The AAA Girls race closed the day. Morgantown's girls had been strong throughout the season. Preston harbored hopes of knocking off the Mohigans. Individually, a battle was expected between North Marion's Keri Bland and Morgantown's Claire Berryman. In the end, Morgantown did not falter at all, placing 5 girls in the top 11 to claim a 14 point win over Preston.

We darted off to the mile marker for our first look at the race. The pack at this point was still very tight. North Marion's Keri Bland was leading the group as she passed in 5:55. Morgantown's Claire Berryman and the Preston pair of Amber Riley and Kaylyn Christopher crossed in 5:56. Elkins' Heather Saffel, Huntington's Molly Stevens, and Morgantown's Maria Dalzot crossed in 5:58. Morgantown's Ahna Lewis came through in 5:59 and Jefferson's Brooke Boening hit the line at 6:00. Numerous other came though in the next 5 seconds or so as the main pack stayed close to the leaders.

At the two-mile mark, Keri Bland had started to open a small gap, crossing the mark 3 seconds ahead of Claire Berryman in 12:11 to Berryman's 12:14. Amber Riley had taken control of 3rd, crossing in 12:20. Kaylyn Christopher and Heather Saffel were battling for 4th, both crossing in 12:26. Brooke Boening had moved into 6th place at 12:34, followed by Maria Dalzot at 12:38. Molly Stevens and Ahna Lewis were battling for 8th, crossing in 12:47, and Morgantown's Aubrey Moskal was in 10th at 12:50. Three other girls were within 6 seconds and definitely in the hunt for All-State.

Keri Bland dramatically widened her lead over the last mile, pulling away to win by 27 seconds. Bland's time was 19:10. Claire Berryman held on for 2nd in 19:37, just 5 seconds ahead of a charging Heather Saffel. Amber Riley was the only other girl to go under 20:00. Kaylyn Christopher easily held onto 5th. Maria Dalzot passed Brooke Boening to move into 6th. Morgantown Freshmen Aubrey Moskal and Emma Berry claimed 8th and 9th, and Molly Stevens claimed the final All-State spot. Teamwise, Morgantown scored 5 of the top 11, which is nearly impossible to beat. The NCAC showed its muscle again by taking the top 4 team places.

The MVP for this meet comes from one of those NCAC teams. She comes from the only one to finish above their predicted place. North Marion really stepped up as a team with all seven of their girls equaling or bettering their predicted place. The one who moved the most, though, was Cara Parrish. She climbed from a predicted finish of 44th all the way to 29th and picked up 12 important team points in the process including 3 that belonged to Elkins.

How did RunWV do on our predictions? The top two were correctly placed, and 3rd and 4th simply swapped positions. 5th and 6th also swapped spots. The rest of the field stayed true to form. Individually, we correctly picked 8 of the All-State performers, and got 14 of the top 15 and 22 of the top 25. The two who stepped up into the top 10 were Jefferson's Brooke Boening (predicted 14th, got 7th) and Morgantown's Emma Berry (predicted 12th, got 9th). The three who climbed into the top 25 were Greenbrier East's Anna Vandevander (predicted 36th, got 20th), Preston's Bethany Scott (predicted 27th, got 21st), and Parkersburg's Kathleen Dent (predicted 29th, got 24th). The big mover of the day was Greenbrier East's Anna Vandevander who climbed 16 spots from a predicted place of 36th to an actual place of 20th.

We offer our congratulations to the Morgantown girls. You took control of the season early and developed an outstanding pack in your 2-5 runners. Pack running is great, but pack running at the front of the field is nearly unbeatable.

We offer our congratulations to Keri Bland. You were a newcomer to Cross Country and your first meet resulted in a DNF in the withering heat. A lot of people would have given up or backed off, but you continued to run for the win every time out. Your strength in the last mile of races has proved to be the difference.

We offer our congratulations to the girls who shook up our predictions. You prove what we try to tell people every year. Rankings and predictions do not determine the finish. You determine the finish.