The A-AA Girls opened the afternoon session. The weather had further deteriorated with both the rain and the temperature continuing to fall. This was expected to be the best team race of the day as I had a three way tie at the top and another in striking distance. We got a close race with Winfield taking the title by just 2 points over Philip Barbour (the team that was within striking distance). For the Class A Title, it was expected to be Williamstown, and they came through with a strong effort to secure the title. Individually, it was expected that Jessica Melvin would recapture the title that she won as a Sophomore, and she did just that, taking control of the race in the final mile.

My first checkpoint was again the top of the hill at approximately 0.7 miles. It was a close race with the top 7 within a second of each other. Doddridge's Desirae Schoonover was at the front of that pack in 4:31 with that time matched by PikeView's Erin O'Sullivan. The next five came through in 4:32. This was East Fairmont's Erykah Christopher, Philip Barbour's Kierra Hodge, Buffalo's Sydney Smith, Williamstown's Ella Hesson, and St. Joseph's McKenzie Moran. At 4:33 in 8th and 9th, respectively, were Lewis' Emily Louk and Philip Barbour's Jessica Melvin. Williamstown's Kasey McNamara had a slight lead over Richwood's Caitlin Cowell for 10th with both passing in 4:34. Charleston Catholic's Aubrie Custer was in 12th in 4:37. Bridgeport's Julia Muller was in 13th at 4:38. Ritchie's Gwyn Napier was in 14th in 4:43. Winfield's Anna Lumadue held 15th in 4:44. Bridgeport's Emma Campbell was slightly ahead of Fairmont Senior's Carlina Jacquez for 16th with both at 4:45. Winfield's Savannah Hoff was in 18th in 4:47. Buffalo's Madi Michels was 19th in 4:48 with that time matched by Berkeley Springs' Belle Harvey.

At the mile mark, there was still and 8 person pack. Desirae Schoonover still held a slight lead at 6:15. Ella Hesson had moved into 2nd, Erykah Christopher was in 3rd, and Kierra Hodge was in 4th, each matching that time. McKenzie Moran was in 5th at 6:16 with Jessica Melvin in 7th, Sydney Smith in 8th, and Erin O'Sullivan in 9th with the same time. This group had started to open a gap on the remainder of the field. Emily Louk was in 9th in 6:21. Kasey McNamara held a slight grip on 10th in 6:24, just ahead of Aubrie Custer, who matched that time. Julia Muller was in 12th in 6:25. Caitlin Cowell was in 13th in 6:27. Carlina Jacquez had moved up to 14th in 6:30 with that time also being held by Gwyn Napier and Anna Lumadue. Belle Harvey had moved into 17th in 6:35 with Emma Campbell matching that time. Fairmont Senior's Sophia Tomana had moved into 20th in 6:36.

At the top of the hill near the Extension Service building, the highest point on the course at approximately 1.4 miles, things had changed a bit. Erykah Christopher had moved into the lead at 9:04, trailed closely by Jessica Melvin with the same time. Ella Hesson had a slight lead on Desirae Schoonover for 3rd with both passing in 9:06. McKenzie Moran was in 5th in 9:08. Kierra Hodge was in 6th at 9:09. Sydney Smith had fallen off the pack just a bit in 9:12. Erin O'Sullivan had dropped well off the lead pack and was holding 8th in 9:20. Emily Louk remained in 9th in 9:22. Julia Muller had moved into 10th in 9:25. Aubrie Custer was in 11th in 9:26, just ahead of Kasey McNamara in 12th with the same time. Belle Harvey had continued to climb, now into 13th in 9:29. Anna Lumadue wad moved up to 14th in 9:30. Carlina Jacquez was in 15th in 9:31. Emma Campbell had moved up to 16th in 9:34. Sophia Tomana was up to 17th in 9:36 with Caitlin Cowell in 18th with the same time. Gwyn Napier was in 19th in 9:37. Savannah Off was in 20th in 9:42.

I got a little bonus footage at about 1.85 miles. At this point, Jessica Melvin had moved into the lead, just slightly ahead of Erykah Christopher with both passing at 11:47. Ella Hesson and Desirae Schoonover continued to battle for 3rd with Hesson still holding a very slight edge with both passing in 11:57. Kierra Hodge had closed up on them in 5th in 11:58. The gap had widened on the rest of the field. McKenzie Moran was in 6th in 12:04. Sydney Smith continued to hold 7th in 12:13. Emily Louk had moved into 8th in 12:23, just ahead of Kasey McNamara with the same time. Julia Muller remained in 10th in 12:25. Erin O'Sullivan was in 11th at 12:26 with that time matched by Aubrie Custer in 12th. Belle Harvey was running 13th.

At the two mile mark, it remained close with Jessica Melvin holding the lead at 12:39 with Erykah Christopher close behind in 12:40. Ella Hesson continued to hold a slim lead over Desirae Schoonover with both passing in 12:46. Kierra Hodge remained close on their heels in 5th at 12:47. McKenzie Moran was in 6th at 12:56. Sydney Smith remained in 7th at 13:07. Kasey McNamara had moved into 8th in 13:15. Emily Louk was in 9th at 13:16. Julia Muller was in 10th at 13:17 with Aubrie Custer and Erin O'Sullivan close behind matching that time. Belle Harvey still held 13th in 13:19 with Anna Lumadue matching that time in 14th. Carlina Jacquez was in 15th in 13:22. Sophia Tomana was in 16th at 13:23. Emma Campbell was in 17th at 13:26. Caitlin Cowell was holding 18th in 13:35. Gwyn Napier was in 19th in 13:42. Madi Michels was back into 20th in 13:44.

Coming onto the track, Jessica Melvin had taken control of the race and powered home to the win in 18:57. Ella Hesson used a big kick in the last 100 meters to overtake Erykah Christopher for 2nd with Hesson getting a 19:08 to Christopher's 19:09 (in reality, the gamp was just 0.07 seconds, but Hesson was in the 08's and Christopher was in the 09's). Kierra Hodge closed well to move up to 5th with a 19:18. Desirae Schoonover took the 5th position in 19:24. McKenzie Moran held the 6th spot in 19:43. Julia Muller used her kick to moved from 9th to 7th in the last 50 meters, crossing in 19:47. Sydney Smith finished with the same time in 8th. Kasey McNamara was just behind them in 9th in 19:48. Anna Lumadue closed really well to move into the final podium position in 19:52. Belle Harvey moved into 11th over the final mile finishing in 19:57. Carlina Jacquez moved up to 12th to finish in 19:58. Emma Campbell also made a significant move over the last mile, climbing to 13th in 20:10. Erin O'Sullivan took 14th in 20:11. Aubrie Custer had the 15th position in 20:12. Emily Louk ended in 16th in 20:15. Sophia Tomana was 17th in 20:16. Gwyn Napier moved up to 18th in 20:36. Philip Barbour's Olivia Frye climbed up to 19th over the final mile to finish in 20:37. Madi Michels held the 20th position in 20:45.

In searching for the MVP, I had to look at a couple places. I looked at Philip Barbour since they moved from a predicted 4th to a 2nd place finish, and I looked at a couple places for Winfield as they took the narrow win. Ultimately, I went with an athlete that I had picked to finish 51st. First, I'll give a special nod to Anna Lumadue for her excellent run. But the runner I went with ended up in 27th place, which is a pretty strong move up the charts. More importantly, though, had she finished in 51st as predicted, not only would Winfield not have won the meet, they wouldn't have been on the podium at all. On a day in which they needed someone to step up, she did. For that step-forward performance, the 2017 RunWV MVP for the State Meet is Winfield's Danielle Jividen.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? We'll call it mediocre. I missed on the team champion, but I knew it would be close. At least the winner was one of them I had in the 3 way tie, and I only had them losing the tie-breaker by one place. Philip Barbour got the big performance that I said they needed in order to fight for the win, and it moved them into 2nd. The predicted winner fell to 4th, though they kept it close. Williamstown did take the Class A Title as expected. There was some other shuffling, including Fairmont Senior moving up 2 spots. Individually, Jessica Melvin came through. I managed to only get 7 of the top 10, but that improved to getting 12 of the top 15. And I did get 22 of the top 25. It could be worse. On average, runners runners finished within 8.09 places of their predicted finish, which is a little worse than last year. Those who moved into the top 10 were Buffalo's Sydney Smith (picked 12th, got 8th), Williamstown's Kasey McNamara (picked 13th, got 9th), and Winfield's Anna Lumadue (picked 17th, got 10th). Those who climbed into the top 25 were Fairmont Senior's Carlina Jacquez (picked 29th, got 12th), Philip Barbour's Olivia Frye (picked 54th, got 19th), and Fairmont Senior's McKenzie Stanley (picked 35th, got 25th). The big mover of the meet was Philip Barbour's Olivia Frye, who moved up 35 spots from a predicted 54th place finish to an actual 19th place finish. From a team standpoint, Fairmont Senior had the top day, scoring 34 points fewer than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Winfield girls. It was only late in the season when you really flashed onto the championship radar, but you had the top Regional performance in the field, and you backed it up when you had to. You fought the elements and took home the prize. You proved one of the things that I love about Cross Country. It isn't your # 1 runner that wins championships for you. It's your 3-4-5 runners.

I offer my congratulations to the Williamstown girls. You did what you had to do. You came in as the heavy favorite, and you simply needed to not falter. You didn't falter, and in fact, stepped up a bit to leave no doubt that you were the top Class A team in the field.

I offer my congratulations to Jessica Melvin. You won it as a Sophomore and then tasted bitter defeat last year. You were the top dog all year, and you never let the target on your back bother you. You run with a great confidence in your training, never worrying about not being in the lead or at the front of the pack early. You show strength over the entire course, and it wins you championships.

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.