The opening race of the day found temperatures in the mid-to-upper 40's with a light, steady rain. The course was still in pretty good shape, though. The team race was expected to be a romp for University. Morgantown gave a solid effort, but University was never truly threatened as they took the win by 15 points, placing 4 in the top 10. Individually, it was to be a duel between Ripley's Tori Starcher and University's TaShala Turner. That duel continued for over 2 miles as the pair ran stride for stride before Starcher broke away coming down the hill. She continued to power away all the way to the finish in 17:34 and a 20 second win.

The first checkpoint is the top of the hill, which is about 0.7 miles into the race. University's TaShala Turner and Ripley's Tori Starcher came through together, having already established a gap on the field with the pair crossing in 4:15, with Turner having perhaps the slightest of leads. Parkersburg's Olivia Collett was in 3rd at 4:19. Teammate Madison Trippett was in 4th at 4:21. Hampshire's Hannah Lipps was running 5th in 4:23. Morgantown's Samantha Hatcher was in 6th at 4:26 (apologies to her, by they way as I frequently referred to her as Avigail Radabaugh during the race, but in my defense, she wasn't wearing the correct number). University's Petyon Kukura was close behind in 4:27. Wheeling Park's Isabella DiSaia was in 8th in 4:28 with University's Caroline Kirby matching that time in 9th. University's Zoe Shetty wasi n 10th at 4:29, just ahead of Huntington's Winnie Mayes. At 4:30, in 12th and 13th, respectively were Wheeling Park's Beighley Ayers and George Washington's Olivia Ward. Hurricane's Danielle Ray was in 14th at 4:32. Morgantown's Avigail Radabaugh was at the front of a small pack in 15th in 4:33. Also in that group were Morgantown's Myah McAlister and Parkersburg South's Abby Herring. University's Emma Williams was in 18th at 4:37. Morgantown's Amber Dombrowski and Amelia Haddox were 19th and 20th, respectively in 4:38.

At the mile mark, the front two had extended their gap slightly with Ta Shala Turner and Tori Starcher both coming through in 5:49 with Turner still being ever so slightly ahead. Olivia Collett remained in 3rd in 5:55. Madison Trippett was still in 4th in 5:58. Hannah Lipps was in 5th in 5:59 but closing. Peyton Kukura had moved into 6th in 6:07 just ahead of Samantha Hatcher in the same time. Zoe Shetty had moved into 8th in 6:11 with Caroline Kirby holding a slight lead over Isabella DiSaia for 9th in 6:12. Beighley Ayers and Avigail Radabaugh were in 11th and 12th, respectively in 6:13. Myah McAlister had moved up to 13th in 6:14. Olivia Ward was in 14th in 6:15. Winnie Mayes was in 15th at 6:16. Danielle Ray was in 17th at 6:20. Emma Williams was in 17th, just ahead of Amelia Haddox and Abby Herring with all three at 6:23. Morgantown's Athena Young had moved into 20th in 6:24.

The next checkpoint was at the WVU Extension service building at approximately 1.4 miles. This is the highest point on the course. TaShala Turner passed in 8:27, with Tori Stacher just a second back in 8:28. Hannah Lipps had made a nice move to slide into 3rd in 8:40. Olivia Collett was in 4th in 8:42. Things were starting to string out a bit now. Madison Trippett was in 5th at 8:47. Samantha Hatcher had re-taken 6th in 8:51. Peyton Kukura was in 7th at 8:47. Zoe Shetty was in 8th at 9:01. Isabella DiSaia was in 9th at 9:04 with Caroline Kirby close behind in 9:05. Avigail Radabaugh was in 11th in 9:08, just ahead of Beighley Ayers with the same time. Myah McAlister remained in 13th in 9:11. Olivia Ward continued to hold 14th in 9:13. Emma Williams was up to 15th in 9:16. Athena Young had moved up to 16th in 9:17 with Winnie Mayes matching that time in 17th. Amelia Haddox was in 18th in 9:18. Danielle Ray was in 19th at 9:19. Cabell Midland's Gretchen Mills had climbed into 20th in 9:28.

At my bonus footage area at around 1.85 miles, Tori Starcher and TaShala Turner remained together in 11:03 with Starcher now holding a slight advantage. Hannah Lipps still held 3rd in 11:17. Olivia Collette was still in 4th at 11:19. Samantha Hatcher had moved into 5th at 11:31. Madison Trippett was in 6th at 11:35. Zoe Shetty and Peyton Kukura held the next two spots.

At the two mile mark, TaShala Turner and Tori Starcher remained together at 11:51 with Turner now back to having a slight edge. Hannah Lipps remained in 3rd in 12:09 with Olivia Collett close behind in 12:10. Samantha Hatcher had closed the gap slightly, passing in 12:20. Madison Trippett was in 6th in 12:27. Zoe Shetty was in 7th in 12:34 with Peyton Kukura in 8th in 12:36. Isabella DiSaia and Caroline Kirby continued to battle with both passing in 12:45 and DiSaia continuing to hold a slight lead. Beighley Ayers was in 11th in 12:51. Avigail Radabaugh was in 12th in 12:53. Athena Young had made a big move up to 13th in 12:55. Myah McAlister was in 14th in 12:57. Emma Williams was just ahead of Amelia Haddox with both in 13:01. Olivia Ward was in 17th in 13:06. Danielle Ray was just behing in 18th in 13:07. Winnie Mayes was in 19th in 13:13. Gretchen Mills still held the 20th spot in 13:27.

Coming onto the track, it was all Tori Starcher. The rain intensity had picked up, but she had made a breakaway coming down the hill and had opened a large gap. She powered away to take the win in 17:34, which marks the 3rd best performance on this course. She covered the last 1.1 miles in 5:43, which is a 5:12 pace to close the race. TaShala Turner easily held the 2nd spot, and also came through under 18:00 with a 17:54. Hannah Lipps solidly held the 3rd position in 18:22. Samantha Hatcher closed well to finish an easy 4th in 18:29. Olivia Collett held off Zoe Shetty for 5th, 18:46 to 18:48. Madison Trippett was close as well in 18:50. Pyeton Kukura held the 8th spot in 19:03. Beighley Ayers ran a strong last mile to move up to 9th in 19:10. Caroline Kirby took the final podium spot with a 19:13, which also gave University four individuals on the podium. Athena Young continued her rise through the ranks over the final mile to finish in 11th in 19:20. Isabella DiSaia was 12th in 19:25. Myah McAlister moved up to the 13th position in 19:32. Avigail Radabaugh was 14th in 19:38, just holding off teammate Amelia Haddox who also ran 19:38. Emma Williams claimed the 16th position in 19:53. Danielle Ray was 17th in 19:57. Winnie Mayes moved back up to 18th, finishing in 20:04. Olivia Ward claimed 19th in 20:11. Amber Dombrowski moved back into the top 20 at the end to finish in 20:15.

The picks went so well, that it's a real struggle to select an MVP. The top 8 teams finished exactly where expected. 9 and 10 switched and 11 and 12 switched. That makes it very difficult as there isn't a particular performance that made things happen. Musselman moved up a spot, but it wasn't a particular performance as they pretty much moved up en masse. Greenbrier East moved up a spot and got a nice move up from McKenzie Jack, but that alone wasn't enough. Ultimately, what I'm looking at is that we got a closer meet than expected. University had to bring their "A Game" because Morgantown certainly did, and none moreso than Athena Young, who I had picked to get 26th, and she moved up to 11th. It didn't get them past University, but it did help make things a bit interesting. For that performance, the 2017 RunWV MVP is Morgantown's Athena Young.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? It was a really strong set of picks. The Team champion was picked correctly. It was a little closer than expected, but they still won by 15 points. As mentioned earlier, the top 8 teams finished as expected. Individually, 9 of the predicted top 10 finished in the top 10. 13 of the top 15 finished in the top 15, and 23 of the predicted top 25 finished in the top 25. And interestingly, the entire predicted top 31 finished in the top 31. On average, runners finished with 5.36 places of their predicted finish (an improvement of 1.41 places from last year). The athlete who moved onto the podium was University's Caroline Kirby (picked 11th, got 10th). Those who moved into the top 25 were Morgantown's Athena Young (picked 26th, got 11th) and Cabell Midland's Gretchen Mills (picked 31st, got 21st). The big mover of the day was Woodrow Wilson's Julianna Holliday who moved up 24 spots from a predicted 61st place finish to an actual 37th place finish. From a team standpoint, Woodrow Wilson had the best day, scoring 40 fewer points than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the University girls. That's four in a row. Winning once is difficult. Winning 4 in a row is beyond impressive. You reload every year and run with everyone gunning for you and you don't falter. You put 4 in the top 10, 5 in the top 16 and 6 in the top 22. Strong and deep.

I offer my congratulations to Tori Starcher. You took control when you wanted and powered away for a convincing win. And honestly, you made it look like you were on cruise control the entire time. Best of luck at Footlocker South as you try to become the next West Virginia qualifier for Footlocker Nationals. I look toward it was an abundance of confidence.

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.