The A-AA Girls opened the afternoon session. Philip Barbour was expected to win fairly handily, and they did, taking the title by 13 points. They had to run well, though, because St. Marys scored under Philip Barbour's predicted team score. Those two easily outdistanced the remainder of the field. The expected individual battle between Maggie Drazba and Sami Harris lasted a little less than half the race. At the extension building at the highest point on the course (about 1.4 miles in), Drazba started to roll. She opened an 8 second gap in less than half a mile, and by the time they hit the two mile mark, it was up to 14 seconds. Drazba went on to set a new course record and win by a whopping 46 seconds. Katie Jan squeezed in under 20:00, and Katie Mahoney just missed that mark.

My first checkpoint was again the top of the hill at approximately 0.7 miles. St. Marys' Maggie Drazba and Charleston Catholic's Sami Harris had already opened a sizable gap on the rest of the field. They topped the hill at about 4:25. Frankfort's Katie Jan was in control of 3rd, coming through in 4:32. Philip Barbour's Katie Mahoney and Brianna Waybright were running in 4th and 5th, respectively, coming through in 4:37 and 4:38. The Weir duo of Alexis Virtue and Kristen Mastrantoni held the 6th and 7th spots coming through in 4:39. Oak Glen's Kelsey Chambers was running in 8th at 4:42. Doddridge's Bethany Carroll was in 9th at 4:43 with Ravenswood's Hailey Miller matching that time in 10th. Point Pleasant's Andrea Porter was running in 11th at 4:44. Philip Barbour's Marissa Long was in 12th, crossing in 4:46. Oak Hill's Kali Striker was holding 13th at 4:47. Doddridge's Nele Frey was in 14th at 4:48. Shady Spring's Sarah Phillips came through in 15th, also at 4:48. Cameron's Sarah Smith was in 16th at 4:49. Shady Spring's Taylor Jackson was in 17th at 4:51. Webster's Allison Clevenger was running in 18th at 4:52. St. Marys' Jenny Brewer was holding the 19th spot at 4:54. Webster's Ryleigh McCoy rounded out the top 20 at 4:57.

At the mile mark, it was still Maggie Drazba and Sami Harris crossing together in 6:07. Katie Jan was still in control of 3rd, coming through in 6:24. Brianna Waybright had a slight lead over Katie Mahoney for 4th as each crossed the mile in 6:31. Alexis Virtue had a slight edge on Kristen Mastrantoni for 6th as each came through in 6:34. Sarah Phillips had moved up to 8th in 6:38. She was trailed closely by Kali Striker and Kelsey Chambers in 9th and 10th, respectively as each crossed in 6:39. Sarah Smith was running 11th, just ahead of Bethany Carroll and Nele Frey as all three crossed in 6:41. Andrea Porter was holding 14th in 6:44 with Marissa Long in 15th with the same time. Hailey Miller crossed in 16th in 6:45. Taylor Jackson was holding 17th, coming through in 6:47. Allison Clevenger was running in 18th at 6:49. Jenny Brewer was in 19th in 6:55, just ahead of Ryleigh McCoy's 6:56 to round out the top 20.

At the top of the hill near the Extension Service building at approximately 1.4 miles, Maggie Drazba had taken a slight lead on Sami Harris with Drazba coming through at 8:45 to Harris' 8:46. Katie Jane remained in control of 3rd with a 9:13. Katie Mahoney had edged ahead of Brianna Waybright for 4th, but both crossed in 9:22. Alexis Virtue had moved slightly ahead of Kristen Mastrantoni for 6th and 7th, respectively with Virtue crossing in 9:26 and Mastrantoni in 9:27. Sarah Phillips was right behind at 9:28 in 8th. Kali Striker had a very slight edge over Kelsey Chambers in the battle for 9th with both crossing in 9:32. Sarah Smith was holding 11th in 9:41. Bethany Carroll was running 12th in 9:44 with that time matched by Marissa Long and Nele Frey in 13th and 14th, respectively. Andrea Porter was running in 15th just a second behind in 9:45. Taylor Jackson was in 16th in 9:46 with Hailey Miller right behind in 17th in 9:47. Allison Clevenger remained in 18th at 9:48. Scott's Brittany Green had moved into the top 20 moving up to 19th and crossing in 9:59. Ryleigh McCoy rounded out the top 20 at 10:01.

At the two mile mark, Maggie Drazba had really started to assert herself. She crossed alone in 12:10. She had opened a 14 second gap on Sami Harris who crossed in 12:24. Katie Jan remained in 3rd place, coming through in 13:07. Katie Mahoney and Brianna Waybright continued to run in 4th and 5th, respectively as both crossed in 13:14. Sarah Phillips had moved up to 6th, coming through in 13:22. Alexis Virtue and Kristen Mastrantoni were running in 7th and 8th place, respectively as both crossed in 13:25. Kelsey Chambers was holding 9th in 13:32, and Kali Striker was holding 10th in 13:35. Sarah Smith remained in 11th in 13:42. Marissa Long was up to 12th in 13:50. Andrea Porter was up to 13th in 13:52. Nele Frey matched that time in 14th. Hailey Miller was running 15th in 13:53. Taylor Jackson was in 16th in 13:55. Bethany Carroll was in 17th at 13:56. Allison Clevenger was 18th at 13:57. Brittany Green was running 19th at 14:07, and Ryleigh McCoy continued to hold the 20th spot at 14:14.

At the finish, Maggie Drazba was all alone. She came onto the track with a shot at the course record and powered to the finish to take down the record by 3 seconds with her 18:25. Sami Harris easily held onto the second spot coming through in 19:11. Katie Mahoney had reeled in Katie Jan, but it was Jan who was able to pull away to keep the 3rd spot with a 19:59. Mahoney took home the 4th spot with a 20:00. Brianna Waybright easily held onto the 5th spot with a 20:07. Sarah Phillips maintained the 6th position and finished in 20:16. Alexis Virtue claimed the 7th podium position with a 20:20. Teammate Kristen Mastrantoni joined Virtue on the podium with her 8th place finish in 20:23. Kelsey Chambers scored a 9th place finish with a 20:34. Kali Striker held her 10th place spot with a 20:40. Sarah Smith maintained her 11th position with a 20:47. No one else came in under 21:00. Taylor Jackson ran strong late to move up to 12th with a 21:02, just holding off the late charge of Marissa Long who also ran a 21:02. Hailey Miller finished 14th with a 21:06. Nele Frey claimed 15th with a 21:11. Andrea Porter was 16th with a 21:18. Allison Clevenger moved up to 17th with a 21:24. Brittany Green moved up to 18th with a 21:27. Ryleigh McCoy moved up to 19th with a 21:38. Ashley Cassidy made a late pass to take the 20th position with a 21:40.

In searching for the MVP, when there's a single performance that makes the championship happen, I generally have to go that way. In this case, there was such a performance. Philip Barbour won this meet by 13 points over St. Marys. One athlete finished 14 team places higher than she was predicted. If she finishes where she was predicted to finish, Philip Barbour doesn't bring home the title. For that reason, the 2011 RunWV MVP is Philip Barbour's Haley Truman.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Philip Barbour won as expected. Actually, the first 5 teams finished as expected. Oak Glen moved up a couple spots and Webster moved up a couple spots. Individually, 8 of the predicted top 10 did indeed finish in the top 10. 13 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15. 21 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. Those who cracked the top 10 were Oak Glen's Kelsey Chambers (picked 11th, got 9th) and Oak Hill's Kali Striker (picked 15th, got 10th). Those who rose into the top 25 were Webster's Ryleigh McCoy (picked 44th, got 19th), Liberty Harrison's Ashley Peters (picked 26th, got 22nd), Berkeley Springs' Sara Younker (picked 30th, got 23rd), and Wirt's Brittany Gaskins (picked 35th, got 24th). The big mover of the day was Webster's Ryleigh McCoy (picked 44th, got 19th). From a team standpoint, the team that outperformed their prediction by the most was Oak Glen who scored 29 fewer points than was predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Philip Barbour girls. You had the target on your backs and you came and performed well. You ran agressively and strong from start to finish and you got the job done.

I offer my congratulations to Maggie Drazba. The second half of the race was pure dominance. You ran your race and took control when you wanted to take control. You left nothing to chance. You were the strongest runner in the field and you left no doubt.

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.