The Class AAAA Boys was the 2nd race of the day. Conditions were warming slightly, and it was excellent running weather. The course remained in good shape. The team race wasn't expected to be much of a contest with University coming in as a 31 point favorite. University handled their business, scoring almost exactly as predicted. But it was a lot closer than expected with Morgantown having a banner day to close to within 11 points and easily take the 2nd spot. Individually, Micah Gainer was expected to take the title but it was known that he could be challenged. He took the lead early and maintained it throughout. He didn't bury the field, but it felt like he was in control the whole time.

I missed my spot at the top of the hill. I must have failed to hit the record button. I was there with my camera pointed and yammering on, but I have nothing but a video of the ground as ran from the top of the hill to the mile mark. I was able to pick up a top 20 from about 0.8 miles from the NFHS feed. University's Micah Gainer was in the lead with teammate Ethan Conroy at his side at 3:53. There was a pack of 5 at 3:55 with University's Logan Conroy in 3rd, Wheeling Park's Rylan Moore in 4th, Cabell Midland's Dylan Dial in 5th, Woodrow Wilson's Kyle Peters in 6th, and Morgantown's Joaquin Summers in 7th. Parkersburg's Connor George was in 8th at 3:56 with Spring Mills' Isaiah Griffin 9th at 3:57. There was a small gap back to Hurricane's Paxon Haddox in 10th at 4:00. Woodrow Wilson's Vance Lindley was in 11th at 4:01. A pack of four came through at 4:03 with Morgantown's Josh Shrewsberry in 12th, Morgantown's Maxwell Abildso in 13th, Buckhannon-Upshur's Joey Nolte in 14th, and Parkersburg South's Gatlin McLain in 15th. Cabell Midland's Colson Elswick and Jacob Barthlow were both at 4:04 in 16th and 17th, respectively. Jefferson's Scott Leonard was in 18th at 4:05 with University's Ben Honecker and Jefferson's Shane Burkhardt in 19th and 20th, respectively at 4:06.

At the Mile Mark, I was still off-cycle on my camera, ceasing recording when I thought I was starting. So, I again have no video here. I have another video of the ground as I ran to the Extension Building. From the NFHS feed, just past the mile mark, Micah Gainer and Ethan Conroy continued to lead at 5:03. The rest of that pack from 0.8 miles was at 5:06-5:07. It's hard to differentiate them from the back. I think Dylan Dial was in 3rd, Logan Conroy may have been in 4th with Rylan Moore in 5th, Kyle Peters in 6th, Joaquin Summers in 7th, Isaiah Griffin in 8th, and Connor George in 9th. I think Paxton Haddox was still in 11th at 5:15. I think Gatlin McLain had moved into 12th at 5:17. It's just too difficult to tell from behind. As they rounded the turn into the dogleg loop, you can see Rylan Moore get tripped up and fall. He got right back up, the that big pack got 2-3 seconds on him.

Near the mid-way point (roughly at 1.4 miles), I finally got my act together and got some video. Micah Gainer was in the lead, coming through at 7:18. Ethan Conroy was in 2nd at 7:20. They had a small gap on the pack. Dylan Dial was in 3rd at 7:23 with Logan Conroy in 4th with the same time. Joaquin Summers was in 5th at 7:24. My apologies to him as I kept blanking on his name throughout the race. I was trying to say Quinn Jacquez, and I knew that wasn't right. It just wasn't coming to me, and I didn't have my notebook or a roster with me. Connor George was in 6th at 7:25. Kyle Peters was in 7th at 7:26. Isaiah Griffin was in 8th at 7:27, and Rylan Moore was in 9th at 7:28. So, only 5 seconds was separating 3rd from 9th. There was a 10 second gap back to 10th, Jefferson's Shane Burkhardt, who passed by at 7:38 with Scott Leonard at his side with the same time. Gatlin McLain was in 12th at 7:42, with a trio right behind him at 7:43. That was Paxton Haddox in 13th, Vance Lindley in 14th, and Colson Elswick in 15th. Maxwell Abildso was in 16th at 7:44. Joshua Shrewsberry was in 17th at 7:45. Joey Nolte was in 18th at 7:46. Jacob Barthlow was in 19th at 7:50 with Wheeling Park's Tyler Bishop in 20th at 7:51.

At about 1.8 miles, Micah Gainer remained in the lead and had pushed his lead out to 5 seconds, coming by at 9:25. Ethan Conroy remained in 2nd at 9:30. Dylan Dial and Joaquin Summers were battling for 3rd at 9:33. Logan Conroy was in 5th at 9:34. Connor George remained in 6th at 9:36. Kyle Peters was in 7th at 9:37 with Isaiah Griffin matching that time in 8th. Rylan Moore remained in 9th at 9:39. Shane Burkhardt has started to take control of 10th, coming through at 9:50 with Scott Leonard at 9:52. Gatlin McLain still held the 12th position at 9:57. Joshua Shrewsberry had moved up to 13th at 10:01 with Maxwell Abildso up to 14th with the same time. Joey Nolte was in 15th at 10:05. Vance Lindley was in 16th at 10:09 with Tyler Bishop and Paxton Haddox matching that time in 17th and 18th, respectively. Colson Elswick was in 19th at 10:10, and Jacob Barthlow was in 20th at 10:11.

At the two mile mark, Micah Gainer remained in the lead. I didn't make it there in time to get his time. Ethan Conroy remained in 2nd at 10:36. Joaquin Summers was up to 3rd at 10:39 with Dylan Dial in 4th at 10:40, Logan Conroy in 5th and Kyle Peters in 6th with both at 10:41. Isaiah Griffin was in 7th and Connor George was in 8th with both at 10:42. So, we still have 6 within 3 seconds in the battle for 3rd. Rylan Moore was in 9th at 10:45, so he was not out of the picture either. Shane Burkhardt slightly extended his grip on 10th at 10:59 with Scott Leonard still in 11th at 11:02. Gatlin McLain remained in 12th at 11:07. Maxwell Abildso had a slight edge on Joshua Shrewsberry for 13th with both at 11:12. Joey Nolte remained in 14th at 11:16. Tyler Bishop was up to 16th at 11:19. Colson Elswick had moved back up to 17th at 11:22. Vance Lindley and Paxton Haddox were at 11:24 in 19th and 20th, respectively, and Jacob Barthlow remained in the 20th spot at 11:25.

Coming onto the track, Micah Gainer came onto the track still with a solid lead, and he cruised home down the final stretch to take the win in 15:56. Ethan Conroy closed well to firm his grasp on the runner-up spot, also crossing under 16:00 with a 15:59. Joaquin Summers opened a gap on the final mile and easily took the 3rd spot at 16:05. Isaiah Griffin broke out of a tight race for the 4th spot with a strong burst in the final 100 meters to take the spot in 16:12. Kyle Peters nipped Dylan Dial for 5th at the pair battled all the way down the final stretch. Both clocked a 16:14 and were separated by just 0.05 seconds. Logan Conroy was just behind them in 7th in 16:15. Connor George took the 8th spot in 16:17, and Rylan Moore held the 9th spot in 19:23. Shane Burkhardt pulled away for complete control of the final podium position, finishing in 16:34. Scott Leonard was not threatened for 11th in 16:49. Gatlin McLain maintained the 12th spot in 16:54. Joshua Shrewsberry took the 13th spot in 17:02. Tyler Bishop closed very well and used a strong kick to just slip into the 14th spot right before the line in 17:05, taking the spot by just 0.05. Maxwell Abildso matched that time in 15th. Joey Nolte held the 16th position in 17:11. Colson Elswick was 17th in 17:14. Paxton Haddox came back up to 18th in 17:16. Morgantown's Timothy Samuel climbed up to the 19t spot in 17:18, and Jacob Barthlow took the final medal in 17:20.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? I'll call it a solid batch. I got the team champion but missed on the runner-up. I had several swaps. 2-3 swapped. 4-5 swapped. 6-7 swapped. Three teams later in the picks were off by 2 places. Individually, I got 9 of the top 10, which is always good. That dropped to 12 of 15 and just 20 of 25, though. On average, runners finished within 8.50 places of their predicted finish. That's 1.19 worse than last year's AAA group. There were too many that were way off with 8 runners 20 or more places off (compared to just 2 in the 4A girls). The runner who jumped onto the podium was Morgantown's Joaquin Summers (picked 11th, got 3rd), who did so emphatically. Those who climed into the top 25 were Morgantown's Timothy Samuel (picked 30th, got 19th), Morgantown's James Stacy (picked 27th, got 21st), University's Ben Honecker (picked 26th, got 23rd), Morgantown's Andrew Richman (picked 29th, got 24th), and University's Sam Denne (picked 28th, got 25th). The biggest mover of the day was Wheeling Park's Mason Shores, who climbed 31 spots from a predicted 87th place finish to an actual 56th place finish. From a team standpoint, I'm doing that a bit 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 Morgantown, who outperformed by a massive 35.6%. Looking at the "who climbed into spots" lists above, they had 4 of the 6 spots, so this should not come as a surprise.

In searching for the MVP, I can look at any of those position swaps, but I'm going elsewhere. It wasn't a complete difference maker, but his absence would have made it a nail-biter. He hadn't raced since August 26th, out with a stress fracture. He did everything right in his attempt to get back on the line for his team, and he came through for them with a big 23rd place finish, #4 on the team. If he's not there, they do still win, but by just 3 points. For his efforts at getting on the line and in a position to help his team secure their 7th consecutive State Championship, the 2025 RunWV MVP is University's Ben Honecker.

I offer my congratulations to the University boys. You were supposed to win. You did exactly what you needed to do. That's 7 in a row for this incredible dynasty. You put 3 on the podium and 5 inside the top 25 to secure the win. You were #1 all season long with teams gunning for you the entire season, but you did not falter and stood strong when it mattered.

I offer my congratulations to Micah Gainer. You took control early and maintained your advantage throughout with a smart and controlled race. It was excellence of execution.

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.