The A-AA Girls opened the afternoon session. The fog had finally lifted and the temperatusre had climbed dramatically to the mid-50's. While the temperature was much more comfortable, it also meant a much softer course. This was expected to be a nice, tight team battle. However, while talking with the computer operator waiting for a hard copy of the AAA Boys Race, I glanced down and saw on the table an Add/Delete sheet. The runner that was being added...Berkeley Springs' Valerie Peer. What was an expected tight team race suddenly had a 20+ point favorite. Peer was obviously going to start the race, the only question was whether or not her injury would let her finish. Finish she did as all the Berkeley Springs girls ran strong races as they blew away the field. Indidividually, Rachel Buser won by over 90 seconds but just missed beating her own course record.

By the time the girls had reached the first checkpoint, at approximately 0.6 miles in, Berkeley Springs' Rachel Buser had already established a solid lead. Wheeling Central's Stephanie Caruso and Logan's Darby Mullen were the closest to her, heading a large pack.

At the mile mark, Rachel Buser had extended her lead to nearly 20 seconds, coming through in 5:30. Stephanie Caruso and Darby Mullen crossed together in around 5:50. Berkeley Springs' Valerie Peer was in 4th, coming through in 5:55. She was followed by Ritchie's Jamie Cokeley and Winfield's Megan Truelove. The next group consisted of Frankfort's Maggie McCort, Ritchie's Melanie Manning, Grafton's Sarah Rosier, and Wheeling Central's Lauren Bauer. The next group included Doddridge's Elizabeth Hyde, Winfield's Lisa Day, and Berkeley Springs' Breanna Henry. Winfield's Holly Rooper and Berkeley Springs' Kari Mundey were next to cross.

At the two mile mark, Rachel Buser had extended her lead to over 50 seconds, crossing in around 11:32. Valerie Peer had moved into 2nd place, coming through in 12:24. Stephanie Caruso had settled into 3rd, crossing in 12:30. Logan's Darby Mullen was holding 4th, crossing in 12:35. Lauren Bauer had moved up to 5th, crossing in 12:45, just ahead of Sarah Rosier, Megan Truelove, and Melanie Manning. Kari Mundey had moved into 9th, just ahead of Jamie Cokeley. Maggie McCort was just outside the top 10. Breanna Henry was next to cross, holding about a second ahead of Lisa Day. Charleston Catholic's Kathryn Potesta and Kim Abcouwer rounded out the top 15 at this point.

At the finish, Rachel Buser sprinted down the chute, but just missed beating her course record of 18:19, as she crossed in 18:22. Her final margin of victory was 1:32, and astounding margin. Valerie Peer was the 2nd to cross, increasing her lead over 3rd place to 13 seconds as she was the only other runner to come in at under 20:00. Stephanie Caruso easily held onto 3rd, increasing her gap to 21 seconds. Sarah Rosier made a late move to pull into 4th and avoiding a tight sprint to the finish. The next four places were decided by only 2 seconds. Megan Truelove held off a charging Lauren Bauer as they both pulled away from Darby Mullen. Mullen in turn held off the charge of Melanie Manning. Kari Mundey had closed dramatically on that group but didn't get close enough to be involved in that finish. Maggie McCort moved up in the last mile to claim the final All-State spot. Breanna Henry's 11th place finish gave Berkeley Springs 4 of the top 11 places in the meet.

There are a few different directions that I could go for MVP of this race. I could look at Grafton as they moved up from a predicted 6th place finish to a 4th place finish, but their rise had more to do with other teams faltering than any person in particular stepping up a big level. Along with Berkeley Springs, Grafton and Wheeling Central were the only top level teams that didn't have at least one person that didn't run up to standard. In the end, I have to go with Valerie Peer for the MVP of this meet. The way the rest of Berkeley's girls ran, Peer didn't have to run for them to win. Throw her performance out of this meet and they still win by a double digit marging. But just by having Valerie Peer toe the line and start the race, the team received a mental lift, knowing that they didn't have to do anything spectacular to win. They only had to perform at a reasonable level. Taking that pressure off allowed them to go out and perform at that spectacular level. They were able to run relaxed, patient races, and as a result, they completely dominated the field. As a result, today's MVP is Valerie Peer.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Well...in the team race only the 8th and 9th place teams finished as predicted. I suppose we can take credit for picking Berkeley Springs since we did state that they'd be 20+ point favorites if Valerie Peer ran. Charleston Catholic and Winfield finished in the correct order. Grafton moved up from 6th to 4th, taking 4th on a tie-breaker over Ritchie. Wheeling Central moved up from 7th to 6th. Doddridge dropped a couple spots. Individually, only 7 of the predicted top 10 gained spots on the All-State podium. Only 11 of the predicted top 15 did finish in the top 15. However, only 19 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. I suppose again that since Valerie Peer had been slotted into 3rd if she ran, we can take credit for 8 of 10 and 20 of 25. Given that, here are the girls who surprised by getting into the top 10: Wheeling Central's Lauren Bauer (picked 17th, got 6th), and Berkeley Springs' Kari Munday (picked 14th, got 9th). Valerie Peer as already noted had not been put into the official predictions but would have been slated 3rd if it had been known for certain that she would be running. Those who climbed into the top 25, excluding Peer, were Ritchie Angela Kimbler (picked 28th, got 16th...she makes a habit of this), St. Marys' Micalyn Miller (picked 27th, got 19th), Doddridge's Ali Beck (picked 33rd, got 22nd), Richwood's Laura Spencer (picked 40th, got 24th...she was also last year's big mover), and Berkeley Springs' Adrienne Moretz (picked 34th, got 25th). The big mover for this year's meet was Winfield's Whitney Clay who was picked to finish 60th (based on her one and only race of the season) and finished 33rd, a 27 spot jump.

We offer our congratulations to the Berkeley Springs girls. For the last two seasons, you have exhibited what a team should be. I see you cheering, rooting, and encouraging your teammates. I see you displaying your pride in awards ceremonies. You have shown that you know what it takes to win and that you believe in yourselves, your training, and each other.

We offer our congratulations to Rachel Buser. Just as last year, you were completely dominant. A few people out there predicted burnout or a Sophomore slump, but you continue to drive forward and enhance your resume as the top female runner to ever compete in this State. Footlocker is waiting, and hopefully, you'll be able to pull off being the first West Virginia girl to ever qualify for Nationals.

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 don't mean a thing. That's why we run the race.