The A-AA Girls opened the afternoon session. The weather had only warmed a little until about 15 minutes before the race was to start. Then the skies opened and the sun broke through and any lingering chill in the air was gone. This was expected to be a close, exciting race in both the team and individual categories with three teams and four individuals as primary contenders for the titles. That didn't materialize as Berkeley Springs sped off with a 23 point win in the team competition and Philip Barbour's Jessica Melvin powered away from the field over the last half of the race to win by over 20 seconds.

My first checkpoint was again the top of the hill at approximately 0.7 miles. Sherman's Amelia Sebok had the early lead with Doddridge's Desirae Schoonover at her side with both at 4:29. They were trailed closely by Richwood's Caitlin Cowell and Berkeley Springs' Stephanie Golden who passed at 4:30. There was a significant gap back to 5th, with Philip Barbour's Jessica Mevlin holding that spot at 4:37. That was matched by Trinity Christian's Piper McLaughlin. Close behind them in 7th was East Fairmont's Olga Hawranick at 4:38. Another gap led us to Buffalo's Madison Michels in 8th at 4:42. Richwood's Madison Frame and Wheeling Central's Kenadee Wayt crossed at 4:43 in 9th and 10th, respectively. I have to apoligize to Madison Frame. Throughout the entire race, I drew a complete blank on her name. St. Joseph's McKenzie Moran was in 11th at 4:44 with Notre Dame's Rachel Rogers matching that time. They were trailed a second later by North Marion's Taylor Trowbridge, Philip Barbour's Kierra Hodge, and Frankfort's Julianna Butcher at 4:45. At 4:46 in 16th and 17th were Fairmont Senior's Adriana Abruzzino and Charleston Catholic's Hannah Gacek. Ritchie's Gwyn Napier and Berkeley Springs' Amanda Lupton were in 18th and 19th, respectively at 4:47. Williamstown's Kasey McNamara was in 20th at 4:49. While course conditions certainly plaed a role, the field was more aggressive than last year as 20th place passed this point at a faster time than the leader did last year.

At the mile mark, there were three were at the front, with Desirae Schoonover now leading by half a stride over Amelia Sebok with both crossing at 6:18. Stephanie Golden had moved into 3rd at 6:19. The pack has started to close on the leaders now, as Jessica Melvin had moved into 4th and to within 4 seconds of the lead at 6:22. Olga Hawranick was in 5th with the same time. Piper McLaughlin was in 6th at 6:23. Caitlin Cowell was in 7th at 6:24. Madison Frame was up to 8th in 6:25. At 6:28 were Julianna Butcher and Madison Michels, who were in 9th and 10th, respectively. In 11th at 6:29 was Kierra Hodge. Rachel Rogers remained in 12th at 6:30. Hannah Gacek had moved up to 13th at 6:31. McKenzie Moran was in 14th at 6:35. Amanda Lupton and Adriana Abruzzino both crossed at 6:36 in 15th and 16th, respectively. Kenadee Wayt was in 17th at 6:39, with that time matched by Taylor Trowbridge. Gwyn Napier was in 19th at 6:41. Philip Barbour's Brianna Williams had moved into 20th at 6:43.

At the top of the hill near the Extension Service building, the highest point on the course at approximately 1.4 miles, Jessica Melvin had moved into the lead and established a gap. She came through at 9:15. Desirae Schoonoer held a slight edge over Stephanie Golden for 2nd with both at 9:19. Amelia Sebok was in 4th at 9:20. Olga Hawranick remained in 5th at 9:24. Piper McLaughlin was still in the 6th position at 9:27. Julianna Butcher had moved into 7th at 9:29, trailed closely by Kierra Hodge with the same time. Caitlin Cowell held a slight edge over Madison Frame for 9th with both at 9:31. Madison Michels was in 11th at 9:33. Hannah Gacek was up to 12th in 9:34. Rachel Rogers was running 13th at 9:35. Amanda Lupton was up to 14th in 9:40. Adriana Abruzzino wa in 15th at 9:47, followed by Gwyn Napier and McKenzie Moran, both at 9:48. Frankfort's Abby Beeman had moved into 18th at 9:49. Brianna Williams was in 19th at 9:50. East Fairmont's Sydney Edge was in 20th at 9:52.

I picked up some bonus footage at about 1.85 miles. Jessica Melvin had all but put away the field at this point, stretching her lead to 12 seconds, coming through in 12:03. Stephanie Golden had moved into 2nd at 12:15. Desirae Schoonover was in 3rd at 12:18. Olga Hawranick had moved into 4th at 12:24. Amelia Sebok was in 5th at 12:25. Kierra Hodge was up to 6th at 12:26. Julianna Butcher remained in 7th at 12:28. Piper McLaughlin was holding 8th at 12:29. Madison Frame was up to 9th in 12:32. Madison Michels had rejoined the top 10 at 12:35. Hannah Gacek continued to move up the field into 11th at 12:38. Caitlin Cowell was in 12th and Amanda Lupton was in 13th with both at 12:39.

At the two mile mark, Jessica Melvin had continued to stretch her lead. I didn't quite make it to the two mile mark to get her time, but I estimate it to be 12:52. Stephanie Golden remained in 2nd in 13:08, and Desirae Schoonover remained in 3rd in 13:10. Olga Hawranick still held 4th at 13:14. Amelia Sebok remained in 5th at 13:15. Kierra Hodge was in 6th at 13:16. Julianna Butcher was in 7th at 13:21. Madison Frame had moved up to 8th at 13:24. Piper McLaughlin was in 9th at 13:25. Madison Michels rounded out the top 10 with 1.1 to go at 13:28. Amanda Lupton was up to 11th at 13:30 with Hannah Gacek matching that time in 12th. Caitlin Cowell was in 13th at 13:34. Brianna Williams was up to 14th in 13:40. Rachel Rogers was in 15th at 13:42. Abby Beeman was up to 16th in 13:44. Gwyn Napier was in 17th in 13:49. Nicholas County's Madison Kelbaugh had moved into 18th at 13:51. Adriana Abruzzino was in 19th in 13:53 with Braxton's Katrina White moving into 20th with the same time.

At the finish, Jessica Melvin had continued to put away the field, stretching her lead to over 20 seconds to take the win in 19:29. Stephanie Golden maintained the 2nd spot in 19:51 with Desirae Schoonover holding the 3rd spot in 19:56. Kierra Hodge used a late surge to move into 4th with a 20:00. Madison Frame complete her stellar run by moving up to 5th in 20:02. Olga Hawranick took the 6th position at 20:06, just ahead of Julianna Butcher's 20:07. Amanda Lupton used a strong last mile to move up to 8th in 20:12. Piper McLaughlin took the 9th spot at 20:18. Madison Michels took the final podium spot in 20:20. Hannah Gacek was 11th in 20:23. Amelia Sebok fell to 12th in 20:29. Brianna Williams moved up to 13th with a 20:30. Abby Beeman moved up to 14th in 20:38. Gwyn Napier rose to the 15th spot in 20:45. Caitlin Cowell took 16th at 20:47. Kasey McNamara rejoined the top 20 in the last mie to finish 17th in 20:51. Katrina White moved up to 18th in 20:57. McKenzie Moran finished 19th in 21:01. Rachel Rogers took the 20th position with a 21:03.

In searching for the MVP, I first looked at Berkeley Springs and their win. They performed well across the board and there wasn't a single person responsible for their 23 point win. The lead me to the 2-3 battle with Frankfort edging past Philip Barbour, but just 3 points. Philip Barbour ran well, so someone needed to step up for Frankfort. They had a couple responders, but to me the primary one was a girl that I had slotted in 49th place and to score 30 team points. Instead, she finished 30th and scored just 21 team points. Her strong showing was more than enough to put Frankfort past Philip Barbour and onto the podium. For that reason, the 2015 RunWV MVP for the State Meet is Frankfort's Alisha Sherman.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Well....meh. I got the team champion, but 2-3 swapped places. Every team was within one spot of their predicted place, so that's not bad. However, individually, only 7 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. Even worse, only 9 of the predicted to 15 finished in the top 15. It did improve a bit as 20 of the predicted to 25 finished in the top 25. On average, runners finished within 7.85 places of their predicted finish. The three who jumped up to a podium spot were Richwood's Madison Frame (picked 23rd, got 5th), Trinity Christian's Piper McLaughlin (picked 19th, got 9th), and Buffalo's Madison Michels (picked 18th, got 10th). Those who moved into the top 25 were Philip Barbour's Brianna Williams (picked 29th, got 13th), St. Joseph's McKenzie Moran (picked 30th, got 19th), Nicholas County's Alyssa Woods (picked 31st, got 22nd), East Fairmont's Sydney Edge (got 27th, got 23rd), and Berkeley Springs' Brooke Davison (picked 32nd, got 25th). The big mover of the day was East Fairmont's Destiny Burgoyne who jumped 31 places from a predicted 90th place finish to an actual 59th. From a team standpoint, the best day was had by Berkeley Springs, who scored 20 points fewer than was predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Berkeley Springs girls. It took most of the season to take over the number 1 spot, and when you got it, you faced adversity. You found a way to overcome that adversity and excel when it was time to excel and repeat as State Champions despite losing two All-State Runners from last year. It was not a rebuild, it was a reload.

I offer my congratulations to Jessica Melvin. You asserted yourself at the end of the season when it matters, taking strong wins at the toughest Regional and then throttling the field at the State Meet. You had the discipline to not get caught up in the early rush and the confidence to run your race. It paid off in a big way over the last 2/3 of the race as you decimated the competition.

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.