The A-AA Girls opened the afternoon session. This was expected to be the closest race of the day, and it didn't disappoint with the top 3 teams being separated by just 5 points and the champion being determined by the 6th runner tie-breaker. In the end, it was Philip Barbour taking their 4th consecutive title. Individually, we got a great race as well with Grafton's Alicia Parsons pulling away late to win by 11 seconds.

My first checkpoint was again the top of the hill at approximately 0.7 miles. The primary contenders were already at the front with Oak Glen's Kelsey Chambers leading them through at 4:33. Right behind was Grafton's Alicia Parsons at 4:34. Daniel Haynes, Kinsey Reed, and Hailey Miller were running 3rd through 5th, respectively in 4:35. Wayne's Kylie Rutherford was running in 6th at 4:37. Philip Barbour's Marissa Long and Sherman's Amelia Sebok were in 7th and 8th, respectively at 4:39. Robert C. Byrd's Lavania Lemasters and Scott's Sheena Chambers were in 9th and 10th, respectively at 4:43. Grafton's Montana Garrett was running 11th in 4:46. Close behind in 12th was Williamstown's Cami Mosser. Webster's Samantha Stout and Charleston Catholic's Hannah Gacek were in 13th and 14th, respectively with both coming through in 4:48. Ravenswood's Taylor Treadway, Nicholas' Aidan Payton, and Doddridge's Megan Carder held the next three positions at 4:53. Charleston Catholic's Payton Mullen was in 18th at 4:56. Tyler Consolidated's Amber Watson was in 19th at 4:57, and Williamstown's Andrea Chidester was in 20th at 4:58.

At the mile mark, there was quite a battle for the front. Kelsey Chambers, Alicia Parsons, and Kinsey Reed crossed simultaneously in 6:21. Danielle Haynes was in 4th, tucked in right behind them, also at 6:21. Hailey Miller was just a stride back in 6:22. Kylie Rutherford remained in 6th, crossing in 6:26. Montana Garrett had move into 7th at 6:30. Sheena Chambers, Amelia Sebok, and Lavania Lemasters each crossed in 6:31 in holding the 8th through 10th spots, respectively. Marissa Long was in 11th at 6:32. Cami Mosser was holding 12th at 6:37. Samantha Stout was in 13th at 6:40. Hannah Gacek was in 14th at 6:41. Taylor Treadway was in 15th at 6:43. Megan Carder was in 16th in 6:46. Aidan Payton was in 17th at 6:47. Frankfort's Julianna Butcher had moved up to 18th in 6:48. Andrea Chidester was running 19th in 6:50. Amber Watson was in 20th at 6:52.

At the top of the hill near the Extension Service building at approximately 1.4 miles, it was still a three way race with Kinsey Reed holding the slightest edge over Alicia Parsons and Kesley Chambers, with each coming through in 9:08. Danielle Haynes was holding a slight edge over Hailey Miller for 4th with each coming through in 9:14. Kylie Rutherford was remained in 6th at 9:18. Montana Garrett was in 7th at 9:22. Sheena Chambers was 8th at 9:25. Lavania Lemasters was in 9th at 9:28. Amelia Sebok was in 10th at 9:32. Marissa Long was in 11th at 9:34. Samantha Stout was running 12th in 9:35. Cami Mosser was in 13th at 9:39. Hannah Gacek was close behind in 9:40. Julianna Butcher had moved up to 15th in 9:44. Taylor Treadway was in 16th at 9:46. Aidan Payton was in 17th at 9:49. Andrea Chidester was in 18th at 9:50. Megan Carder was in 19th at 9:51. Oak Glen's Felicity Nolder had moved into 20th at 9:52.

I picked up some bonus footage prior to the two mile mark. I didn't catch times here, but Alicia Parsons was in front, followed closely by Kinsey Reed. Kesley Chambers was about 2 second behind. Those three had generated a substantial gap on the rest of the field. Hailey Miller had moved up to 4th, just ahead of Montana Garrett, who had moved up to 5th. Danielle Haynes was in 6th, just 3 seconds behind that pair. Lavania Lemasters was in 7th, with Sheena Chambers in 8th, and Kylie Rutherford in 9th.

At the two mile mark, Alicia Parsons still held a slight 1 second advantage over Kinsey Reed with the pair crossing in 12:42 and 12:43, respectively. Kesley Chambers was in 3rd at 12:46. Montana Garrett had moved into 4th at 13:08. Hailey Miller was in 5th in 13:11. Danielle Haynes remained in 6th in 13:18. Sheena Chambers held a slight advantage over Lavania Lemasters for 7th as both crossed in 13:27. Kylie Rutherford was in 8th at 13:31. Samantha Stout had moved into the top 10 at 13:33. Julianna Butcher had continued her move up the field into 11th, coming through in 13:38. Amelia Sebok was in 12th at 13:44. Cami Mosser was in 13th at 13:45. Marissa Long was in 14th a 13:48. Hannah Gacek was in 15th at 13:49. Felicity Nolder had moved up to 16th in 13:53. Andrew Chidester was in 17th in 13:55. Aidan Payton was in 18th at 13:56. Taylor Treadway matched that time in 19th. Megan Carder was in the 20th position at 14:01.

At the finish, Alicia Parsons had pulled away to take the 11 second win in 19:03. Kelsey Chambers came back up to 2nd, finishing in 19:14. Kinsey Reed held the 3rd position in 19:20. Montana Garrett took firm control of the 4th spot in the last mile, finishing in 19:54, the last to make it in under 20:00. Hailey Miller easily held the 5th spot in 20:06. Samantha Stout used a strong last mile and big kick to move up to 6th in 20:22. Danielle Haynes crossed in 7th at 10:24. Lavania Lemasters took the 8th spot in 20:26. Julianna Butcher continued her rise during the final mile to crack the top 10 again with a 9th place finish in 20:29. Sheena Chambers held the 10th spot in 20:33. Felicity Nolder used a strong last mile to move all the way up to 11th in 20:50. Aidan Payton finished strong to pull up to 12th in 20:55. Hannah Gacek moved up to 13th in the final mile to finish in 20:57. Cami Mosser crossed in 14th in 20:59. Andrea Chidester moved up to 15th to finishe in 21:09. Amber Watson moved up to 16th in the final mile to finish in 21:10, a time match by 17th place Marissa Long. Philip Barbour's Allison Villers climbed into the 18th spot in the last mile and just edged Taylor Treadway as both crossed in 21:12. Kylie Rutherford rounded out the top 20 in 21:15.

In searching for the MVP, in a meet that close, I obviously have to find the difference maker for the winning team. In this instance, it wasn't difficult. The selected runner was picked to finish 57th and 6th on her team. Instead, she finished in 43rd and 5th on her team. Her rise enabled Philip Barbour to capture their 4th straight team title. For that reason, the 2013 RunWV MVP for the State Meet is Cara Kirk.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? The team race went largely as expected. Philip Barbour took the win, though in more dramatic fashion than anticipated. Charleston Catholic came through with the 2nd place finish. Berkeley Springs moved up a spot and Ravenswood moved up a spot. Individually, only 7 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. Only 10 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15. Fortunately, 22 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. The ones who cracked the top 10 earn a position on the podium were Webster's Samantha Stout (picked 13th, got 6th), Robert C. Byrd's (picked 11th, got 8th), and Scott's Sheena Chambers (picked 17th, got 10th). The ones who jumped into the top 25 were Williamstown's Andrea Chidester (picked 26th, got 15th), Charleston Catholic's Peyton Keener (picked 27th, got 24th), and Scott's Samantha Graffius (picked 32nd, got 25th). The big mover of the day was PikeView's Rebecca Sheets who rose 31 places from a predicted finish of 86th to an actual finish of 55th. From a team standpoint, Ravenswood had the best day, scoring 29 fewer points than was predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Philip Barbour girls. The was the toughest one yet. You fought hard and came up with just enough to get the fourth title in a row. You've made history.

I offer my congratulations to Alicia Parsons. It's easy for Freshmen to make excuses and succumb to the pressure, but you executed your race without flaw, without fail and proved to be the strongest in the field.

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.