The AAA Girls race closed the day's festivities. There wasn't much doubt about the team race coming in, and University more than held up to the standard, running away with the meet to win by 29 points. This was the 5th title in a row for University, and this was their largest margin of victory. Individually, Madison Trippett made the pass on a struggling Tori Starcher with about a half mile to go (Starcher would subsequently collapse) to take the resounding victory by 24 seconds.

The first checkpoint is the top of the hill, which is about 0.7 miles into the race. Ripley's Tori Starcher and Parkersburg's Madison Trippett had already distanced themselves from the field with Starcher leading the way at 4:13 and Trippett following at 4:15. University's Zoe Shetty had a slight edge over Morgantown's Lea Hatcher for 3rd with both at 4:22. Preston's Allie Martin was in 4th at 4:23 with that time matched by John Marshall's Zara Zervos in 6th. Parkersburg's Olivia Collett was in 7th at 4:24. University's Caroline Kirby was in 8th in 4:22. Cabell Midland's Anya Miller was in 9th at 4:27 with teammate Emma Jenkins in 10th in 4:28. Parkersburg South's Abby Herring was close behind in 11th in 4:29. Hurricane's Danielle Ray was in 12th at 4:31. Morgantown's Athena Young was running 13th at 4:33. University's Emma Troischt was in 14th at 4:35. I have to go ahead and apologize to her. I repeatedly called her Abigail Murray throughout the race. It seems to happen every year...I completely blank on someone's name, and this year, it was her. I'm sorry Emma. The Cabell Midland duo of Gretchen Mills and Brynn Smith held the next two spots at 4:38. University's Emma Williams was in 17th at 4:42 with Morgantown's Amelia Haddox matching that time in 18th. Ripley's Tori Fisher was in 19th at 4:44 with Preston's Chloe Stark in 20th at 4:45.

At the mile mark, Tori Starcher had extended her lead a bit, coming through in 5:47. Madison Trippett was still in 2nd and was expanding her gap on the next group, coming through in 5:51. Zoe Shetty remained in 3rd in 6:02 with Lea Hatcher close behind in 6:03. Allie Martin was still 5th in 6:05. Caroline Kirby had moved up to 8th in 6:08, just ahead of Olivia Collett's 6:09. Zara Zervos was in 8th at 6:11. Emma Jenkins was in 9th at 6:12, just ahead of Anya Miller with the same time. Abby Herring remained in 11th in 6:15. Anya Young was in 12th in 6:16. Danielle Ray was in 13th in 6:18. Emma Troischt was still 14th in 6:20. Brynn Smith was up to 15th in 6:28. Gretchen Mills was in 16th at 6:29 with that time matched by Emma Williams in 17th. Chloe Stark was in 18th at 6:30. University's Abigail Murray had moved into 19th in 6:32 with Amelia Haddox matching that time in 6:32.

The next checkpoint was at the WVU Extension service building at approximately 1.4 miles. This is the highest point on the course. Tori Starcher had further extended her lead, taking it out to 8 seconds, coming through in 8:26. Madison Trippett continued to control the 2nd spot in 8:34. Zoe Shetty had opened a very slight gap for 3rd, coming through at 8:46. Lea Hatcher was in 4th at 8:48. Allie Martin was still hanging around at 8:51. She had generated a solid gap over the rest of the field. Caroline Kirby was in 6th at 9:00. Zara Zervos had come back up to 7th in 9:03. Athena Young had made a really nice move into 8th at 9:04. Emma Jenkins remained in 9th at 9:05. Olivia Collett was in 10th at 9:08. There was again a gap to the next runner with Anya Miller in 11th at 9:15. Emma Troischt was up to 12th in 9:16. Abby Herring was close behind in 13th in 9:17. Danielle Ray was in 14th at 9:19. Another gap took us to Emma Williams in 15th at 9:26. Chloe Stark had moved up to 16th at 9:27, just ahead of Brynn Smith at 9:28. Abigail Murray was up to 18th in 9:32. Gretchen Mills was in 19th at 9:36 with University's Hermione Vos in 20th at 9:38, giving University 6 in the top 20 near the midway point.

At my bonus footage area at around 1.85 miles, Tori Starcher continued to hold an 8 second lead over Madison Trippett, 11:04 to 11:12. Zoe Shetty remained in 3rd in 11:23 with Lea Hatcher still hanging around at 11:25. Allie Martin had lost contact with them but still had a firm grip on the 5th spot.

At the two mile mark, Tori Starcher was still in control at 11:54, but the gap had diminished slightly as Madison Trippett cut it to 7 seconds at 12:01. Zoe Shetty remained in 3rd place at 12:15 but hadn't been able to shake Lea Hatcher who was back within 1 second at 12:16. Allie Martin was all alone in 5th at 12:30. Caroline Kirby was in 6th at 12:44. Emma Jenkins had a very slight edge over Athena Young for 7th with both at 12:49. Zara Zervos was in 9th at 12:53. Olivia Collett rounded out the top 10 at 12:57. Emma Troischt had moved up to 11th in 13:05. Abby Herring was in 12th in 13:13. Danielle Ray was in 13th in 13:15. Anya Miller was in 14th in 13:18. Brynn Sith was back up to 15th in 13:20. Chloe Stark was running 16th in 13:23. Abigail Murray was in 17th at 13:26. Emma Williams was in 18th at 13:30. Hermione Vos was in 19th at 13:37 with George Washington's Katherine Sutton moving into the top 20 at 13:41.

Coming onto the track, it was Madison Trippett all alone. Shortly before Trippett appeared, I heard someone say that Starcher had collapsed. I later found out the Trippett had made the pass, and Starcher went down shortly thereafter. She apparently tried a couple times to get up and go, but was unable. Trippett strided home to the finish in 18:00. Zoe Shetty took firm control of 2nd to finish in 18:24. Lea Hatcher easily held the 3rd spot in 18:33. Allie Martin held the 4th spot in 18:57. Caroline Kirby controlled the 5th position in 19:16. Athena Young moved into the 6th position in 19:24 with Emma Jenkins in 7th in 19:26. Olivia Collett finished strong to move up to 8th in 19:31. Zara Zervos held the 9th spot in 19:42. Emma Troischt took the final podium position in 19:46. Danielle Ray moved up to 11th in 19:56. Abby Herring took the 12th spot in 20:02. Anya Miller was 13th in 20:10 just ahead of Brynn Smith's 20:11 as they held off Chloe Stark in 15th, who also scored a 20:11. Abigail Murray took the 16th position in 20:25. A close battle for the next spot saw Emma Williams just outkick Katherine Sutton for 17th by less than 0.25 seconds with both recording a 20:29. Hermione Vos was 19th in 20:35, and the top 20 was rounded out by Hampshire's Alex Kile in 20:38.

The team standings really went pretty much according to plan, so picking an MVP is difficult. University won easily. Cabell Midland held 2nd easily. Morgantown performed admirably to be much closer to the podium than expected. Aside from Ripley's extinuating circumstance, no one finished more than a spot away from where they were expected. We did have one really close finish with Parkersburg edging Preston by a single point for 4th. Hardly anyone in the field wildly outperformed their predicted finish. No one had to step up to make up for a teammate faltering. Ultimately, I decided to go with our close team finish. Even then, it's difficult. There were a couple candidates for the spot for Parkersburg, but I'm going with one that only finished 4 spots above her predicted finish, but I had her as her team's number 6, and she moved up to be their number 4. Had she finished where predicted Parkersburg would have fallen to Preston. So, for this year's MVP, I go with Parkersburg's Abbie McElroy.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? Pretty solidly. I got the team champion, and the top 3 finished in the predicted order, and as noted, only one team finished more than one spot off their predicted finish. I didn't get the individual champion, but I did manage 8 of the top 10, 14 of the top 15, and 22 of the top 25. The ones who moved up to secure spots on the podium were Morgantown's Athena Young (picked 16th, got 6th) and John Marshall's Zara Zervos (picked 12th, got 9th). That's the 2nd year in a row that Athena Young has brought out the big guns at the State Meet. Those who moved into the top 25 were George Washington's Katherine Sutton (picked 28th, got 18th), Hampshire's Alex Kile (picked 26th, got 20th), and Morgantown's Lauren Hancox (picked 30th, got 25th). The big mover of the meet was Spring Mills' Veronica Powers, who moved up 16 spots from a predicted 79th to an actual 63rd place finish. On average, runners finished within 4.39 places of their predicted finish. From a team standpoint, Morgantown had the best day, scoring 18 points fewer than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the University girls. Five in a row. Very impressive indeed. It was expected all season long, and you stood up to the challenge. You put 6 in the top 20 to leave no doubt. You continue to live up to a culture of excellence.

I offer my congratulations to Madison Trippett. You've put in the work and never allowed yourself to surrender. You held the line and pushed on to the finish. You're an underappreciated runner, but you never seem to let that get you down. Your positive attitude goes a long way and serves you well.

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.