The A-AA Girls closed the morning. Philip Barbour was expected to take the win fairly handily. It ended up being a very close affair after a strong performance from Frankfort, but Philip Barbour did take the six point win. Individually, Maggie Drazba was expected to dominate, but I don't know if anyone knew what was coming. She demolished the course and the field, breaking the course record by 15 seconds and the in-State Course Record by over a minute with her 17:17.89. She won the meet by over two minutes. 7 runners cracked the 20:00 barrier.

My first checkpoint was again the top of the hill at approximately 0.7 miles. St. Marys' Maggie Drazba was already well out in front coming through in 4:09. She had already opened a 15 second lead on the field. Frankfort's Katie Jan was already solidly in 2nd at 4:24. Weir's Kristen Mastrantoni was in 3rd at 4:31. Close behind was Oak Glen's Kelsey Chambers in 4:32. Right behind in 5th was Wayne's Kylie Rutherford. North Marion's Emma Harrison was at the front of a tight pack at 4:36. That time was matched by Philip Barbour teammates Allison Villers and Brianna Waybright in 7th and 8th, respectively. Ravenswood's Hailey Miller had a narrow lead over Philip Barbour's Marissa Long for 9th with both passing in 4:37. Richwood's Breanna Mazzella was in 11th at 4:38. Williamstown's Cami Mossor was 12th in 4:43. Bridgeport's Morganne Phillips was running 13th in 4:44. Weir's Alexis Virtue was in 14th at 4:45. Frankfort's Julianna Butcher was in 15th at 4:49, just ahead of Ravenswood's Taylor Treadway who held the same time. Tucker's Ashley Cassidy was in 17th at 4:50. Sherman's Amelia Sebok was in 18th at 4:52. Berkeley Springs' Kinsey Reed was running 19th in 4:54. Frankfort's Casidy White was running 20th at 4:57.

At the mile mark, Maggie Drazba had continued to stretch the lead. She crossed in about 5:42. Katie Jan had gained further control of 2nd, coming through in 6:07. Kristen Mastrantoni was solidly in 3rd, crossing in 6:18. Kelsey Chambers had a slight lead on Kylie Rutherford for 4th with both crossing in 6:22. Allison Villers was just ahead of Brianna Waybright for 6th as both came through in 6:23. Emma Harrison was in 8th at 6:24. Marissa Long was in 9th at 6:25, just ahead of Breanna Mazzella who rounded out the top 10 with the same time. Hailey Miller was in 11th at 6:27. Cami Mossor was still running 12th in 6:33. Julianna Butcher was in 13th at 6:35. Ashley Cassidy was up to 14th, also at 6:35. Morganne Phillips was in 15th at 6:36. Alexis Virtue was in 17th at 6:37. Taylor Treadway was in 18th at 6:42. Kinsey Reed was in 19th at 6:46. Wheeling Central's Emily Gordon was in 20th at 6:48.

At the top of the hill near the Extension Service building at approximately 1.4 miles, I didn't get thee in time to catch Maggie Drazba. I think she went through at around 8:05. She had nearly doubled her lead as Katie Jan remained in solid control of 2nd, coming through in 8:51. The race for 3rd had tightened, and there was a pack of 4 with Kristen Mastrantoni at the front, followed by Allison Villers, Brianna Waybright, and Emma Harrison with each crossing at 9:10. Kylie Rutherford held a slight advantage over Kelsey Chambers with both crossing at 9:12. Marissa Long was in 9th at 9:13. Breanna Mazzella was in 10th at 9:18. Hailey Miller was running 11th at 9:20. Julianna Butcher was 12th at 9:24. Morganne Phillips was 13th in 9:26. Cami Mossor was in 14th at 9:27, just ahead of Ashley Cassidy at the same time. Alexis Virtue was in 16th at 9:36. Taylor Treadway was in 17th at 9:39, just ahead of Kinsey Reed with the same time. Amelia Sebok was in 19th at 9:41. Scott's Brittany Green had moved into the top 20, crossing at 9:47.

I picked up some bonus footage prior to the two mile mark. Maggie Drazba had actually already passed the two mile mark at this point. Katie Jan remained in 2nd. Brianna Waybright had moved into 3rd 17 seconds behind. She had less than a step on Emma Harrison, who had about a single stride lead on Allison Villers and Kristen Mastrantoni, with those two 1 second behind. Marissa Long was another 4 seconds behind. Kylier Rutherford was another 2 second back in 8th. Julianna Butcher had made the move into 9th, ten seconds behind, just ahead of Hailey Miller. Breanna Mazzella was in 11th another 2 seconds behind. She was matched by Morganne Phillips in 12th. Then I moved on to the two mile.

At the two mile mark, I'm guessing that Maggie Drazba had gone through under 11:30. Katie Jan continued to easily hold 2nd place, crossing in 12:43. Allison Villers held a slight lead over Brianna Waybright and Emma Harrison as each crossed in 13:01. Kristen Mastrantoni was in 6th, close behind in 13:02. Marissa Long was running in 7th at 13:04. Kylie Rutherd was in solid control of 8th at 13:10. Julianna Butcher remained in 9th at 13:20 with Morganne Phillips and Hailey Miller battling for 10th at 13:21. Breanna Mazzella was in 12th at 13:23. Ashley Cassidy was up to 13th in 13:25. Cami Mossor was in 14th at 13:43. Kinsey Reed was in 15th at 13:45, just ahead of Alexis Virtue who had the same time. Amelia Sebok was up to 17th in 13:49 with Taylor Treadway matching that time in 18th. Brittany Green was in 19th at 13:54. Braxton's Kirsten Gateless was up to 20th, crossing in 14:01.

At the finish, Maggie Drazba was all alone. She destroyed the State Meet Record by over a minute and beat the Course Record by 15 seconds with a stunning 17:17.89. Katie Jan easily held onto 2nd with a 19:23. Brianna Waybright pulled away for 3rd in 19:34. Emma Harrison finished solidly in 4th in 19:37. Allison Villers took 5th with a 19:43. Marissa Long outkicked Kristen Mastrantoni for 6th with Long getting a 19:55 and Mastrantoni a 19:57. Kylie Rutherford held off the late push by Morganne Phillips for 8th with Rutherford getting a 20:04 and Phillips a 20:05. Julianna Butcher took the final All-State position with a 20:09. Hailey Miller held off a late kick from Ashley Cassidy for 11th as both scored 20:17's. Breanna Mazzella easily held the 13th spot with a 20:33. Alexis Virtue moved up to 14th with a 20:43. Cami Mossor outkicked Kinsey Reed for 15th with Mossor getting a 20:49 and Reed a 20:50. Taylor Treadway got 17th with a 20:51. Brittany Green moved up to 18th with a 21:00. Kirsten Gateless moved into 19th with a 21:08. Amelia Sebok held onto the 20th position with a 21:10.

In searching for the MVP, I could have gone a couple different ways. Williamstown moved up 2 spots from their predicted finish, and they had someone instrumental in making that happen, but the Championship was decided by just 6 points, and it just so happens that there was one runner on that team who exceeded her predicted place by 6 positions and gained those 6 points. Philip Barbour would have lost the meet on the tie-breaker. For that reason, for the 2nd year in a row, the RunWV MVP for the State Meet is Philip Barbour's Haley Truman.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Philip Barbour won as expected, though in much closer fashion. The top 3 actually finished as expected. Then things go a little crazy. There were a pair of teams that moved up 2 spots, a team that dropped 2 and a team that dropped 3. Individually, 9 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. My person missing from the top 10 was a DNF, but I still would have only gotten 9 of 10 correct. 12 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15. One of the missing was a DNF. 21 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. The one who cracked the top 10 was Frankfort's Julianna Butcher (picked 21st, got 10th). Those who jumped into the top 25 were Berkeley Springs' Kinsey Reed (picked 26th, got 16th), Sherman's Amelia Sebok (picked 31st, got 20th), Ravenswood's Hannah Murray (picked 35th, got 21st), and Frankfort's Casidy White (picked 27th, got 25th). The big mover of the day was Frankfort's Faith Sentelle who moved up 17 spots from a predicted finish of 45th to an actual finish of 28th. From a team standpoint, the team that outperformed their prediction by the most was Frankfort, who scored 27 points fewer than was predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Philip Barbour girls. Three in a row is something worth celebrating. It's a rare accomplishment and you should be proud. Your ran smart and strong and completed your mission.

I offer my congratulations to Maggie Drazba. Your run Saturday was one of the most incredible things I've seen. Your race was pure dominance. You attacked the course from the start and never relented. Good luck to you in your quest to becoming the 1st West Virginia Female to qualify for Footlocker Nationals.

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.