The final race of the day was the Class AAA Girls. The temperature had continued to rise with a starting temp of 79 degrees. It was not a setup for a fast day. The team race was expected to be a dominant win by University. University did take the win, but not in as dominant a fashion as was expected. The individual race was expected to go to University's TaShala Turner, but that was not to be as she dropped out somewhere between 1 and 1.4 miles while battling with Hampshire's Hannah Lipps for the lead. There was no one else who was able to challenge Lipps and she ran away with the title by 19 seconds.

The first checkpoint is the top of the hill, which is about 0.7 miles into the race. At this point, Hampshire's Hannah Lipps had a slight advantage of University's TaShala Turner with both passing at 4:20. Parkersburg's Olivia Collett was the 3rd runner through in 4:21. Parkersburg's Madison Trippett was in 4th at 4:22 with that time matched by George Washington's Olivia Ward and Wheeling Park's Beighley Ayers. University's Brooke Franklins was in 8th at 4:23. There was a small gap back to 8th, Morgantown's Samantha Hatcher, who came through in 4:27. Huntington's Winnie Mayes was in 9th at 4:28, and Parkerburg's Ellie Dario gave them three in the top 10 at 4:29. She was just slightly ahead of Hurricane's Danielley Ray, who matched that time. University's Emma Williams was in 12th at 4:30. She was followed by University's Peyton Kukura in 13th at 4:32. Parkersburg South's Abby Herring was in 14th at 4:33 with Hedgesville's Jessie Hogbin close behind with the same time. Wheeling Park's Isabella Disaia was in 16th at 4:34 with that time matched by Morgantown's Avigail Radabaugh and Morgantown's Myah McAlister. They were followed by yet another Morgantown runner, Lauren Hancox in 19th at 4:36. University's Zoe Shetty was in 20th at 4:38.

At the mile mark, the front two had opened a gap on the rest of the field with Hannah Lipps still holding a slight lead over TaShala Turner with both crossing at 6:00. Madison Trippett had moved into 3rd at 6:06, but she was at the front of a close pack with Olivia Collett, Beighley Ayers, and Brooke Franklin, who each matched that time. Olivia Ward was in 7th at 6:10. Ellie Dario had moved up to 8th at 6:12. Samantha Hatcher was in 9th and Winnie Mayes was in 10th with both also passing in 6:12. Avigail Radabaugh was in 11th at 6:17 just slightly ahead of Emma Williams with the same time. Peyton Kukura was in 13th at 6:18 with Jessie Hogbin and Danielle Ray matching that time. Myah McAlister was in 16th at 6:21. Abby Herring was in 17th at 6:22. Isabella Disaia was in 18th at 6:23. Zoe Shetty was in 19th at 6:25. Lauren Hancox was in 20th at 6:29.

The next checkpoint was at the WVU Extension service building at approximately 1.4 miles. This is the highest point on the course. At this point, Hannah Lipps had opened a large gap passing in 8:43. Brooke Franklin had moved into 2nd at 8:57. Olivia Collett was in 3rd at 9:01 with Madison Trippett close behind in 9:02. Beighley Ayers was in 5th at 9:04. It became apparent that TaShala Turner had dropped out of the race. Emma Williams had moved up to 6th in 9:10, just ahead of Ellie Dario and Winnie Mayes in 7th and 8th, respectively with the same time. Samantha Hatcher was in 9th at 9:13. Jessie Hogbin had moved into 10th at 9:16, just ahead of Avigail Radabaugh with the same time. Danielle Ray had moved up to 12th in 9:22. Zoe Shetty had moved up to 13th in 9:25. Olivia Ward was in 16th in 9:26. Peyton Kukura was in 16th in 9:27. Myah McAlister was in 17th at 9:31. Lauren Hancox was in 18th in 9:34. University's Gretchen Pifer had moved into 19th in 9:40, and Morgantown's Montanna Garrett had moved into 20th in 9:41. Both University and Morgantown had five in the top 20 at this point with University having the edge at each spot.

At my bonus footage area at around 1.85 miles, Hannah Lipps had stretched her lead a little more, passing in 11:34. Olivia Collett had moved into 2nd at 11:50. Brooke Franklin was in 3rd at 11:52. Madison Trippett remained in 4th, and Beighley Ayers remained in 5th. I had to move on at that point.

At the two mile mark, Hannah Lipps continued to have a large lead, coming through at 12:22. Olivia Collett had closed the gap by a second, but still trailed by 15 seconds at 12:37. Brooke Franklin was in 3rd at 12:44. Madison Trippett was in 4th at 12:51. Beighley Ayers remained in 5th at 12:57. Emma Williams was in 6th at 13:02 with Ellie Dario matching that time in 7th. Winnie Mayes was closed behind in 8th, passing in 13:03. Jessie Hogbin had moved up to 9th in 13:07. samantha Hatcher was in 10th at 13:10. Avigail Radabaugh was in 11th at 13:12. Zoe Shetty was running 12th in 13:15. Danielle Ray was in 13th at 13:16. Isabella Disaia was in 14th at 13:19. Myah McAlister was in 15th in 13:26. Peyton Kukura was in 16th at 13:29. Lauren Hancox was 17th in 13:40. Gretchen Pifer was 18th in 13:42. Montanna Garrett was in 19th at 13:44. Olivia Ward was holding the 20th spot at 13:47.

Coming onto the track, Hannah Lipps remained all alone and had extended her lead. She celebrated through the line to finish in 19:07. Brooke Franklin had moved into 2nd to finish in 19:26, holding off Madison Trippett in 19:28. Olivia Collett had dropped out somewhere in the final mile, meaning that two of the top 3 ranked runners did not finish the race. Beighley Ayers held the 4th position in 19:43. Ellie Dario moved up to 5th in 19:48. Zoe Shetty closed well to move all the way up to 6th in 19:55. Emma Williams made it 3 for University in the top 10 with her 7th place finish in 20:01. Winnie Mayes was right behind in 8th at 20:03. Jessie Hogbin held the 9th spot at 20:12, just ahead of Myah McAlister, who finished very strong to move up to 10th and take the final podium position in 20:13. Isabella Disaia closed well to move up to 11th in 20:17. Danielle Ray was 12th in 20:33. Avigail Radabaugh was 13th in 20:35. Samantha Hatcher finished 14th in 20:42. Peyton Kukura overtook Lauren Hancox for the 15th position down the stretch to finish in 20:46 to Hancox's 20:47. Cabell Midland's Anya Miller closed well to move into 17th place in 20:53. Gretchen Pifer was 18th in 20:57. Amber Dombrowski moved up to 19th in the final mile to finish in 21:02, and Montanna Garrett was 20th in 21:04.

The MVP choice is difficult. University didn't really have anyone that was a true difference maker, though I will note the strong run of Gretchen Pifer that kept the race from being really close. Morgantown performed pretty well across the board. Where I had to go to find a difference maker was someone who outperformed and made a big difference for their team. This person moved up 18 spots from her predicted place to her actual place, picking up 18 team points in the process. Had she finished where predicted, her team would have fallen three spots down the list. For that performance, the 2016 RunWV MVP is Hampshire's Della Moreland.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Not great, but certainly a lot better than the boys race. I did get the team champion correct. It wasn't as dominant as expected, but they still won by 18 points, and only two teams moved more than 1 spot from their predicted finish (my 6 and 8 switched). Individually, I didn't get the champion correct as my predicted winner did not finish. With two of the top 3 dropping out, I only got 7 of the top 10. I only got 11 of the top 15 but did manage a respectable 20 of the top 25. On average, runners finishe within 6.77 places of their predicted finish, an improvement by almost a full place from last year. Those who moved onto the podium were University's Zoe Shetty (picked 12, got 6th), Huntington's Winnie Mayes (picked 21st, got 8th), and Morgantown's Myah McAlister (picked 26th, got 10th). Those who moved into the top 25 were Morgantown's Myah McAlister (picked 26th, got 10th), Morgantown's Lauren Hancox (picked 28th, got 16th), University's Gretchen Pifer (picked 29th, got 18th), Spring Mills' Blake Hull (picked 27th, got 23rd), and University's Emma Troischt (picked 32nd, got 25th). The big mover of the day was Woodrow Wilson's Caroline Holliday who moved up 20 spots from a predicted 66th place finish to an actual 46th place finish. From a team standpoint, Morgantown had the best day, scoring 26 fewer points than was predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the University girls. While you were heavy favorites, the meet was not without adversity. You could have shut down when your top runner went down, but you persevered and pushed forward to hold off a strong challenger. You still put 3 in the top 10 and five in the top 18 showing just how strong and deep your team is.

I offer my congratulations to Hannah Lipps. You handles the heat and the course better than anyone else. You ran your race and put it away, running strong despite being all alone for much of the last two miles.

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.