I'll be doing the recap a little different this year. Since video is available for each race, there's really no need for me to type out a description of how it happened. You can watch the video if you want to see how the race played out.

100 Meter Dash
East Hardy's Evan Hamilton and twin brother Mason Hamilton blitzed the field with Evan taking the win in 10.99 and Mason taking 2nd in 11.19. Only Wahama's Reezin Stitt joined them under 11.50 with an 11.46. Evan Hamilton also clocked an 10.88 in the trials which is the 7th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance.
RunWV's Current Score: 7 of 8.

200 Meter Dash
In a reversal of the 100, East Hardy's Mason Hamilton slipped by brother Evan late to snag the win in 22.41. Evan was 2nd in 22.47. Wirt's Tyler Smith joined them under 23 seconds with a 22.89. One of my predicted placers qualified 4th but did not run in the finals, and one scratched the event.
RunWV's Current Score: 14 of 16.

400 Meter Dash
Wirt's Tyler Smith got out well and held the lead throughout, taking the win by over a second in 50.63. Charlston Catholic's Mateo Lao, Tucker's Nate Ricottilli, and Wirt's also run under 52 seconds as 2nd through 7th were separated by just 0.73 seconds.
RunWV's Current Score: 21 of 24.

800 Meter Run
The group went out conservatively with no one going under 62.5 for the first lap with Charleston Catholic's Matao Lao moving into the lead right before the line. The race took place on lap 2 with the top 7 guys all recording negative splits. Charleston Catholic's Peter Basdekis shot the gap to move from 4th to 2nd shortly after the line, and Lao and Basdekis opened a gap on the field. Basdekis moved into the lead before coming out of the first turn and pulled away over the final 200 meters to win by over a 1.7 seconds in 2:01.05. Lao held 2nd in 2:02.82. Basdekis took the final lap in 58.15. Lap 1 - Lao, Jacquez, Misel, Basdekis, Bills, Passmore, Parks, Mote. Finish - Basdekis, Lao, Parks, Misel, Hutnick, Passmore, Stewart, Bills.
RunWV's Current Score: 29 of 32.

1600 Meter Run
This was a fun one to watch as there was a lot of place movement throughout the race. Charleston Catholic's Peter Basdekis moved to the lead early and easily pulled away from the field before cruising in for the nealry 8 second win in 4:27.61. St. Marys' Bryce Bills was 2nd in 4:35.45. Ritchie's Blake Seese closed really well to move from 6th to 3rd in 4:37.32, just ahead of Wheeling Central's Michael Hutnick who also closed really well to move from 7th to 4th. It was a kicker's race as Wood County Christian's Koa Navarro went from 10th to 5th on the final lap, and Ritchie's Jenner Stewart went from 11th to 6th. Lap 1 - Basdekis, Suesli, Navarro, Bills, Barnes, Hutnick, Dennis, Passmore. Lap 2 - Basdekis, Barton, Bills, Dennis, Barnes, Passmore, Suesli, Navarro. Lap 3 - Basdekis, Bills, Barton, Dennis, Barnes, Seese, Hutnick, Judy. Finish - Basdekis, Bills, Seese, Hutnick, Navarro, Stewart, Dennis, Barton. A nod to Tucker's Cameron Judy who moved into 8th just before the start of the final lap, and made a bold move all the way up to 3rd at one point in the final lap.
RunWV's Current Score: 36 of 40.

3200 Meter Run
I knew this would probably be a good one as I figured 5 or 6 guys had a legitimate shot to win it. As in 1600, there was a lot of place shuffling going on during the race. In the end, it was Wood County Christian's Koa Navarro using a furious final kick to steal the win in 9:48.92. Navarro had led laps 2-5 before dropping to 3rd heading into the final lap. He was down by about 10 meters with 150 to go but had the final gear down the stretch to take the spot back. Charleston Catholic Freshman Cole Boggs took the 2nd spot in 9:50.89. Tucker's Lynk Suesli was in contention throughout and took 3rd in 9:56.65. St. Marys' Parker Barnes also got in under 10:00 in 4th. Lap 1 - Suesli, Navarro, Boggs, Dennis, Barton, Balis, Bills, Steptoe. Lap 2 - Navarro, Suesli, Dennis, Boggs, Barton, Bills, Barnes, Passmore. Lap 3 - Navarro, Boggs, Dennis, Suesli, Barton, Bills, Barnes, Passmore. Lap 4 - Navarro, Suesli, Boggs, Bills, Barnes, Barton, Dennis, Passmore. Lap 5 - Navarro, Suesli, Boggs, Barton, Bills, Barnes, Dennis, Passmore. Lap 6 - Suesli, Navarro, Boggs, Barnes, Dennis, Barton, Passmore, Bills. Lap 7 - Boggs, Suesli, Navarro, Barnes, Dennis, Bills, Passmore, Barton. Finish - Navarro, Boggs, Suesli, Barnes, Bills, Dennis, Passmore, Balis. Navarro closed in 1:06.58 for the win.
RunWV's Current Score: 43 of 48.

110 Meter High Hurdles
Greenbrier West's Colton Dunbar ran away with the win in 14.69. He also clocked 14.63 in the trials, which is the 2nd Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Wahama's Trace Simpkins had a very nice run for 2nd in 15.07. No one else was under 16 seconds. One of my predicted placers false started in the trials.
RunWV's Current Score: 50 of 56.

300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles
Wahama's Trace Simpkins and Ritchie's Kellen Cress had a very nice battle throughout with Simpkins getting a slight edge in the homestretch to win 40.22 to 40.34. Only Union's Braylon Ward went under 42 among the rest of the field with a 41.11.
RunWV's Current Score: 58 of 64.

4x100 Meter Relay
East Hardy and Wahama scored the top 2 Class A performances ever in a fun battle. East Hardy backloaded their team with the Hamilton twins going 3rd and 4th, and they moved to the front during that final leg. The East Hardy unit of Khristian Bauserman, Nehemiah Graham, Mason Hamilton, and Evan Hamilton sped to the win in 42.85. That is the Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance and a Class A State Meet Record. Wahama's group of Joshua Leport, Trace Simpkins, Cooper Roush, and Reezin Stitt scored 2nd in 43.32, which is the 2nd Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Wheeling Central was a strong 3rd in 44.44.
RunWV's Current Score: 66 of 72.

4x200 Meter Relay
The St. Marys foursome of Xxavier Cunningham, Eli Cox, Noah Russell, and Max Dauch held off Greenbrier West for the win, 1:34.00 to 1:34.29. Wheeling Central, Ritchie, and Wahama were under 1:36 in the next 3 spots.
RunWV's Current Score: 73 of 80.

4x400 Meter Relay
St. Marys had the lead, lost it, and took it back on the final leg to score the win in 3:32.87 for the unit of Noah Russell, Desmond Parks, Tristan Murner, and Max Dauch. Tucker made a heck of a run at it for 2nd in 3:33.33. Wirt scored 3rd in 3:34.72.
RunWV's Current Score: 79 of 88.

4x800 Meter Relay
Charleston Catholic took over on the 2nd leg and never looked back, taking the dominant win in 8:12.59. The unit of Teddy Passmore, Mateo Lao, Will Barton, and Peter Basdekis scored the 6th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. St. Marys easily held the 2nd spot in 8:33.02. Leg 1 - Ritchie, Charleston Catholic, Trinity Christian, Tucker, St. Marys, Tolsia, Magnolia, Wirt. Leg 2 - Charleston Catholic, St. Marys, Tucker, Ritchie, Wirt, Trinity Christian, Magnolia, Tolsia. Leg 3 - Charleston Catholic, St. Marys, Tucker, Trinity Christian, Tolsia, Ritchie, Wirt, Magolia. Finish - Charleston Catholic, St. Marys, Tucker, Ritchie, Trinity Christian, Tolsia, Magnolia, Wirt. Charleston Catholic got a 1:59.10 from Peter Basdekis.
RunWV's Current Score: 87 of 96.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay
The Wahama team of Cooper Roush, Preston Hemmelgarn, Reece Gerlach, and Trace Simpkins led throughout and took the win in 59.13, whic is the 9th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Greenbrier West just about slipped under 60 seconds with a 1:00.02. St. Marys was an easy 3rd in 1:01.97, and everyone else was at least 2 seconds behind that.
RunWV's Current Score: 94 of 104.

High Jump
They opened at 5'6, and only 8 cleared that height. Only one person went higher than 5'8, and that was Tucker's Lucas Barb who jumped cleanly through 6'0 to win by 4 inches.
RunWV's Current Score: 99 of 112.

Pole Vault
Wahama's Nate Harris vaulted cleanly through 12'0 for the win. Ritchie's Brayden Watson also cleared 12'0 on his first attempt, but had an earlier miss to take 2nd. No one else was higher than 11'0 with 3 other clearing that height.
RunWV's Current Score: 107 of 120.

Long Jump
Wahama's Reezin Stitt took the lead on his 5th attempt and then bettered his mark on his final attempt to win the event with a leap of 21'3.75. Richwood's Ian Crowder scored 2nd with a jump of 20'6.75, and Tucker's Lucas Barb also went over 20'0 with a jump of 20'1.75 to take 3rd. One of my predicted placers scratched the event.
RunWV's Current Score: 113 of 128.

Shot Put
Wahama's Charlie Long put all 6 throws in bounds, and all 6 would have won the event by at least 2'9". His top throw of 50'3 came on his 2nd attempt. Ritchie's Chase Morris was 2nd with a throw of 44'2, which was over a foot and a half ahead of everone else.
RunWV's Current Score: 120 of 136.

Discus
Wahama's Hunter Miller moved from 3rd to 1st on his 5th attempt, and that mark of 132'4 held up for the win in the final round. Ritchie's Chase Mooris with a 132'10 and Wahama's Charlie Long with a 126'10 were the only other ones over 118'0.
RunWV's Current Score: 125 of 144.

The final score of 125 of 144 means that 86.8% of the people picked to place did indeed place. That's 1 better than last year despite dropping the ball a lot in the field events. . I managed to get all 8 placers in the 800, 300 IH, 4x100, 4x800, and Pole Vault. Congratulations to those that proved me wrong.

Exceeding Predictions
The following athletes exceed the predictions by 3 or more places and deserve special mention.

Mason Hamilton, East Hardy -- 200 M (picked 6th, got 1st)
Landen Bartlett, Ritchie -- 200 M (not picked, got 5th)
Kaedon Sees, Wirt -- 400 M (picked 7th, got 4th)
Tucker -- 4x400 Meter Relay (picked 5th, got 2nd)
(Nate Ricttilli, Keelyn Eichelberger, Lucas Barb, Reid Kisamore)
Tolsia -- 4x400 Meter Relay (not picked, got 6th)
(Hayden Jude, Greyson Golden, Bradyn Weaver, Peyton Rice)
Nate Harris, Wahama -- High Jump (not picked, tied for 6th)
Ryan Bennett, Webster -- High Jump (not picked, tied for 6th)
Lucas Barb, Tucker -- Long Jump (picked 7th, got 3rd)
Angelo Loulis, East Hardy -- Long Jump (not picked, got 6th)
Hunter Cooley, Magnolia -- Shot Put (not picked, got 5th)
Gavin Doolittle, Pocahontas -- Discus (not picked, got 6th)

The following teams deserve kudos for scoring seven points or more higher than I predicted.

Class A Boys
Tucker             +12