The opening race of the day was the Class AAA Girls. Runners were greeted with cold, wet, windy conditions. It rained throughout the race addind an element of difficulty to the race. Conditions like these are the great equalizer as it becomes more a race of will and who will be more willing to push through what will definitely be more discomfort than usual. Hurricane came in as the favorite, but less of a favorite than they were last year. Jefferson and University lingered not far off. Individually, it was expected to be a race between Elkins' Letitia Propst and Hurricane's Alex Dent. In the team battle, Jefferson and University both knocked off favored Hurricane with Jefferson taking the title by just 7 points over University. Individually, Alex Dent started to pull away before the mile mark and stretched her lead steadily the rest of the way to win by 26 seconds. Chelsea Clark pulled off a surprise 2nd place finish, just nipping Letitia Propst at the line.

The first checkpoint is the top of the hill, which is about 0.7 miles into the race. At this point, Hurricane's Alex Dent was in the lead, crossing in 4:44. Elkins' Letitia Propst was running in 2nd in 4:48. Cabell Midland's Jorden Thornton was running in 3rd just two seconds back. Bridgeport's Erika Voreh was in 4th, just ahead of Musselman's Whitney Lewis and Fairmont Senior's Chelsea Clark. University's Lydia Martinelli was at the front of a small pack that included Hurricane's Josie Crouch, Jefferson's Andrea Nickerson, and Hampshire's Carissa Guyer. That was your top 10 at this point. The chase pack was led by Jefferson's Lindsey Hash, Cabell Midland's Alex Ellis, Hurricane's Kristen Hayslett, Jefferson's Alyssa Boucher, and University's Alison Kimble. They were followed by Ripley's Brandy Gandee, Parkersburg South's April Kirk, Parkersburg's Madison Hill, and the North Marion pair of Jordan McDonald and Emma Harrison to round out the top 20 at this point.

At the mile mark, Alex Dent had stretched her lead to 8 seconds, coming through in 6:24. Jorden Thornton had moved into 2nd at 6:32. Letitia Propst was right behind in 6:33. Lydia Martinelli was right behind her in 4th. Erika Voreh and Chelsea Clark were battling for 5th with both crossing in 6:38. Carissa Guyer, Andrea Nickerson, and Whitney Lewis crossed in 6:40 in holding positions six through nine. Alyssa Boucher was in 10th at 6:41. Running in 11th through 13th with the same time were Josie Crouch, Lindsey Hash, and Alison Kimble. Kristen Hayslett and Madison Hill came through together at about 6:44. Jordan McDonald was in 15th, just ahead of teammate Emma Harrison and April Kirk. Alex Ellis was holding 19th, and Brandy Gandee was holding the final spot in the top 20. The members of the top 20 had not changed, but the order had started to shift.

The next checkpoint was at the WVU Extension service building at approximately 1.4 miles. Alex Dent had continued to stretch her lead. It was now up to 14 seconds as she came through in 9:06. Lydia Martinelli had moved into 2nd in 9:20. Jorden Thornton and Letitia Propst held the next two spots, coming by in 9:23. Chelsea Clark was just behind in 5th in 9:24. Andrea Nickerson and Erika Voreh crossed in 9:28. 7th through 11th came through in a pack with Lindsey Hash, Carissa Guyer, Alyssa Boucher, and Alison Kimble all through in 9:33. Josie Crouch and Whitney Lewis crossed together in 9:38 with Kristen Hayslett and Madison Hill just behind. April Kirk was running in 18th. Morgantown's Brynn Harshbarger had moved into 19th place. Alex Ellis was holding 20th, crossing in 9:48.

At the two mile mark, Alex Dent had extended her lead to 25 seconds, coming through in 12:42. Lydia Martinelli was holding off Jorden Thornton for 2nd with both crossing in 13:07. Letitia Propst and Chelsea Clark were together at 13:09. Andrea Nickerson had a slight lead over Erika Voreh and Alison Kimble. Lindsey Hash was just behind them crossing in 13:15. Carissa Guyer was rounding out the top 10 crossing in 13:17. Alyssa Boucher was right on her heels just a second back in 11th. Whitney Lewis was through in 13:24, followed by Emma Harrison in 13:26, Josie Crouch in 13:28, and Madison Hill in 13:30. Jordan McDonald was in 16th in 13:32. Kristen Hayslett was in 17th in 13:35 Brynn Harshbarger was up to 18th in 13:38. North Marion's Devan Elliott led April Kirk across in 13:42 as they rounded out the top 20.

Coming onto the track, Alex Dent was all alone. The chase back never gained any ground and she was never threatened. Chelsea Clark ran down Letitia Propst as they came out of the curve and then edged Propst in the kick to the finish. Jorden Thornton capped her outstanding race by holding off Lydia Martinelli for 4th. Andrea Nickerson was all alone in 6th. Erika Voreh finished in 7th and was the final runner under 20:00 in the sloppy conditions. Alyssa Boucher ran a strong last mile to move into 8th place, just edging out teammate Lindsey Hash. Carissa Guyer easily held onto the 10th spot to round out the All-State Team. Alison Kimble fell from the top 10 in the final mile, but easily held 11th capping an outstanding effort. Jordan McDonald had moved up to 12th in the last mile and finished just ahead of teammate Emma Harrison. Kristen Hayslett moved up to 14th in the last mile, and Whitney Lewis held on for 15th. Devan Elliott continued her move up the list in the final mile to finish 16th. Madison Hill just nipped Brynn Harshbarger for 17th. Brandy Gandee held the 19th spot. Josie Crouch held on for the final spot in the top 20.

The MVP for this year is tough to call. There wasn't that single standout, big-move performance that made a tremendous difference, and no team moved more than two places above where they were supposed to finish, and only one team did that (Bridgeport). So, I have to give a mention to Anna-Kay Haddix who moved up 13 places for Bridgeport. However, I feel like I have to look for Jefferson. They only moved up one predicted place, but it was the big one. They had a pair of girls step forward. Neither took a tremendous leap, but both moves were important. I could go with Lindsey Hash. She moved up 5 spots and scored a big 3rd All-State position for her team. The other option is Emilie Myers. She only moved up 7 spots, and more importantly, it gave Jefferson 7 fewer team points. Considering that they won by exactly 7, that's pretty important. Jefferson certainly would not have won a tie-breaker against University, so each of those 7 spots was critical. Myers also moved up 4 spots in the final 1.1 miles. For her late move up the chart and her passing of 4 people in the final 1.1 miles, the 2009 RunWV MVP for the State Meet is Emilie Myers.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? As expected in conditions like this, there was some jostling around. Jefferson and University each moved up a spot at the expense of Hurricane. Cabell Midland moved up a spot. Bridgeport moved up a pair. Only 4 of the 12 teams finished in their predicted positions, but only two moved more than one spot. Individually, 7 of the top 10 did indeed finish in the top 10. 13 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15, and 23 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. The runners who made their way into the All-State lineup were Cabell Midland's Jorden Thornton (picked 12th, got 4th), Jefferson's Lindsey Hash (picked 14th, got 9th), and Hampshire's Carissa Guyer (picked 11th, got 10th). Those who moved into the top 25 were Parkersburg's Madison Hill (picked 27th, got 17th) and University's Deborah Martinelli (picked 33rd, got 25th). The big mover of teh day was Preston's Becky Verbonitz who rose 22 spots from a predicted finish of 57th to an actual finish of 35th.

I offer my congratulations to the Jefferson girls. You were the underdog, but you would not be denied. You knew you were as good or better than anyone else through four and you got the performance you needed from Emilie Myers. You were strong all year and you were strong when it counted.

I offer my congratulations to Alex Dent. It did take four years, but you finally got the individual title that you've been working for all this time. You had many, many doubters, but you executed a flawless race. You did not repeat some of your past mistakes and this time, it was you running away from the field. You wanted it. You worked for it. And you took it.

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