The A-AA Girls closed the morning session. The weather hadn't really improved any. It was still cold, somewhat windy, and with off-and-on sprinkles. This was expected to be Berkeley Springs' morning, but with Philip Barbour having a shot if Berkeley Springs was off a bit or Philip Barbour ran really well. Philip Barbour ran well, but Berkeley Springs ran really well and ended up dominating the meet and placing three runners on the podium. The individual title was really considered to be up to any of five runners, and it was one of those runners who took the title with Grafton's Alicia Parsons repeating as champion after making a move at about the half-way point to open a gap that no one was able to close as she held off the late push of Frankfort's Julianna Butcher to win by 4 seconds.

My first checkpoint was again the top of the hill at approximately 0.7 miles. Ravenswood's Hailey Miller had the early lead, coming through in 4:50. Williamstown's Kasey McNamara matched that time in 2nd place. Berkeley Springs' Danielle Haynes was in 3rd at 4:51. Robert C. Byrd's Lavania LeMasters was in 4th with Grafton's Alicia Parsons in 5th with both coming through in 4:52. Berkeley Springs' Kinsey Reed was in 6th at 4:53. Sherman's Amelia Sebok was in 7th at 4:54. There was a small gap back to 8th place Kierra Hodge of Philip Barbour who came through in 4:58. East Fairmont's Olga Hawranick was just a second back in 9th at 4:59. Frankfort's Julianna Butcher was in 10th at 5:00. Ravenswood's Taylor Treadway was in 11th at 5:02 with that time matched by Braxton's Logan Frame in 12th. Berkeley Springs' Stephanie Golden was in 13th at 5:04. Trinity's Piper McLaughlin was holding 14th, just ahead of Ritchie's Taylor Mace in 15th with both coming through in 5:08. Liberty Harrison's Hannah Ramirez and North Marion's Taylor Trowbridge both came through in 5:10 and in 16th and 17th, respectively. Nicholas County's Aidan Payton was in 18th at 5:11. Charleston Catholic's Hannah Gacek was in 19th at 5:13, and Wirt County's Mary Kerby wsa in 20th at 5:14.

At the mile mark, there was a 9 person pack running together. Alicia Parsons had the slightest of leads with Kinsey Reed, Danielle Haynes, and Lavania LeMasters matching her 6:40 mile time. Kasey McNamara, Julianna Butcher, Hailey Miller, and Kierra Hodge crossed at 6:41 with Amelia Sebok in 6:42. These 9 had opened a gap on the remainder of the field. Olga Hawranick was in 10th at 6:48. Taylor Treadway was in 11th at 6:51. Logan Frame was in 12th at 6:54. Stephanie Golden was in 13th at 6:57. Piper McLaughlin remained in 14th at 7:03. Hannah Ramirez and Taylor Mace remained together in 15th and 16th, respectively, with both at 7:05. Aidan Payton had moved into 17th at 7:07 with that time being matched by Hannah Gacek in 18th. Mary Kerby was in 19th at 7:11. Philip Barbour's Brianna Williams had moved into 20th at 7:12.

At the top of the hill near the Extension Service building at approximately 1.4 miles, things were still pretty tight. Kasey McNamara had moved into the lead in 9:43 just ahead of Alicia Parsons, also at 9:43. Kinsey Reed, Kierra Hodge, and Lavania LeMasters held the 3rd through 5th spots, respectively, with each coming through in 9:44. Danielle Haynes was in 6th at 9:45. Julianna Butcher was in 7th at 9:45. Amelia Sebok had moved into 8th at 9:48 with that time matched by Hailey Miller in 9th. Taylor Treadway had moved into the top 10 at 9:56. Olga Hawranick was in 11th at 9:58. Stephanie Golden had moved up to 12th at 10:04 with Logan Frame coming through in 13th with the same time. Piper McLaughlin remained in 14th at 10:15. Taylor Mace was in 15th at 10:18. Hannah Ramirez was in 16th at 10:21. Brianna Williams had moved up to 17th at 10:24. Aidan Payton was in 18th at 10:25. Berkeley Springs' Amanda Lupton had moved into the top 20 at 19th, giving Berkeley Springs four in the top 20 at this point, also crossing at 10:25. Mary Kerby was in the 20th spot at 10:27.

I picked up some bonus footage at about 1.85 miles. Alicia Parsons had made a move to the front and opened a gap on the field, coming through in 12:34. Julianna Butcher had made several passes into the 2nd position at 12:38. Kinsed Reed was in 3rd at 12:40 with Kierra Hodge in 4th at 12:41. Kasey McNamara, Danielle Haynes, and Lavania LeMasters were in 5th through 7th positions, respectively, all at 12:43. Those 7 had gotten away from the rest of the field. Hailey Miller had a slight edge over Amelia Sebok for 8th with both coming through at 12:54. Taylor Treadway remained in 10th at 12:58. Stephanie Golden continued to move up, now into 11th, at 13:08. Olga Hawranick was in 12th at 13:09, and Logan Frame was in 13th at 13:10. Piper McLaughlin continued to hold the 14th spot at 13:23 with Taylor Mace in 15th at 13:24. I don't have times on the rest, but Brianna Williams was up to 16th. Hannah Ramirez was in 17th. Amanda Lupton was in 18th, and Aidan Payton was in 19th. I had to move on before I could see 20th.

At the two mile mark, Alicia Parsons continued to hold a 4 second lead, coming through at approximately 13:33. Julianna Butcher and Kierra Hodge were battling for 2nd with Butcher having a slight edge, but both crossing at about 13:37. Kinsey Reed was in 4th at 13:39. Kasey McNamara was in 5th at 13:41. Danielle Haynes was in 6th at 13:43. Lavania Lemasters was in 7th at 13:44. Amelia Sebok was in 8th at 13:53. Hailey Miler was in 9th at 13:55. Taylor Treadway was in 10th at 13:56. These 10 were well ahead of the field. Stephanie Golden was in 11th at 14:08. Olga Hawranick remained in 12th at 14:10. Logan Frame remained in 13th at 14:12. Piper McLaughlin still held the 14th position at 14:26, just ahead of Taylor Mace who crossed with the same time. Brianna Williams was in 16th at 14:27. Amanda Luptson was up to 17th at 14:31. Hannah Ramirez was in 18th at 14:33. Charleston Catholic's Lia Preston had moved into the top 20 at 19th with a 14:35. Also moving into the top 20 was Philip Barbour's Jessica Melvin at 14:36.

At the finish, despite dropping the lead to Julianna Butcher on a couple occasions, Alicia Parsons powered her way back to a 4 second advantage and the repeat championship in 20:09. Julianna Butcher held the 2nd spot at 20:13. Kasey McNamara moved up to 3rd over the final mile to finish in 20:17. Kierra Hodge took the 4th position at 20:26. Kinsey Reed claimed 5th at 20:29. Those five really pulled away from the other contenders. Lavania LeMasters came up to 6th in 20:49. Danielle Haynes was 7th in 20:52, just holding off Amelia Sebok who took 8th in 20:53. Taylor Treadway came up to 9th in 20:55. Stephanie Golden moved into the final podium position in 20:57 and was the final runner in under 21:00. Logan Frame moved up to 11th in 21:10. Brianna Williams used a strong final mile to move all the way up to 12th in 21:18. Olga Hawranick finished 13th in 21:24, just getting past Hailey Miller who fell to 14th over the final mile at 21:25. Taylor Mace crossed in 15th place at 21:33, just ahead of Piper McLaughlin in 16th at 21:34, who just held off Amanda Lupton in 17th at 21:35. Lia Preston moved up to 18th at 21:40. Jessica Melvin moved up to 19th at 21:41, and Aidan Payton battled back to 20th at 21:45.

In searching for the MVP, I was compelled to look at Frankfort as they moved from a predicted 7th place finish to taking 3rd place on the tie-breaker. They did have one athlete who was instrumental in this move. This particular athlete moved up 18 places from her predicted finish to her actual finish and picked up 13 team points in the process. If she finishes in her projected position, Frankfort falls to at least 6th place. This runner stepped up when needed. For these reasons, the 2014 RunWV MVP for the State Meet is Sarah Collett.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? In summary...not too good. Berkeley Springs and Philip Barbour took the top two spots as expected. I knew the other spots could be close,but I had teams rising and falling four spots. In fact, oddly, predicted spots 3-4-5-6-7 had actual finishes of 7-6-5-4-3. Individually, I knew the odds were against getting this one right. They were just too close and too many had a legitimate shot. 8 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. 12 of the predicted top 15 finished in the top 15. And only 20 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25, and each of those five surprises was picked outside the top 30. The ones who cracked the top 10 to earn a position on the podium were Sherman's Amelia Sebok (picked 14th, got 8th) and Berkeley Springs' Stephanie Golden (picked 13th, got 10th). Those who moved into the top 25 were Ritchie's Taylor Mace (picked 34th, got 15th), Berkeley Springs' Amanda Lupton (picked 32nd, got 17th), Berkeley Springs' Haleigh Fields (picked 31st, got 22nd), Webster's Courtney King (picked 33rd, got 24th), and Wirt's Mary Kerby (picked 39th, got 25th). The big mover of the day was Ritchie's Taylor Mace who moved up 19 positions from her predicted 34th place finish to her actual 15th place finish. From a team standpoint, Frankfort had the best day, scoring 19 fewer points than was predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Berkeley Springs girls. It's not always easy to be the favorite, but you came to Midland and brought your beast shoes with you. Championships are won on runners 3 through 5, and yours got the job done in splendid fashion, ending Philip Barbour's four year stronghold on the title.

I offer my congratulations to Alicia Parsons. This was a tougher season than last year, but you came through in the end. You made the move on your terms and no one was ever able to make it back to you. Two years and two titles. Nothing more needs to be said.

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 don't mean a thing. That's why we run the race.