The A-AA Girls opened the afternoon session. The rain finally let up shortly before the start of this race. The damage was already done to the course, though. The team race was expected to be a battle between St. Marys and Grafton. It was a battle indeed, but those two teams weren't alone. Berkeley Springs and Shady Spring both got big performances and made it a four way race. The four teams ended up separated by just 8 points, but it was indeed the ladies from St. Marys who brought home the title, with Grafton 6 points behind. Individually, the battle was expected to be between Herbert Hoover's Erika Hayes, St. Marys' Maggie Drazba, Philip Barbour's Sarah McCauley, and Charleston Catholic's Sami Harris. Hayes fell from contention early. Harris drifted off the lead pack before the mile mark. That left Drazba, McCauly, and Grafton's Molly Summers as the lead pack. The threesome remained together through two miles. McCauley took a spill somewhere and Drazba raced away from her and Summers for the 16 second win. Summers outdistanced McCauley for 2nd.

My first checkpoint was again the top of the hill at approximately 0.7 miles. Three runners had moved to the front. St. Marys' Maggie Drazba held a slight lead over Philip Barbour's Sarah McCauley with Drazba coming through in 4:58 and McCauley in 4:59. Grafton's Molly Summers was close behind in 5:01. Shady Spring's Desiree Roseberry was running in 4th in 5:06. She was followed closely by Charleston Catholic's Sami Harris in 5:07. Berkeley Springs' Macy Houck was through in 5:09. Doddridge's Bethany Carroll was in 7th in 5:10. Herbert Hoover's Erika Hayes came through in 5:12. Philip Barbour's Brianna Waybright followed just behind in 5:13. Grafton's Jenny Roach was rounding out the top 10 in 5:15. PikeView's Chelsea East was close behind in 11th. Shady Spring's Katie Paine followed just after in 5:17. PikeView's Trish Galligher led a tight pack that included Wheeling Central's Jesse John and Charleston Catholic's Ally Hoyer. Herbert Hoover's Makayla Shamblin was running in 16th. Grafton's Kaylen Poston and St. Marys' Ali Johnson came through in 5:21. Shady Spring's Sarah Phillips crossed in 5:22. Ravenswood's Emily Rector held a slight advantage over Trinity's Sarah Evans for the final spot in the top 20 with both crossing in 5:24. St. Marys' Beverly Knight was the next closest.

At the mile mark, Sarah McCauley had a very slight edge over Maggie Drazba with Molly Summers just a stride behind. Each crossed in 6:47. Desiree Roseberry remained in 4th at 6:52. Sami Harris remained in 5th in 6:54. Macy Houck was still holding 6th in 7:00. Brianna Waybright had moved up to 7th in 7:01. Bethany Carroll crossed in 7:02. Jenny Roach was in 9th in 7:04. Erika Hayes rounded out the top 10 in 7:06. Chelsea East was in 11th in 7:07. Katie Paine was in 12th in 7:09. Trish Galligher was right behind in 7:10. Ally Hoyer came through in 7:12 with Ali Johnson close behind in 7:13. Sarah Evans had moved up to 16th in 7:14. Jesse John was in 17th at 7:16. Just a second back were Emily Rector and Makayla Shamblin. Doddridge's Adalia Trudgeon had moved into the 20th spot at 7:18, just ahead of Sarah Phillips.

At the top of the hill near the Extension Service building at approximately 1.4 miles, it remained Sarah McCauley, Maggie Drazba, and Molly Summers together in 9:42. Desiree Roseberry came through in 9:47. Sami Harris remained in 5th but was starting to lose contact. She came through in 9:57. Brianna Waybright had moved up to 6th in 10:02. Macy Houck was right behind in 10:03. Bethany Carroll remained in 8th in 10:08. Chelsea East had moved up to 9th in 10:15. Sarah Evans had continued her move forward, moving into the 10th position with a slight edge over Jenny Roach as both crossed in 10:18. Katie Paine was holding 12th in 10:19. Adalia Trudgeon had moved all the way up to 13th in 10:20. Erika Hayes had a slight lead over Ali Johnson as both crossed in 10:22. Ally Hoyer was next through in 10:27. Philip Barbour's Amber Abbott had fought her way into the top 20, moving up to 16th in 10:29. Makayla Shamblin was through in 10:31. Emily Rector and Sarah Phillips rounded out the top 20, coming through in 10:32.

At the two mile mark, Maggie Drazba had moved slightly in front of Sarah McCauley. Molly Summers remained close behind but was about a second behind. Drazba and McCauley came through in about 13:23 with Summers in 13:24. Desiree Rosberry was all alone in 4th, 16 seconds behind Summers, but 18 seconds ahead of Sami Harris. Harris crossed in 13:58. Brianna Waybright was closing in 6th in 14:02. Macy Houck held a slight edge of Bethany Carroll for 7th coming through in 14:07 and 14:08, respectively. Sarah Evans had moved into 9th place in 14:19 with Chelsea East rounding out the top 10 in 14:20. Adalia Trudgeon had moved up to 11th in 14:21. Katie Paine was in 12th in 14:26. Jenny Roach was just ahead of Ali Johnson at 14:34 and 14:35, respectively. Erika Hayes was the next through in 14:38. Amber Abbott remained in 16th in 14:40, just ahead of Ally Hoyer in 14:41. Makayla Shamblin crossed in 14:43 with Beverly Knight and Scott's Brittany Green rounding out the top 20 in 14:44.

At the finish, Maggie Drazba had pulled away from the lead pack to take a commanding 16 second victory in 20:08. Molly Summers moved into 2nd place with a 20:24. Sarah McCauley had fallen somewhere in the last mile, but held on for the 3rd spot, less than two seconds ahead of Desiree Roseberry. The two crossed in 20:29 and 20:31, respectively. Sami Harris re-established control of 5th over the last mile coming through in 21:13. Brianna Waybright held off the late kick of Macy Houck for 6th with the pair crossing in 21:25 and 21:26, respectively. Sarah Evans used a big final stretch to just edge past Bethany Carroll by less than a second for 8th. Chelsea East held onto 10th. Adalia Trudgeon easily held onto the 11th position. Ali Johnson moved up to 12th in the last mile. Brittany Green climbed all the way from 20th to 13th in the final 1.1 miles taking two of those spots in the final 50 meters. Erica Hayes held off teammate Makayla Shamblin for 14th. Katie Paine held on for 16th (this despite breaking her foot during the race). Ally Hoyer used a late kick to get past Berkeley Springs' Sara Younker for 17th. Younker had moved up from outside the top 20 in the last 1.1 miles. Jenny Roach held off the late kick of Amber Abbott for 19th.

In searching for the MVP, I have to look at who was instrumental in helping her team take a spot or perhaps someone who's performance was necessary to preserve a spot. The top 3 teams finished as expected, and no one ran out of their mind for the first two, so it's hard to use any of them. We did have one team move up a whopping four spots from a predicted 9th place finish to an actual 5th place finish. That's a pretty big move, and the main instrument of that move was predicted to finish in 47th place...but she finished in 20th. She picked up 24 team points along the way. Take those away, and they're 8th. It wasn't the only big performance from Philip Barbour as Brianna Waybright also put together and excellent race, but the 2009 RunWV MVP is Amber Abbott of Philip Barbour.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? The top 3 teams finished as expected. Shady Spring moved up 1 spot to 4th. Philip Barbour jumped a tremendous 4 spots up to 5th. Ravenswood dropped a couple spots. Williamstown and Scott finished as expected. Wheeling Central felt the sting of injury and absence in falling all the way to 10th. PikeView reaped the benefit moving up to 9th. Individually, only 6 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10 for the 2nd consecutive year. 12 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15, but only 19 of the top 25 finished in the top 25. The four who stepped up into All-State Positions were Philip Barbour's Brianna Waybright (picked 17th, got 6th), Berkeley Springs' Macy Houck (picked 13th, got 7th), Trinity's Sarah Evans (picked 28th, got 8th), and Doddridge's Bethany Carroll (picked 12th, got 9th). Those who moved into the top 25 were Trinity's Sarah Evans (picked 28th, got 8th), Shady Spring's Kelsey Paine (picked 26th, got 16th), Berkeley Springs' Sara Younker (picked 45th, got 18th), Philip Barbour's Amber Abbott (picked 47th, got 20th), Shady Spring's Sarah Phillips (picked 32nd, got 22nd), and Berkeley Springs' Chelsea Hessler (picked 36th, got 25th). The big movers for the day were Berkeley Springs' Sara Younker and Philp Barbour's Amber Abbott who each moved up 27 spots from their predicted finish to their actual finish. For Younker, it was 45 to 18 and for Abbott it was 47 to 20.

I offer my congratulations to the St. Marys girls. You were the team to beat from the beginning. The target was on your back and you came through. You weren't completely healthy to close the season and at the State Meet but you still managed to get the job done despite that adversity. Your triumph over adversity leaves you as State Champions.

I offer my congratulations to Maggie Drazba. You completed your undefeated season in style. You were able to run your race and use your strength to pull away at the end. Undefeated seasons are rare, so be proud of your accomplishment.

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.