The opening event of the day featured what was expected to be the best team race of the day. We said any of three teams could win it. Individually, it was expected to be Justin and Josh Simpson running away from the field. After a clean start, our first checkpoint was at the mile mark. The race looked to be going nearly as expected. The Simpsons were already in front by five or six seconds. Scott Gemberling was already in a comfortable third. The top 10 at that point included Chris Snell, Woody Snoberger, Adam Raper, Jayson Lafferre, Seth Hauser, Ryan Jobes, and John Riffle. Team-wise, Oak Glen looked to be doing very well. Ravenswood was doing decently, and Scott seemed to be much further back than they should have been. We stopped writing anything down after the first 18 (it was too tightly packed), and no Scott runner was in the front 18. However, Scott tends to run a more even race and proceed up through the pack as the meet goes on (at least at the meets we saw them).

Our next checkpoint was at the two mile mark. The Simpsons held a commanding lead, which had grown to around 18 seconds. Scott Gemberling held solid control of third, nearly 20 seconds ahead of the next runner. Chris Snell still held the fourth position. Woody Snoberger continued to hold the fifth spot. Jayson Lafferre had moved into sixth. Seth Hauser was up to seventh. Adam Raper was in eighth. John Riffle was in ninth, and Ryan Jobes was in tenth. Teamwise, Oak Glen and Ravenswood appeared to be in a close battle. Scott was still lingering back in the pack, with their first runner only in 21st. Their fifth, however, was in 27th. They would need a team-wide surge to get in the fight for the title.

At the finish, not a great deal had changed. An exciting kick to the finish saw Justin Simpson barely hold off Josh Simpson by less than half a step. Their time of 15:21 was only 4 seconds off the course record. Scott Gemberling finished in an outstanding 15:48 for third. Chris Snell hled a solid fourth. Woody Snoberger held off a charging Jayson Lafferre for fifth. Seth Hauser held off a late charge by Adam Raper for seventh. Jamie Blair used the last mile to climb into an All-State spot with his 9th place finish. Adam Benford claimed the last All-State spot by moving from 12th to 10th in the last mile. The first nine runners were under 17:00, and the first 40 were under 18:00. On the team-end, the final mile surge by Adam Benford and his brother Andrew (who climbed from 15th to 11th in the final mile) was enough to take a narrow two-point victory over Oak Glen and allow them to take home their third consecutive state title. Scott got their last mile team surge, but it was too little too late. Their front five moved up a combined 21 places in the last mile, but they fell short of Ravenswood and Oak Glen.

The win gave Ravenswood a third straight title, and with only one of their front seven graduating, they will be among the favorites next year, as will Scott, who also loses only one runner.

RunWV's MVP for the meet, was a tough call this year. Tommy Riggs of Ritchie County is a close runner-up. His climb from a predicted 39th to an actual 21st carried Ritchie from sixth place nearly into fourth. However, when the team race at the top of the standings is this close, something happens somewhere to makes the big difference. In this case, it was Ravenswood's AK Ibrahim. His moved up the charts was not as dramatic as that of Riggs, but the result was the same. His climb from a predicted 42nd into a finish of 32nd gained five team points which was just enough to get Ravenswood past Oak Glen for the title. Many congratulations go out to Justin Simpson (two time state champion), Ravenswood (now a three time defending champion), and AK Ibrahim.

This was probably our best set of picks of the day. Teamwise, our third got first and our first got third, but the top three were as expected. We knew any of the three could win it. Grafton took it's expected fourth. Ritchie and Williamstown treded places, as did Frankfort and Braxton. The last four teams finished as expected. Individually, the top 7 finished exactly as predicted. 9 of our top 10 finished in the top 10. 14 of our top 15 were in the top 15 (the one who fell out was 19th). 22 of our top 25 finished in the top 25 (our 23rd, 24th, and 25th were the ones who missed). So, we congratulate the one runner who claimed an unpredicted All-State position, Charleston Catholic's Jamie Blair. We also congratulate those three individuals who climbed into the top 25. They were Clifton Umstead (predicted 28th)and Tommy Riggs (predicted 39th)of Ritchie, and Roane's Jeremy Hinkle (predicted 27th). The big mover of the day was Tommy Riggs. His 18 position rise from 39th to 21st was the largest of the A-AA Boys.