100 Meter Dash
Wahama's Connor Lambert exploded out of the blocks and fended off a late push from Doddridge's Tommy Walters-Hickman as both bettered the prior State Meet Record. Lambert recorded a 10.61, which is a Class A State Meet Record and the 5th Best All-Time State Meet Performance and the Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Walters-Hickman recorded a 10.65, which is ties for the 8th Best All-Time State Meet Performance and is the 2nd Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. This very fast race saw East Hardy's Evan Hamilton also go under 11 seconds with a 10.88 for 3rd. His 10.87 trials time is the 6th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Wahama's Reezin Stitt went 11.25 for 4th and teammate Treyvon Bearhs went 11.34 for 5th, giving Wahama 3 of the top 5 places.
RunWV's Current Score: 7 of 8.

200 Meter Dash
In a replay of the 100, Wahama's Connor Lambert was able to get a lead on Doddridge's Tommy Walters-Hickman and held it through the line. Lambert's 21.84 is the 2nd Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance, and Walters-Hickman's 21.94 is the 3rd Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Wahama's Reezin Stitt just got past Doddridge's Aiden James for 3rd with Stitt going 22.91 and James going 22.93. Doddridge's Jerod Trent was right in the mix at 23.00 for 5th, giving Doddrdige 3 of the top 5 spots. One of my predicted placers was injured during the trials.
RunWV's Current Score: 13 of 16.

400 Meter Dash
Trinity Christian's Chase Livengood got out well and led a very close trio out of the final turn. He was able to extend his slight advantage and then hold off one last push to take the win in 50.34. Ritchie's Dylan Malolepszy was a close 2nd in 50.52. Doddridge's Jerod Trent was a close 3rd in 50.78. Tucker's Nate Ricottilli just got by Pendleton's Gabriel Harvey for 4th, 51.92 to 51.95.
RunWV's Current Score: 20 of 24.

800 Meter Run
Ritchie's Dylan Malolepszy led an aggressive field out of the break, but heading into the turn, Tyler Consolidated's Amos Kimble moved to the lead. Malolepszy would retake the lead about 30 meters before the line and led at the half-way point at a very quick 56.08. Kimble was in 2nd at 56.39. Paw Paw's Donovan Tanouye moved into 3rd at about 300 meters and went through in 57.04. Doddridge's Carter Sias was in 4th at 58.10. Charleston Catholic's Mateo Lao was in 5th at 58.35. Wyoming East's Tommy Wikel was in 6th at 58.79 with Charleston Catholic's Peter Basdekis in 7th at 59.23. Magnolia's Landen Davis was in the 8th spot at 59.73. Malolepszy started to pull away from Kimble in the turn and pulled out to a lead of nearly 10 meters. Tanouye made the pass on Kimble just after the turn, as those three had gotten away from the field at this point. On the backstretch, Tanouye cut the gap to Malolepszy to about 3 meters heading into the final 200. They were getting away from Kimble, but the rest of the field was not threatening. Tanouye pulled up on Malolepszy's shoulder as they exited the turn, and the race to the finish was on. Tanouye edged into the lead with about 35 meters to go and carried the push to the finish line, taking the win in a stellar 1:55.53, which set a new Class A State Meet Record and also stands as the Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Malolepszy recorded a 1:56.20, good for the 3rd Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Kimble easily held the 3rd spot in 2:00.19. Davis closed well to move up to 4th in 2:03.14, just ahead of Wikel in 5th in 2:03.38 and Basdekis in 6th in 2:03.59. Lao held the 7th spot in 2:04.06. Sias held on for 8th in 2:05.72.
RunWV's Current Score: 26 of 32.

1600 Meter Run
The field went out very aggressively with Doddridge's Carter Sias leading the field out of the break. He'd maintain that lead through the first lap, taking the field through in 1:07.72. Magnolia's Landen Davis trailed right behind at 1:03.11 in 2nd. Tyler Consolidated's Amos Kimble was in 3rd at 1:03.49 with Paw Paw's Donovan Tanouye was in 4th at 1:03.57. Summers' Dakota Pettry was in 5th at 1:03.79 with Trinity Christian's Mile Steptoe in 6th at 1:03.80. Tyler Consolidate'd Travis Moore was in 7th at 1:04.03, and Charleston Catholic's Peter Basdekis was in 8th at 1:04.10. The entire field was through in under 1:06.50. On lap 2, the pace slowed, and the field shuffled. Kimble moved into the lead at 2:10.70. Sias was in 2nd at 2:11.26. Tanouye had moved into 3rd at 2:11.43 with Basdekis moving all the way up to 4th at 2:11.65. Davis was in 5th at 2:11.99. Pettry was in 6th at 2:12.03. Moore remained in 7th at 2:12.74. Those 7 had opened a gap on the pack. St. Marys' Parker Barnes had moved into 8th at 2:15.68. On lap 3, Kimble ramped up the pace, speeding up by almost 2.5 seconds to open a gap on the field, coming through at 3:15.58. Tanouye moved into 2nd at 3:19.63. Basdekis was up to 3rd at 3:20.01. Sias was in 4th at 3:20.53 with Davis in 5th at 3:21.10. Moore was up to 6th at 3:23.78 with Pettry in 7th at 3:24.27. Ravenswood's Gavin Wilburn moved up to 8th at 3:32.03. On the final lap, Kimble continued to extend his lead, and crossed the line for the win in 4:19.87, which is the 3rd Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Tanouye held off Basdekis for the 2nd spot in 4:25.56, which is the 10th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Basdekis was 3rd in 4:26.87. Davis came up to 4th in 4:27.63. Sias held on for 5th in 4:31.99. Moore held 6th in 4:34.56. Pettry was never threatened for 7th in 4:37.56. Wilburn maintained the 8th spot in 4:42.79.
RunWV's Current Score: 33 of 40.

3200 Meter Run
Tyler Consolidated's Amos Kimble took the lead early and led the field through the first lap at 1:07.45. Magnolia's Landen Davis was in 2nd at 1:07.81. Summers' Dakota Pettry was in 3rd at 1:08.07 with Tyler Consolidated's Travis Moore in 4th at 1:08.25. St. Marys' Parker Barnes was in 5th at 1:08.56, and Wood County Christian's Koa Navarro was in 6th at 1:08.68. Trinity Christian's Miles Steptoe was in 7th at 1:08.91, and Magnolia's Riley Dennis was in 8th at 1:09.40. The front pack remained pretty tight through lap 2 with Kimble still in the lead at 2:18.90. Davis remained in 2nd at 2:19.41 with Pettry in 3rd at 2:19.70 and Moore in 4th at 2:19.97. Steptoe was in 5th at 2:20.85 with Barnes in 6th at 2:21.07. Navarro was in 7th at 2:22.45 with Charleston Catholic's Peter Basdekis had moved into 8th at 2:23.56. On lap 3, the front 4 further separated themselves from the field with Kimble still in the lead at 3:31.51, Davis in 2nd at 3:31.96, Pettry in 3rd at 3:32.31, and Moore in 4th at 3:32.56. Barnes was back up to 5th at 3:35.84. Basdekis had moved up to 6th at 3:35.92. Steptoe was in 7th at 3:36.06. Navarro had lost contact with that group, but was still in 8th at 3:40.49. On lap 4, Kimble injected just a little pace, and it created some separation for him, coming through the mid-point at 4:42.28. Pettry moved into 2nd at 4:44.36 with Davis in 3rd at 4:44.91 and Moore in 4th at 4:45.29. Basdekis was now up to 5th at 4:50.77 with Steptoe in 6th at 4:51.55. Barnes was in 7th but had fallen off those two at 4:53.63. Ravenswood's Gavin Wilburn had moved into the 8th spot at 4:59.63. On lap 5, Kimble further distanced himself, crossing at 5:56.33. Pettry had opened a gap on 3rd and 4th at 5:59.93. Davis was in 3rd at 6:03.38 with Moore in 4th at 6:03.53. Basdekis remained in 5th at 6:06.89, and he had opened a gap back to Steptoe, who was in 6th at 6:12.40. Barnes had closed back in on Steptoe in 8th at 6:13.22. On lap 6, Kimble took full control of the race, stretching the lead to over 6 seconds. Kimble led at 7:10.00 with Pettry in 2nd at 7:16.11. Moore made the pass into 3rd at 7:20.77. Davis had lost contact with Moore but still held the 4th spot at 7:24.20. Basdekis was in 5th at 7:26.47 and had gained on Davis. Steptoe was in 6th at 7:33.38 with Barnes now right on his heels at 7:33.45. Wilburn remained in 8th at 7:40.32. Lap 7 saw Kimble greatly extend his lead as he came through at 8:22.05. Pettry was still in 2nd at 8:34.34. Moore was in 3rd at 8:36.98 and was closing on Pettry. Davis was in 4th at 8:45.42. Basdekis was remained in 5th at 8:49.37 but had lost a little ground. Steptoe was in 6th at 8:53.65 and was closing. Barnes was still in 7th at 8:55.06, and Tucker's Lynk Suesli had made the pass into 8th at 8:59.89. The final lap saw Kimble take the virtual tape at 9:32.48, wich is the 7th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Moore had the fastest final lap in the field and used it to move into 2nd in 9:46.34. Pettry held the 3rd spot in 9:50.77. Davis kept the 4th position in 10:01.20. Steptoe used a very good close to move into the 5th spot in 10:07.44. Basdekis held the 6th spot in 10:09.35. Barnes made a late run at him but came up just short to finish 7th in 10:10.21. He had to make that run to preserve his spot because Suesli closed very well to maintain 8th in 10:11.79.
RunWV's Current Score: 40 of 48.

110 Meter High Hurdles
Greenbrier West's Isaac Agee was first to the first hurdle and led throughout. It wasn't a completely clean run, but he still recorded a 15.47, which was a new Class A State Meet Record and is the Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Trinity Christian's Simon Travis ran strong for 2nd in 15.31. Greenbrier West's Brandon Poticher was 3rd in 15.72. Wahama's Trace Simpkins squeezed in on the inside for 4th in 15.99. Pendleton's Sawyer Apple just slipped into the 5th spot in 16.09, getting by Greenbrier West's Colton Dunbar, who was in a clear 2nd place before stumbling over the final hurdle, finishing in 16.10. Doddridge's Brycen Eidel just missed those two with a 16.14 for 7th.
RunWV's Current Score: 47 of 56.

300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles
Some strong times were ran in Heat 1 with 3 guys going under 42 seconds to put some pressure on the Heat 2 group. They responded. The top 3 ended up separated by just 0.03. Wahama's Trace Simpkins pulled off the win from Lane 1 in 40.93. Doddridge's Brycen Eidel led most of the race before stumbling over the next-to-last hurdle. He recovered but lost enough momentum for Simpkins to get by, but he just held onto 2nd in 40.95. Pendleton's Sawyer Apple was 3rd in 40.96, almost getting by Eidel. Trinity Christian's Simon Travis scored 4th from Heat 1 in 41.62. Greenbrier West's Isaac Agee was 5th in 41.67, just nipping Union's Braylon Ward who went 41.68 in Heat 1. Wahama's Cooper Roush also placed from Heat 1 with a 41.88. It wasn't a clean event with several falls and stumbles, and my predicted winner had to scratch the event after an injury.
RunWV's Current Score: 52 of 64.

4x100 Meter Relay
The Doddridge group of Aiden James, Jerod Trent, Talyn Snyder, and Tommy Walters-Hickman won the highly anticipated showdown with Wahama, and they did so in 43.46, a new Class A State Meet Record and is the new Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. The Wahama foursome of Reezin Stitt, Trace Simpkins, Cooper Roush, and Connor Lambert also broke the old record, and their 43.61 is the 2nd Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Wahama appeared to have a slight edge after one leg, but Doddridge got an excellent 2nd leg and moved to the front, and on the final leg, Walters-Hickman was able to hold off Lambert. East Hardy was a strong 3rd in 44.73 with St. Marys in 4th in 45.26. Moorefield and Greenbrier West also came in under 46 seconds at 45.89 and 45.95, respectively.
RunWV's Current Score: 58 of 72.

4x200 Meter Relay
The Doddridge team of Aiden James, Tommy Walters-Hickman, Brycen Eidel, and Jerod Trent took over early and demolished the field by over 2.5 seconds, taking the win in 1:30.64, giving them the 2nd Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Wahama got a strong anchlor leg from Connor Lambert to move from 4th or so to 2nd in 1:33.22, while East Hardy got a strong anchor from Evan Hamilton to snag 3rd in 1:33.63, getting by St. Marys late with St. Marys 4th in 1:33.75. Moorefield was a solid 5th in 1:34.38. Tucker was also under 1:36 with a 1:35.39 for 6th.
RunWV's Current Score: 66 of 80.

4x400 Meter Relay
It looked like Tucker had the lead the first exchange at 53 seconds with Doddridge in 2nd and Trinity Christian in 3rd at 54. St. Marys was also at 54 and may have been between the two. Wirt was also at 53 from Heat 1. Tucker led out of the break with Doddridge 2nd and St. Marys 3rd right at their side. Trinity Christian was in 4th. St. Marys moved to the front coming out of the turn and led through the 2nd exchange at 1:46.79. Tucker was in 2nd at 1:48.43 with Doddridge in 3rd at 1:48.87. Wirt, from Heat 1, was in 4th at 1:49.20. Trinity Christian was in 5th at 1L49.60. Magnolia was in 6th at 1:51.95 with Ritchie in 7th at 1:52.36 and Charleston Catholic in 8th at 1:52.76. St. Marys staked a solid lead on leg through, coming through in 2:40.76. Tucker was in 2nd at 2:42.80. Doddridge was in 3rd at 2:43.73. Trinity Christian was back up to a very close 4th in 2:43.91. Magnolia was up to 5th at 2:48.29. Ritchie was in 6th at 2:48.53. Pendleton from Heat 1 had moved into 7th at 2:49.18. Charleston Catholic was in 8th at 2:49.67. St. Marys was not threatened on the final leg, though they were running a little scared. The finished at 3:32.98 to give the unit of Logan Eddy, Reece Westfall, Noah Russell, and Ryan Kent the win. Trinity Christian got a 50.33 anchor leg from Chase Livengod to move up to 2nd. tucker held the 3rd spot in 3:35.24 with Doddridge 4th in 3:36.71. Ritchie moved up to 5th in 3:40.73 with Magnolia a very close in 6th in 3:40.80. Charleston Catholic moved up to 7th in 3:42.93 with Wirt taking the 8th spot from Heat 1 in 3:45.08.
RunWV's Current Score: 73 of 88.

4x800 Meter Relay
St. Marys led the field through the first leg on a 2:02 leg from Reece Westfall. Doddridge was in 2nd at 2:03. Magnolia was in 3rd at 2:04. I think Ritchie was in 4th with Charleston Catholic in 5th and Tyler Consolidated in 6th. Magnolia quickly bolted to the front on the 2nd leg and led it throughout, coming through at 4:08. Doddridge was a close 2nd right at 4:09. Charleston Catholic had moved into 3rd at 4:12 with St. Marys in 4th at 4:14. I think Ritchie was still in 5th at 4:21. I think Tyler Consolidated was in 6th with Tucker in 7th and Trinity Christian in 8th. On leg 3, Doddridge made the early pass into the lead, but Magnolia and Charleston Catholic overtook them down the stretch. Charleston Catholic pulled into the lead on the exchange at 6:15 with Magnolia matching that time and Doddridge right behind at 6:16. St. Marys was in 4th at 6:25. Ritchie was in 5th at 6:37 with Tyler Consolidated in 6th at 6:38, Tucker in 7th at 6:39, and Trinity Christian in 8th also at 6:39. On the final leg, Doddridge again moved to the front on the backstretch, but Charleston Catholic moved back to the front before the end of the 1st lap. Magnolia stayed about 2 meters back. Doddridge made a push for the lead with about 230 to go, but Charleston Catholic fended them off. Charleston Catholic led through the turn, but Doddridge was right with them, and Magnolia had closed up. With 100 Meters to go, Charleston Catholic started to get away from Doddridge, but Magnolia made the pass with about 40 meters to go and held it to the line to give the unit of Hunter Oates, Parker Werkau, Riley Dennis, and Landen Davis the win in 8:16.46. Davis put together a 2:01 leg to get Magnolia the win. Charleston Catholic took the 2nd spot in 8:17.19 with Doddridge in 3rd at 8:19.81. Those three got far away from the field with St. Marys taking 4th in 8:40.19. Tyler Consolidated moved up to 5th in 8:46.63. Trinity Christian was 6th in 8:49.90. Tucker got by Ritchie late to take 7th, 8:52.94 to Ritchie's 8:53.33.
RunWV's Current Score: 81 of 96.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay
The Greenbrier West group of Brandon Poticher, Colton Dunbar, Randy Keener, and Isaac Agee took the lead right off the bat and were never threatend as the blasted a 58.43 to set a new Class A State Meet Record and also record the 4th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Wahama ran a very strong 2nd in 1:00.08, and Doddridge was a strong 3rd in 1:01.45. No one else was under 1:04. St. Marys at 1:04.14, Ritchie at 1:04.81, and Cameron at 1:04.95 were also under 1:05 in taking 4th through 6th, respectively.
RunWV's Current Score: 88 of 104.

High Jump
Ritchie's Dylan Malolepszy was the only jumper to clear 6'6, doing so on his first attempt to secure the win. That also ties him for the 3rd Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Trinity Christian's Chase Livengood head cleared 6'4 on his first attempt to make it interesting and was the only other jumper to clear that mark in taking 2nd. Magnolia's Dubale Greathouse missed twice at 6'0 and again at 6'2 but cleared both marks on his 3rd attempt to take 3rd. Only Tucker's Lucas Barb went any higher than 5'8 among the rest of the field with a 3rd attempt 5'10 clearance to take 4th.
RunWV's Current Score: 95 of 112.

Pole Vault
This was a big event for Doddridge as they took a 1-2-3 finish with Tristan Swiger vaulting cleanly through 13'0 for the win. Trey McDonough was clean through 12'6 for 2nd, and Nathanael Lloyd was clean through 12'0 for 3rd. Ritchie's Brayden Watson cleared 11'6 on his 2nd attempt to move into 4th. Wahama's Nate Harris cleared 11'0 for 5th. No one else went higher than 10'0.
RunWV's Current Score: 102 of 120.

Long Jump
Trinity Christian's Chase Livengood sailed 21'5.75 on his very first attempt to put pressure on the field, and no one was able to come close. Livengood saved his best for last, though, as he went 21'9.50 on his final jump, which was good enough to be the 6th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. It was also his 3rd straight State Championship in the event. Wahama's Reezin Stitt jumped 20'5.75 on his 5th jump to move from 5th to 2nd. Valley Wetzel's Gavin Derby jumped 20'3.50 for 3rd. Magnolia's J.D. Mensore had a best of 20'2.50 for 4th. Teammate Dubale Greathouse just missed the 20' mark with an opening jump of 19'11.50, which held up for 5th. Only two other jumpers surpassed 19'0.
RunWV's Current Score: 109 of 128.

Shot Put
Magnolia's Darin Shimp threw 45'7.75, and no one was able to come within a foot of it for the rest of the competition. Shimp had 4 legal throws, and 3 of them would have won the event. Ritchie's Chase Morris was the only other thrower to top 44' with a throw of 44'3.25 for 2nd. Doddridge's Braden Murphy opened with a 43'9, which held up for 3rd. The next three were separated by less than 3" with Magnolia and a pair of Doddridge athletes taking the spots, giving 5 of the top 6 spots to those two teams.
RunWV's Current Score: 117 of 136.

Discus
Magnolia's Matthew Anderson opened with a 152'5 and followed it with a 2nd attempt of 161'9, and no one came within 18' of that. He had 5 legal throws, and each one would have won the event by at least 6'. That 161'9 is the 5th Best All-Time Class A State Meet Performance. Greenbrier West's Randy Keener opened finals by throwing 143'1, his best throw of the event by over 10', to move from 8th to 2nd. Doddridge's Braden Murphy threw 142'8 for 3rd. Magnolia's Darin Shimp also topped 140' with an opening toss of 141'4, which held up for 4th. Doddridge's Aaron Glaspell threw 139'0 on his 2nd attempt for 5th, just ahead of Ritchie's Chase Morris, who threw 138'8 on his 1st attempt. Doddridge's Jacob Britton threw 136'7 on his opening throw of the finals to take 7th.
RunWV's Current Score: 124 of 144.

The final score of 124 of 144 means that 86.1% of the people picked to place did indeed place. That's 10 better than last year. I managed to get all 8 placers in the 4x200, 4x800, Pole Vault, and Shot Put. Congratulations to those that proved me wrong.

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

Reezin Stitt, Wahama -- 200 M (picked 6th, got 3rd)
Tommy Wikel, Wyoming East -- 800 M (not picked, got 5th)
Peter Basdekis, Charleston Catholic -- 1600 M (picked 6th, got 3rd)
Trace Simpkins, Wahama -- 110 HH (picked 8th, got 4th)
Trace Simpkins, Wahama -- 300 IH (picked 8th, got 1st)
Brycen Eidel, Doddridge -- 300 IH (picked 7th, got 2nd)
Simon Travis, Trinity Christian -- 300 IH (not picked, got 4th)
Braylon Ward, Union -- 300 IH (not picked, got 6th)
Tucker -- 4x400 Meter Relay (picked 6th, got 3rd)
(Nate Ricottilli, Keelyn Eichelberger, Lucas Barb, Reid Kisamore)
Lucas Barb, Tucker -- High Jump (not picked, got 4th)
Colton Dunbar, Greenbrier West -- High Jump (picked 8th, tied for 5th)
Randy Keener, Greenbrier West -- Discus (picked 7th, got 2nd)

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

Class A Boys
Wahama             +26
Trinity Christian  +15
Tucker             +13
Paw Paw            + 7