100 Meter Dash
Woodrow Wilson's Gabriel Kidd took the lead about half way in and pulled away from the field to win in 10.70, which gives him a tie for the 9th Best All-Time Class AAA State Meet Performance. Capital's Amonte Lain scored 2nd in 10.83. Greenbrier East's Nathan Suttle closed well to move into 3rd in 10.86. Jefferson's Tony Allen was 4th in 10.94. Woodrow Wilson's Christian Stewart was also under 11 seconds with a 10.96 for 5th. George Washington's Alexander Petersen was 6th in 11.13 with Washington's Phillip Shields III in 7th in 11.19 and Woodrow Wilson's Daniel Walling 8th in 11.21.
RunWV's Current Score: 7 of 8.

200 Meter Dash
Jefferson's Tony Allen got out well and held his speed very well to put down the field in 21.51. He also went 21.49 in the trials, which is the 6th Best All-Time State Meet Performance and the 6th Best All-Time Class AAA State Meet Performance. Morgantown's Keion Arnold just slipped by Woodrow Wilson's Gabriel Kidd for 2nd with both joining Allen under 22 seconds with Arnold going 21.84 and Kidd 21.87. Greenbrier East's Nathan Suttle scored 4th in 22.47 with Woodrow Wilson's Daniel Walling nipping George Washington's Alexander Petersen for 5th, 22.54 to 22.55.
RunWV's Current Score: 13 of 16.

400 Meter Dash
Parkersburg's Landen Deuley had a narrow lead coming out of the final turn, and he stretched it out down the stretch to take the win in 49.10. Spring Mill's Douglas Mayer held the 2nd spot in 49.72. George Washington's Alexander Petersen ran a great race in Heat 1 to take 3rd in 49.83. University's Joshua Jorge moved into 4th late to finish in 50.38. John Marshall's Xavier Wells was 5th in 50.54. University's Nikolas McCray was 6th in 50.71, just ahead of Parkersburg's A.J. Payne's 50.75. Huntington's Sean Andrews made it all 8 placers under 51 with a 50.84 in Heat 1.
RunWV's Current Score: 19 of 24.

800 Meter Run
I think it was Jefferson's Agustin Hall that led an aggressive field out of the break. He held the lead through most of the backstretch, but Cabell Midland's Aidan Kneeland took over just before the 200 mark. Kneeland led through lap 1 in 55.98. Hall was in 2nd at 56.51. Morgantown's Joaquin Summers was in 3rd at 56.56. University's Tyler Umbright was in 4th at 56.64. Hurricane's Ty Steorts was in 5th at 57.00. Hedgesville's Reagan Hardin was in 6th at 57.12. George Washington's Gage Fox was in 7th at 57.29, and Hurricane's Mason Lewis was in 8th at 57.43. The top 10 were under 58. The top 14 were under 59, and the whol field was under 60. On the 2nd lap, Kneeland extended his lead through the turn. Umbright moved into 2nd coming with about 300 meters to go. Kneeland was never threatened and sped home to the win in 1:52.57, which is the 2nd Best All-Time State Meet Performances and the 2nd Best All-Time Class AAA State Meet Performance. Umbright outdueled Hall down the stretch for 2nd in 1:55.06. Hall was 3rd in 1:55.80. Summers held the 4th spot in 1:56.64. Lewis closed well to climb to 5th in 1:57.44. Winfield's Lincoln Haynes moved up late to finish 6th in 1:57.88. Parkersburg's Walker Jones also moved up in the 2nd half to finish 7th in 1:58.04. Woodrow Wilson's Vance Lindley used a big 2nd lap to move from 16th to 8th in 1:58.23. I believe he was still in 11th coming into the homestretch. He had the 2nd fastest lap of the field (behind Kneeland). The top 12 were all under 2:00.
RunWV's Current Score: 24 of 32.

1600 Meter Run
Hurricane's Ty Steorts led the field out of the break, trailed closely by Cabell Midland's Aidan Kneeland. Steorts would lead the field through lap 1 in 1:01.21. Kneeland remained close in 2nd at 1:01.52. University's Tyler Umbright was in 3rd at 1:02.05. Hurricane's Mason Lewis was in 4th at 1:02.71. Cabell Midland's Dylan Dial was in 5th at 1:02.99. University's Ethan Conroy was in 6th at 1:03.45. Fairmont Senior's Landon Jones was in 7th at 1:03.53, and Jefferson's Conner Myers was in 8th at 1:03.66. Through #13 was within a second of Myers. Lap 2 saw the front stay in tact with Steorts still in 1st at 2:04.58 and Kneeland in 2nd at 2:05.05. Umbright remained in 3rd but had lost contact with the front 2 at 2:07.45. Umbright had opened a little daylight on the rest with Lewis still in 4th at 2:08.51. Conroy had moved into 5th at 2:09.03 with Dial in 6th at 2:09.15. Myers was in 7th at 2:09.28, and Morgantown's Andrew Carlton had moved into 8th at 2:09.65. There was nearly a second gap back to #9. In the middle of lap 3, Steorts started to put a little distance on Kneeland, and he came through at 3:07.56 with Kneeland at 3:08.86. Umbright remained in 3rd at 3:12.42. Myers had made a move into 4th at 3:16.54. Conroy was in 5th at 3:16.66. Carlton was up to 6th at 3:16.90. Dial was in 7th at 3:17.35, and University's Micah Gainer had moved into 8th at 3:17.61. The last lap was all about the close. Kneeland went in pursuit of Steorts and caught up and briefly took the lead with just over 200 meters to go, but Steorts didn't let him get to the inside and then put on his finishing surge to pull back away, taking the win in 4:06.34, which is a new State Meet Record, the Best All-Time State Meet Performance and the Best All-Time Class AAA State Meet Performance. He took the final lap in 58.78. Kneeland took the 2nd spot in 4:09.68, which is the 6th Best All-Time State Meet Performance and the 6th Best All-Time Class AAA State Meet Performance. Umbright easily held the 3rd spot in 4:16.77 with Conroy moving up to 4th in 4:18.22 and Gainer using a big last lap to move up to 5th in 4:18.75 to give University a big 3-4-5 finish. Myers held the 6th spot in 4:19.19 with Carlton in 7th at 4:19.44. Dial held the 8th spot in 4:24.34. The top 10 were all under 4:27.
RunWV's Current Score: 31 of 40.

3200 Meter Run
Hurricane's Ty Steorts led the field out of the break, but he was passed before the 200 mark by University's Micah Gainer and Fairmont Senior's Landon Jones. Gainer led through the lap at 1:10.55. Jones was in 2nd at 1:10.68. Steorts was in 3rd at 1:10.89. Winfield's Trace Marshall was in 4th at 1:11.04. University's Tyler Umbright was in 5th at 1:11.14. I think it was Woodrow Wilson's Kyle Peters was right beside Umbright in 6th. Bridgeport's Troy Zorick was in 7th at 1:11.19, and University's Logan Conroy was in 8th at 1:11.26. The entire pack came through under 1:13. On lap 2, the pack stayed very bunched with less than 2 seconds between 1st and 15th. Steorts moved to the lead at 2:25.20 with Umbright in 2nd at 2:25.58. Gainer was in 3rd at 2:25.82 with Jones in 4th at 2:25.88. Dial was in 5th at 2:25.98. Conroy was in 6th at 2:26.00. Peters was in 7th at 2:26.19 with Parkersburg's Connor George was in 8th at 2:26.27. Right at the end of that lap, Steorts took off. He dropped things from a 1:14 in lap 2 to a 1:06 in lap 3. That started spreading out the field. Steorts was in front at 3:31.76, and Umbright was the only one to go with him, coming through at 3:32.02. Jones was in 3rd at 3:35.17 with Gainer in 4th at 3:35.34. George moved up to 5th at 3:35.47. Dial was in 6th at 3:35.60. Conroy was in 7th at 3:35.70, and Marshall was back up to 8th at 3:35.84. Through #12 was still in the main pack. Steorts keps the pressure on for lap 4, coming through at 4:38.72. Umbright was still there at 4:39.14. Jones remained in 3rd at 4:44.78. Gainer was in 5th at 4:45.13. Dial was back into 5th at 4:45.39 with George in 6th at 4:45.57. Conroy was in 7th at 4:45.64 with Zorick back in 8th at 4:45.79. 9 were still in that pack with 3 more just off the back of it. On lap 5, Steorts got separation from Umbright, coming through at 5:45.56 with Umbright in 2nd at 5:50.82. Jones was still in 3rd at 5:55.17, and Gainer was still in 4th at 5:55.37. Conroy was up to 6th at 5:55.83. George was in 7th at 5:56.27, and Jefferson's Conner Myers had moved into 8th at 5:56.52. Only one more was in reach, and it was one of the guys that was slightly off the back of the pack the prior lap. After 6 laps, Steorts was in complete control at 6:53.04. Umbright was in 2nd at 7:04.76. Gainer had moved into 3rd and was closing on Umbright at 7:07.04. Dial moved into 4th at 7:07.27 with Jones in 5th at 7:07.53. Conroy was in 6th at 7:07.71 with Myers in 7th at 7:07.89 and George in 8th at 7:07.96. 3rd to 9th was separated by 1.29 seconds. 10th was another 4 seconds back, so it looked like the placers would come from those 9. On lap 7, Steorts continued to stretch the lead, coming through at 8:01.39. Umbright remained in 2nd at 8:16.08. Dial was still in 3rd at 8:18.20 with Gainer in 4th at 8:18.33 and Jones in 5th at 8:18.62. Myers was up to 6th at 8:19.02 and George was in 7th at 8:19.13 and Spring Mills' Isaiah Griffin had moved into 8th at 8:19.67. 3rd to 9th was still separated by just 1.78 seconds. On the final lap, Steorts cruised it in and walked across the line in 9:11.81. Umbright maintained the 2nd spot in 9:19.19, closing in 63. He had to because Gainer close in 62 to move into 3rd in 9:21.07. Jones was solidly in 4th by the end in 9:22.80. George closed well and made a last second pass into 5th in 9:23.88. Myers was 6th in 9:24.24. Griffin came up to 7th in 9:24.91. Dial held 8th in 9:25.57. The final laps were very fast as Dial closed in 67.38 and went from 3rd to 8th.
RunWV's Current Score: 38 of 48.

110 Meter High Hurdles
University's Kaleil Lewis didn't lead until the final hurdle, but he pulled into the lead and across the line in 14.88 for the win. Morgantown's Seth Wisman led midway through the 9th hurdle and held 2nd in 14.91. Hurricane's Jai'Den Smith led at the 10th hurdle but landed a bit oddly and dropped to 3rd in 15.03, just ahead of Woodrow Wilson's Nelson Staples, who was 4th in 15.04. Huntington's Mason Little led early and was 5th in 15.07. Parkersburg South's Jordan Foster was 6th in 15.17. One of my predicted placers scratched from the event.
RunWV's Current Score: 43 of 56.

300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles
It was very close coming out of the turn with 4 guys coming to the 1st hurdle in the homestretch together. Coming over that hurdle, it looked like Hurricane's Jai'Den Smith had a very tiny edge over Huntington's Carter Geveke, University's Jaedyn Katchur, and University's Nathaniel Lindsay with the 4 very, very close. Lindsay stumbled badly over that hurdle. Smith and Geveke were still about even over the next hurdle with Smith in 3rd, and Lindsay recovering to still be in 4th. Smith got away from there and over the final hurdle to take the win in 39.01. Geveke remained a close 2nd in 39.08. Lindsay rebounded to take 3rd in 39.58 with Winfield's Myles Gurnee coming up to 4th in 39.72. Woodrow Wilson's Nelson Staples took 5th from Heat 1 in 39.81. Katchur ended up 6th in 39.99 with Parkersburg South's Jordan Foster in 7th in 40.07, and Wheeling Park's Jordan Beck-James scored 8th in 40.26 from Heat 1.
RunWV's Current Score: 49 of 64.

4x100 Meter Relay
It looked like Woodrow Wilson had the lead on leg one, but after 2 legs, Capital had moved to the front on a blistering backstretch from Amonte Lain. Woodrow moved back into the front on leg 3, and Capital missed their exchange. Woodrow Wilson sped away to the win in 42.43, which gives the unit of Daniel Walling, Myles Walters, Gabriel Kidd, and Christian Stewart the 3rd Best All-Time State Meet Performance and the 3rd Best All-Time Class AAA State Meet Performance. Washington pulled away for 2nd in 42.95. Wheeling Park held 3rd in 43.27 with Musselman in 4th in 43.57. Bridgeport just nipped Spring Mills at the line for 5th with Bridgeport at 43.67 and Spring Mills in 43.68. Cabell Midland went under 44 in Heat 1 for 7th in 43.73.
RunWV's Current Score: 56 of 72.

4x200 Meter Relay
It looked like through 2 legs that University had a slight lead on Spring Mills, but a hot leg in lane 1 from Gabriel Kidd moved Woodrow Wilson into the lead. They'd maintain that advantage, and the group of Daniel Walling, Myles Walters, Gabriel Kidd, and Christian Stewart took the win in 1:29.59. Washington got a great anchor leg from Phillip Shields III to move from 5th to 2nd in the final 100 meters, taking the line in 1:30.12. Cabell Midland was 3rd in 1:30.35 with Spring Mills in 4th in 1:30.42 and University in 5th in 1:30.56. Capital was 6th from Heat 1 in 1:31.15, and Parkersburg was also under 1:32 in 7th with a 1:31.78.
RunWV's Current Score: 63 of 80.

4x400 Meter Relay
Parkersburg had the early lead right at around 51 seconds. I had 50.9 on my hand time. I think Musselman was in 2nd, George Washington in 3rd, and Cabell Midland in 4th. Hard to tell with the stagger. At the break, it was Parkersburg, then George Washington, and Cabell Midland had just edged past Musselman. Cabell Midland got what appears to be a sub-50 leg from Aidan Kneeland to move into the lead through 2 legs at 1:41.93. Parkersburg was in 2nd at 1:42.35. Those two had generated a gap with Musselman in 3rd at 1:44.23. Huntington from Heat 1 was in 4th at 1:45.14. Bridgeport from Heat 1 was in 5th at 1:45.16. Princeton from Heat 1 was in 6th at 1:46.00. Spring Mills was in 7th at 1:46.05. George Washington was in 8th at 1:46.41. On the 3rd leg, Parkersburg regained the lead at 2:33.19. They made the pass, opened a gap, but Cabell Midland chased them down and retook the lead coming into the zone, but Parkersburg had a better handoff and made the line first. Midland was in 2nd at 2:33.27. Those two had gotten away from the field. Musselman was still in 3rd at 2:36.58. Huntington was still in 4th at 2:38.24 with Bridgeport in 5th at 2:38.28 and Princeton in 6th at 2:38.35 as those three had a tremendous battle in Heat 1. Spring Mills was in 7th at 2:38.72, and Winfield from Heat 1 was in 8th at 2:39.03. The 4 teams from Heat 1 were separated by just 0.79 seconds. On the final leg, Parkersburg generated a gap on the backstretch and then extended it down the homestretch with Landen Deuley going 49.34 to close it out and give the Parkersburg squad of A.J. Payne, Christian Rutherford, Jackson Wharton, and Landen Deuley the win and a new State Meet Record in 3:22.53. That record was over 50 years old! It also gives them the Best All-Time State Meet Performance and the Best All-Time Class AAA State Meet Performance. Cabell Midland held onto the 2nd spot in 3:25.89. Musselman got a 50.52 leg from Jaden Rhyne to close out 3rd place in 3:27.00. Spring Mills got a 49.99 leg from Douglas Mayer to move from 7th to 4th in 3:28.71. George Washington got a 49.13 anchor from Alexander Petersen to move from 10th all the way up to 5th in 3:28.82. Huntington won the battle in Heat 1 to take 6th in 3:29.41. Winfield was 7th in 3:29.79, getting a 50.77 anchor from Ari Clark. Bridgeport held the 8th spot in 3:30.73. 9th and 10th were also under 3:30.80.
RunWV's Current Score: 68 of 88.

4x800 Meter Relay
I thought coming in that there were 5 or 6 teams that could go under 8:00. Only two pulled it off. At the start, I think it was George Washington that was out very aggressively, going out in under 56 seconds to lead the first lap, but he was overtaken, and at the 1st exchange it was Parkersburg (Walker Jones) and University Ethan Conroy coming through in 1:57 to hold the top 2 spots. George Washington got a 1:58 from Crawford Goldman to be in 3rd. I think it was Hurricane in 4th at 1:59 (Mason Lewis) and Cabell Midland in 5th also at 1:59 (Dylan Dial). Morgantown was in 6th with maybe Woodrow Wilson in 7th. I think it was Bridgeport in 8th. After 2 legs, Parkersburg remained in the lead at 3:57. They had opened a bit of a gap on the field with George Washington in 2nd at 4:00. Hurricane was in 3rd at 4:01 with Cabell Midland in 4th also at 4:01. University was in 5th at 4:02. I'm not sure after that. On leg 3, Aidan Kneeland went to work for Cabell Midland. He went through the 1st lap in under 54 seconds, made the pass on Parkersburg before the 200 mark, and closed it out with a 1:53.0 leg to put Midland in the lead at 5:54. Parkersburg was in 2nd at 6:00. University was in 3rd at 6:02 with Hurricane matching that in 4th. I think George Washington was in 5th with Jefferson up to 6th and Morgantown in 7th. The final leg saw Cabell Midland hold their lead and take the win in 7:56.15. University got a 1:55.0 leg from Tyler Umbright to take the 2nd spot in 7:57.84. Parkersburg held 3rd in 8:00.83 with Hurricane in 4th in 8:03.37. Jefferson came up to 5th in 8:06.18 on an estimated 1:57 leg from Agustin Hall. Morgantown got a sub 2:00 leg from Joaquin Summers to move into 6th in 8:07.76. George Washington was 7th in 8:09.30 with Hedgesville taking 8th in 8:17.26.
RunWV's Current Score: 75 of 96.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay
Woodrow Wilson got out very well and led through 2 legs, though the nice lead they had halfway through leg 2 was gone by the time the exchange was made. Hurricane pushed to the front on leg 3, but then Woodrow Wilson caught them again before the end of the leg. A very cautious exchange by Hurricane left them behind, but Jai'Den Smith made up the ground by the half-way point of the leg and pushed on to the clear win in 56.91. Woodrow Wilson was 2nd in 57.60. University scored 3rd from Heat 3 in 57.76, and Musselman scored 4th from Heat 2 in 58.37. Cabell Midland was 5th in 58.77, and Parkersburg was 6th in 59.18. Wheeling Park went sub-60 in Heat 1 to take 7th in 59.94. One of my predicted placers got a DQ.
RunWV's Current Score: 81 of 104.

High Jump
Spring Mills' Loakkhae Uth-Smit sailed over 6'8 on his 1st attempt to move from 2nd to 1st, and no one else was able to clear the mark. That ties him for the 9 Best All-Time Class AAA State Meet Performance. Winfield's Aiden Hernandez cleared 6'6 on his 2nd attempt for 2nd place while Parkersburg South's Navier Hewitt cleared it on his 3rd attempt for 3rd. Hewitt missed twice at 6'2, 6'4, and 6'6. Spring Mills' Dustin Bradsher cleared 6'4 for 4th. Huntington's Peyton Scheidler and Wheeling Park's J.T. Pockl each cleared 6'2 to take 5th and 6th, respectively.
RunWV's Current Score: 88 of 112.

Pole Vault
Bridgeport's Noah Kintz went over 14'0 on his 3rd attempt to snag the win. Morgantown's Joel Moreland also cleared 14'0 on his 3rd attempt for 2nd. Moreland had the lead via clearing 13'6 on his first attempt. He missed out on a tie for the win due to a miss on his 1st attempt at 10'6. Parkersburg's Alex Greer cleared 13'0 on his 3rd attempt to move from 5th to 3rd. Huntington's James Cook cleared 12'6 on his 1st attempt for 4th. Teammate Parker Riley
RunWV's Current Score: 96 of 120.

Long Jump
Washington's Isaah Beard had already won the event, but he went 22'7.75 on his final jump to put him over a foot ahead of the field. Spring Mills' Loakkhae Uth-Smith went 21'6.25 to take 2nd by nearly a foot. Hurricane's Jai'Den Smith went 20'7.25 for 3rd. Brooke's Chase Hile went 20'6.75 on his 1st jump, adn that held up for 4th. Woodrow Wilson's Kezami Smith was the only other jumper to top 20' with a 20'2 jump on his final attempt to move him from 9th to 5th. One of my predicted placers scratched the event, and another fouled on all 3 of his attempts.
RunWV's Current Score: 102 of 128.

Shot Put
Hurricane's Ethan Chill threw 55'7 on his opening throw, and that ended up over 3' ahead of everyone else, but he wasn't done. That was his shortest throw of the competition. His best came on his final attempt, and it went 58'1.75 to give him the 7th Best All-Time Class AAA State Meet Performance. University's Brock Kehler threw 52'3.50 for 2nd, and Cabell Midland's Matthew Edwards threw 51'3.50 for 3rd. Everyone else was nearly 4' behind them. Only Huntington's Max Bohren with a throw of 47'5 was over 47' among the remainder of the field.
RunWV's Current Score: 109 of 136.

Discus
Bridgeport's Carter Zuliani sent his 1st throw 162'10 to put pressure on the field, and no one could respond. He topped that later with a throw of 164'9 to win the event by over 12'. Morgantown's Luke Plevich scored 2nd with a throw of 152'2, just ahead of teammate Seth Wisman who threw 152'0 for 3rd. Hurricane's Ethan Chill threw 150'7 to scored 4th. Brooke's Marcus Reed took the 5th spot with a 147'3. University's Brock Kehler was 6th with a 146'5 throw. Everyone else was at least 4' behind that.
RunWV's Current Score: 116 of 144.

The final score of 116 of 144 means that 80.6% of the people picked to place did indeed place. That is 3 better than last year. I only had 1 event in which I got all 8 placers, and that was the Pole Vault. Congratulations to those that proved me wrong.

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

Nathan Suttle, Greenbrier East -- 100 M (picked 8th, got 3rd)
Keion Arnold, Morgantown -- 200 M (picked 7th, got 2nd)
Nathan Suttle, Greenbrier East -- 200 M (not picked, got 4th)
Nikolas McCray, University -- 400 M (not picked, got 6th)
Mason Lewis, Hurricane -- 800 M (not picked, got 5th)
Connor George, Parkersburg -- 3200 M (picked 8th, got 5th)
Kaleil Lewis, University -- 110 HH (picked 5th, got 1st)
Mason Little, Huntington -- 300 IH (not picked, got 5th)
Nathaniel Lindsay, University -- 300 IH (picked 6th, got 3rd)
Nelson Staples, Woodrow Wilson -- 300 IH (not picked, got 5th)
Wheeling Park -- 4x100 Meter Relay (picked 6th, got 3rd)
(Trent Simons, Jordan Beck-James, Michael Neider, Teon Custalow)
Washington -- 4x200 Meter relay (picked 5th, got 2nd)
(Chris Durand, Terry Rea III, Isaah Beard, Phillip Shields III)
Capital -- 4x200 Meter Relay (not picked, got 6th)
(Alexander Asafa-Rhodes, Amonte Lain, Ramel Walls, David Robinson)
Cabell Midland -- 4x400 Meter Relay (picked 5th, got 2nd)
(Philip Parlock, Aidan Kneeland, Charlie Morrison, Ethan France)
Huntington -- 4x400 Meter Relay (not picked, got 6th)
(Bodhi Warner, Sean Andrews, Brock Brown, Matthew Morrow)
Cabell Midland -- 4x800 Meter Relay (picked 6th, got 1st)
(Dylan Dial, Jacob Barthlow, Aidan Kneeland, Colson Elswick)
Musselman -- Shuttle Hurdle Relay (picked 8th, got 4th)
(Christian Zilleruelo, Adrian Martinez, Demari Pearson, Leighton Barr)
Noah Kintz, Bridgeport -- Pole Vault (picked 4th, got 1st)
Joel Moreland, Morgantown -- Pole Vault (not picked, got 2nd)
Jai'Den Smith, Hurricane -- Long Jump (picked 7th, got 3rd)
Kezamai Mathis, Woodrow Wilson -- Long Jump (not picked, got 5th)
Ilias King, Huntington -- Shot Put (not picked, got 5th)
Seth Wisman, Morgantown -- Discus (picked 7th, got 3rd)

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

Class AAA Boys
Greenbrier East      +10
Bridgeport           + 9
Parkersburg          + 9
Washington           + 9
Cabell Midland       + 8
Morgantown           + 7