the one I didn't get finished 11th), 12 of 15, and 23 of 25. On average, runners finished within 4.51 places of their predicted finish. That's 0.01 better than last year. The runner who climbed into a podium spot was St. Marys Parker Barnes (picked 12th, got 7th). Those who climbed into the Top 25 were Calhoun's Jackson Clawson (picked 27th, got 21st) and St. Marys' Caden Kimball (picked 29th, got 25th). The biggest mover of the day was Wood County Christian's Dane Stewart, who rose 12 spots from a predicted 42nd place finish to an actual 30th place finish. From a team standpoint, I'm doing that a little differently this year. The team that scored the largest percentage better than their predicted score gets that nod rather than the team that lowered their score by the most points. That puts the nod in the hands of Trinity Christian, outperformed by 19.4%.

In searching for the MVP, it's a little tough because Charleston Catholic wasn't really threatened. Trinity Christian ran well enough that it wasn't close for 2nd. No team finished off their predicted spot. There was only one that was actually close, but analyzing that didn't produce an accomplishing maneuver. That really leaves me in a bit of a bind, so I'm just going to go with a step-up performance in the Top 2 teams. I'm going to further wimp out on this one and award Co-MVPs. These two guys both placed 10 spots higher than predicted and both picked up 10 team points along the way. Their rise up the ranks secured the Runner-Up spot for their team. For their rise, the 2025 RunWV Co-MVPs are Trinity Christians Jake Stephens and Benjamin Hancox.

I offer my congratulations to the Charleston Catholic boys. You were the top dog all season long (and would have been if they had combined A and AA as well), and you did not let that pressure get to you. Your big dogs came to the table and ate. A 1-2-5 finish sets you up for team success and your other guys did their jobs to bring home the big trophy.

I offer my congratulations to Peter Basdekis. You got out front early and were never threatened, maintaining that same gap through much of the race before extending it slightly in the final mile. You ran strong and controlled and got the job done and were able to relax a bit down the stretch to enjoy your 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 anything. That's why we run the race.