The A-AA Girls opened the afternoon session. This was the most anticipated team race of the day with three teams picked within 18 points of each other. That tight race was not to be, though, as Grafton ran away with the title by 28 points. Grafton ran well, and the other contenders had at least one runner not perform up to expectations. That's all it took to create a blowout. Individually, Berkeley Springs' Rachel Buser became just the 2nd runner to win 4 State Cross County titles once again winning easily, this time winning by 40 seconds.

At the gun, at the gun, a pair of Frankfort runners and Moorefield's Blayke Hall bolted to the front. After they rounded the baseball field and came back into sight, Blayke Hall still led, but was followed closely by Winfield's Megan Truelove. At the top of the hill, near the 3/4 mile mark, Megan Truelove was in front. Berkeley Springs' Rachel Buser had moved into 2nd, just ahead of Blayke Hall, Ritchie's Aly Carpenter, St. Marys' Jennifer McFarland, and Frankfort's Rebekah McBride. They had a small gap on the next pack, which included Berkeley Springs' Kari Mundey, Grafton's Molly Summers, Shady Spring's Chelsea Callaway, Grafton's Chanel Alexander, Charleston Catholic's Ally Hoyer, and Wheeling Central's Jessie John. Next through was Ritchie's Melanie Manning by herself. She was followed by Grafton's Kaylen Poston and Shady Spring's Emily Osborne.

At the mile mark, Rachel Buser had moved to the front, coming through in 6:22. My camera and notes fail me at this point, so I'm going from memory. I think Megan Truelove was holding 2nd at this point, followed by Aly Carpenter. Jennifer McFarland was in the front of a small pack crossing in 6:35. The other members of that pack were Blayke Hall and Rebekah McBride. Next through were Kari Mundey, Molly Summers, Chanel Alexander, and Chelsea Callaway. Close behind that pack were Jessie John in 11th. Ally Hoyer was running in 12th. Next through were Melanie Manning, Calhoun's Anna Sampson, and Emily Osborne in 13th-15th. Kaylen Poston was holding 17th, and Doddridge's Emily Coffman had moved up to 18th. Runners from Shady Spring and Frankfort rounded out the top 20 at the mile mark. I can't quite identify them. I think it is Kelsey Paine and Jessica Moreland.

At the top of the hill near the Extension Service building at approximately 1.4 miles, Rachel Buser had really pulled away, stretching her lead to 8 seconds. Aly Carpenter had moved into 2nd, two seconds ahead of Megan Truelove. Jennifer McFarland was just ahead of Rebekah McBride and Chanel Alexander, the trio holding the 4th through 6th positions. Jessie John had made a move into 7th place. She was followed by Molly Summers in 8th. I think 9th and 10th were held by Chelsea Callaway and Ally Hoyer, but I don't have a photo to verify that. Kari Mundey was next through in 11th. Emily Osborne was running in 12th, followed by Anna Sampson, Emily Coffman, and Kaylen Poston. Melanie Manning was next through in 16th, followed by Williamstown's Nici Rea. She was followed by PikeView's Chelsea East. Coming through next was Winfield's Holly Rooper and Frankfort's Jessica Moreland. I suspect I missed Kelsey Paine in there somewhere, but I don't have a picture.

At the two mile mark, Rachel Buser had stretched her lead to at least 15 seconds. She came through in approximately 13:00. I didn't quite make it over there in time, so the time and gap are estimates. Aly Carpenter was still holding 2nd, coming through in 13:15. Megan Truelove was in 3rd, just a step ahead of Chanel Alexander. Blayke Hall was holding 5th, about two steps ahead of Rebekah McBride, who was about two steps ahead of Jessie John. Jennifer McFarland was holding 8th. Molly Summers was in 9th (she may have been in 8th at this point. I'm not sure.) Chelsea Callaway was running in 10th, a few strides ahead of Ally Hoyer. I think Anna Sampson was holding 12th. Melanie Manning was running in 13th. Kelsey Paine was holding 14th, just ahead of Kaylen Poston and Emily Osborne. Nici Rea was in 17th. Emily Coffman was in 18th. My next photo is of my clipboard, so I'm not certain who I missed. My next picture has Jessica Moreland. She's followed by Ravenswood's Ryan Dormagen, Holly Rooper, and Shady Spring's Desiree Roseberry.

At the finish, Rachel Buser had drastically increased her lead, plowing through in 19:34, a full 40 second gap over her nearest competitor. Chanel Alexander had moved into 2nd place late in the race. Aly Carpenter held on for 3rd ahead of Megan Truelove. Jessie John had made a major move to take firm control of 5th place. Rebekah McBride held on to 6th place, with Molly Summers moving up to 7th. Jennifer McFarland used a strong kick to move back into 8th place, passing Blayke Hall in the last few meters. Hall easily held 9th as the next runner was nearly 15 seconds behind. Ally Hoyer used a big finish to snare the last All-State Spot from Chelsea Callaway in the last few meters.

MVP is tough in this division. The top 3 teams finished as expected making it hard to take anyone from their teams. No team moved up more than one spot. From those teams, you have to consider Jessica Moreland who climbed 18 places from her predicted finish. However, Frankfort would still have been 3rd without her. Berkeley Springs, Ritchie, and Williamstown each moved up one team place from their predicted finish. Of those, Williamstown's Megan Roberts probably had the best step-up performance. With no clear-cut standout to pick, I'm going in a different direction this year for this division. The runner I've selected only finished two places ahead of her predicted finish. Those two places were not especially important to her team. However, her presence all season has been very important to her team. From race one, her presence and performance has lifted her team to the top of the charts. I know the MVP isn't supposed to be a season award, but Chanel Alexander is the RunWV MVP of the 2007 State Meet.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? The top 3 finished as expected. 4 and 5 flipped places. 7 and 8 each moved up a spot. Only one team finished more than one spot different than predicted. Individually, 8 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. 12 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15, but only 19 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. The girls that stepped up to take an All-State position were Wheeling Central's Jessie John (picked 11th, got 5th) and Moorefield's Blayke Hall (picked 13th, got 9th). The girls who climbed into the top 25 were Calhoun's Anna Sampson (picked 32nd, got 14th), Frankfort's Jessica Moreland (picked 37th, got 19th), Grafton's Megan Miller (picked 28th, got 20th), Williamstown's Megan Roberts (picked 34th, got 23rd), Grafton's Katelyn Hunt (picked 26th, got 24th), and Wheeling Central's Claire Caruso (picked 31st, got 25th). The big mover for the day was a tie. Two runners moved up 18 spots. They were Calhoun's Anna Sampson who moved from a predicted finish of 32nd to an actual finish of 14th, and Frankfort's Jessica Moreland who climbed from a predicted finish of 37th to an actual finish of 19th.

I offer my congratulations to the Grafton girls. You climbed to the top of the rankings early and stayed there. You battled all season to prove that you were the best. In the end, you proved it. You turned what was supposed to be a tight race into a blowout. Perhaps most importantly, you validated all the work that you did in the off-season. Champions are made during the off-season, and you proved that on Saturday.

I offer my congratulations to Rachel Buser. You made it 4-for-4. It wasn't a year without adversity, but you overcame your obstacles for another dominant State Meet performance. The closest anyone has come to you at the State Meet is 40 seconds. That's domination for four years, something rarely accomplished. Enjoy the moment.

I offer our congratulations to the girls who shook up our predictions. You prove what I try to tell people every year. Rankings and predictions don't mean a thing. That's why we run the race.