The final race of the day was the Class AAA Girls. The weather held steady with cool temperatures, breezy, but no more rain. It wasn't an ideal day, but it could have been much, much worse. This was expected to be a battle between as many as four teams. In the end, it was a battle, but between just two teams as University outdueled Morgantown for the championship and they left Hampshire and pre-meet favorite Hurricane far behind. Individually, Abby Colbert once again put together a big time State Meet performance to run away with the win, taking it by a whopping 28 seconds.

The first checkpoint is the top of the hill, which is about 0.7 miles into the race. At this point, the two pre-meet favorites had already gapped the field. Jefferson's Abby Colbert and Capital's Peyton Panger came through in 4:29 with Colbert having a slight edge. Morgantown's Victoria Cooke was running 3rd in 4:35 and University's Sarah Wills was in 4th with the same time. Hampshire's Hannah Lipps was in 5th at 4:36. University's TaShala Turner was in 6th at 4:37. Lewis County's Emily Louk (to whom I must apologize...I think I continually referred to her as Hannah throughout the meet) was in 7th at 4:41. Winfield's Rachael Englund was in 8th at 4:44. Woodrow Wilson's Emily Fedders and Morgantown's Amber Dombrowski were running in 9th and 10th, respectively with both coming through at 4:49. Hedgesville's Jessie Hogbin was in 11th at 4:51. University's Mikaela Mitchell and Peyton Kukura were running 12th and 13th, respectively with Elkins' Olivia Underwood in 14th, Preston's Lindsey Scheffel in 15th, and Hampshire's Morgan Roach in 16th with all coming through in 4:52. Morgantown's Samantha Hatcher was in 17th at 4:53. Preston's Tori Carr was in 18th at 4:55. Morgantown's Myah McAlister and Hurricane's Jenna Crouch were running 19th and 20th, respectively with both at 4:56.

At the mile mark, Abby Colbert still held a slim margin over Peyton Panger, but with both crossing at 6:05. Hannah Lipps and Victoria Cooke crossed in 3rd and 4th, respectively with both at 6:19. Sarah Wills was in 5th at 6:20. Tashala Turner was in 6th at at 6:21. Emily Louk remained in 7th place at 6:26. Emily Fedders was running 8th at 6:32, just ahead of Rachael Englund with the same time. Amber Dombrowski was in 10th at 6:39, just ahead of Jessie Hogbin with the same time. Lindsey Scheffel was 12th in 6:40. Peyton Kukura and Mikaela Mitchell were in 13th and 14th, respectively with both at 6:42. Olivia Underwood was 15th in 6:43. Jenna Crouch had moved up to 16th with the same time. Morgan Roach was in 17th with the same time. Tori Carr was 18th in 6:44 with Samantha Hatcher in 19th with the same time. Hurricane's Joie Johnston was battling injury but up to 20th in 6:48.

The next checkpoint was at the WVU Extension service building at approximately 1.4 miles. The story was the same. Abby Colbert held a slight lead over Peyton Panger with both at 8:45. Hannah Lipps was in 3rd at 9:11. Sarah Wills had moved into 4th at 9:12. Victoria Cooke was in 5th at 9:14. Tashala Turner was in 6th at 9:17. Emily Louk was in 7th at 9:22. Emily Fedders continued to hold a slight lead over Rachael Englund for 8th with both over 9:32. Lindsey Scheffel had moved into 10th, just ahead of Jessie Hogbin with the same time. Jenna Crouch continued her upward move into 12th at 9:40. Peyton Kukura was in 13th at 9:44. Amber Dombrowski was in 14th at 9:45. Tori Carr was in 15th at 9:46. Samantha Hatcher was in 16th at 9:47. Mikaela Mitchell held 18th at 9:48. Morgantown's Skylar Brooks had moved into the top 20 at 18th, coming through in 9:54. Joie Johnston was in 19th at 9:54 with Morgan Roach in 20th with the same time.

At my bonus footage area at around 1.85 miles, Abby Colbert had started to establish a gap. She had moved to a 4 second lead over Peyton Panger with Colbert passing in 11:20 and Panger at 11:24. Those two were so far ahead of the field, that they were the only ones I saw at this spot.

At the two mile mark, Abby Colbert had extended her lead to 6 seconds crossing at 12:13 to Peyton Panger's 12:19. Those two were now nearly 40 seconds ahead of everyone else. Hannah Lipps was in 3rd, just ahead of Victoria Cooke with both crossing in 12:57. Sarah Wills was in 5th in 13:03. Tashala Turner was in 6th at 13:09. Emily Louk was in 7th at 13:13 but starting to close the gap slightly. These 7 were well ahead of the rest with Emily Fedders in 8th in 13:28. Jessie Hogbin was in 9th at 13:29. Jenna Crouch was up to 10th in 13:30. Lindsey Scheffel was in 11th and Rachael Englund 12th with both at 13:31. Peyton Kukura was in 13th at 13:41. Tori Carr had moved up to 14th at 13:43 with Samantha Hatcher in 15th with the same time. Amber Dombrowski was in 16th at 13:47. Winfield's Alyssa Rittinger had moved into the top 20, coming through in 17th at 13:52. Mikaela Mitchell was in 18th at 13:54. Hurricane's Abbie Short had moved into the top 20 at 19th in 13:55. Parkesburg South's Allison Currey had also moved into the top 20 at 13:58.

Coming onto the track, it was all Abby Colbert. She had completely put the race away in the final mile. She powered away on the last mile to take the win by an extremely convincing 28 seconds in 18:23. Considering the course conditions, that's just a stellar time. Peyton Panger easily held the 2nd position with an 18:51. Victoria Cooke outkicked Hannah Lipps for 3rd with Cooke getting at 19:39 and Lipps a 19:40. Emily Louk had made the move into 5th with a 19:54. Tashala Turner outkicked teammate Sarah Wills for 6th with Turner getting a 19:57 and Wills getting a 19:58. Emily Fedders held the 8th spot at 20:13. Jenna Crouch continued her race-long climb to finish 9th at 20:17. Apologies to her as well as I called her as Rachael Englund at the finish. Jessie Hogbin took the final podium spot in 20:20. Lindsay Scheffel held off the late kick of teammate Tori Carr for 11th with both at 20:27. Both passed Rachael Englund just before the line as she had a 20:27 as well. And...apologies again...this time to Englund for calling her out as Alexis Imperial at the finish line. Peyton Kukura was 14th in 20:43. Samantha Hatcher was 15th in 20:47. Amber Dombrowski finished 16th in 20:55. Allison Currey continued her rise to finish 17th in 20:58. Abbie Short moved up to 18th in 20:59. Hampshire's Kelsey Mowery moved up to 19th with a 21:04. Mikaela Mitchell rounded out the top 20 with a 21:06.

The search for the MVP led me to the battle for the title. University only won by 6 points, and they had one athlete who picked up 9 critical points by improving on their predicted finish position by 12 places. Those 9 points were the difference. If she finishes where she was predicted, Morgantown hoists the championship trophy again. For that reason, the 2014 RunWV MVP Award goes to University's Peyton Kukura.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Not well. I didn't get the team champion, and my predicted champion fell all the way to 4th. I did get the individual champion right with Abby Colbert coming through. But again, only 8 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. Only 11 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15. And only 18 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. That could be the worst set I've ever had. The two who stepped up onto the podium were Woodrow Wilson's Emily Fedders (picked 11th and 8th) and Hedgesville's Jessie Hogbin (picked 12th, got 10th). The many that moved into the top 25 included University's Peyton Kukura (picked 26th, got 14th), Morgantown's Amber Dombrowski (picked 28th, got 16th), Hampshire's Kelsey Mowery (picked 33rd, got 19th), Winfield's Alyssa Rittinger (picked 32nd, got 21st), Morgantown's Myah McAlister (picked 27th, got 22nd), Capital's Riley Simmerman (picked 29th, got 24th), and University's Madeline Wright (picked 36th, got 25th). I'm tired just typing all those. The big mover of the day was Preston's Samantha Chambers who climbed 27 places from a predicted finish of 74th to an actual finish of 47th. From a team standpoint Musselman had the best day, scoring 41 fewer points than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the University girls. This was believed to be anyone's game coming in, but you are the ones that took it. You ran well when it was time to run well. You put 2 in the top 10, 3 in the top 15, 4 in the top 20 and 5 in the top 25. It was everything you had to do, and you did it.

I offer my congratulations to Abby Colbert. You continue to prove that you're one of the top big meet performers the State has seen. When the time comes to step up a level, you always manage to do it. An 18:23 is a strong time anywhere, but in the soft, sloppy conditions from Saturday, it was truly stellar. Excellent job.

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.