The Class A Girls opened the morning session. With temperatures in the low 30's and fog still hanging around, it was a chilly start. There were no big surprises at the top of the team standings. Williamstown ran away with things as expected, placing four girls in the top 7, five in the top 15, and the entire lineup inside the top 25. Doddridge easily held the 2nd spot. St. Marys leapfrogged Charleston Catholic in a close battle for the 3rd spot. Individually, Ella Hesson took over in the 2nd half of the race and pulled away to win by 20 seconds. Teammate Brianna Winsett overtook Richwood's Carlee Dillard late to take the runner-up spot.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill at approximately 0.7 miles. Richwood's Carlee Dillard has staked an early lead at the start and remained in that spot at this point, coming through in 4:46. The soft course and cold temperatures made for slow-going as they were 19 seconds slower than the leaders at this point last year. Doddridge's Lexie Lamb had a slight edge on Williamstown's Ella Hesson for the 2nd spot with both at 4:50. Williamstown's Brianna Winsett was in 4th at 4:53. There was quite a gap back to the pack with Trinity's Jenna Barnett leading four through at 5:02. She was trailed in that pack by Williamstown's Natalie Sawin in 6th, Williamstown's Chloe Lightfritz in 7th, and Doddridge's Emily Gola in 8th. Hanging onto the back of that pack at 5:03 were Wood County Christian's Lacey Dimity in 9th and Charleston Catholic's Aubrie Custer in 10th. At 5:04 in 11th was Williamstown's Brookelyn Reynolds. In 12th at 5:05 was Williamstown's Reagan Ortiz. Doddridge's Maria Bee was in 13th at 5:06. A foursome came through in 5:07 with St. Marys' Bralynn Davis in 14th, Charleston Catholic's Gabbie Custer in 15th, St. Marys' Erica Davis in 16th, and Webster's Alivia Moffatt in 17th. Tucker's Katie Hicks was in 18th in 5:08 with that time matched by Trinity's Sofia Pancoast in 19th. Rounding out the early top 20 was Ravenswood's Hadleigh McGoskey in 5:09.

At the mile mark, things had tightened a bit at the front with a trio now virtually tied for the lead at 6:40. Carlee Dillard had a slight edge with Lexie Lamb in 2nd and Ella Hesson in 3rd. Brianna Winsett remained in 4th at 6:43. The gap back to the pack had grown to 12 seconds with Jenna Barnett still holding that 5th spot at 6:55. Aubrie Custer had moved up to 6th, also at 6:55. Natalie Sawin was in 7th at 6:57 with that time matched by Chloe Lightfritz in 8th. Maria Bee had moved into 9th at 6:59 with Brookelyn Reynolds matching that time in 10th. Emily Gola was in 11th at 7:02. Lacey Dimit was in 12th at 7:03. Richwood's Baylee Jarrett had made a nice climb through the field into 13th in 7:04. That time was matched by Reagan Ortiz in 14th. Gabbie Custer was in 15th at 7:05 with Katie Hicks moving up to 16th with the same time. Alivia Moffatt was in 17th at 7:06 with Erica Davis matching that in 18th. Tucker's Erin Chambers had moved into 19th at 7:08 with Bralynn Davis matching that in 20th.

At the top of the hill near the Extension Service building, the highest point on the course at approximately 1.4 miles, Ella Hesson had moved into the front a 9:43. Carlee Dillard was in the 2nd spot at 9:45. Briann Winsett had moved into 3rd in 9:47. Lexie Lamb was in 4th at 9:54. Jenna Barnett had taken control of the 5th spot at 10:02. Aubrie Custer was alone in 6th at 10:06. Natalie Sawin and Chloe Lightfritz continued to move together with both at 10:12 in 7th and 8th, respectively. Baylee Jarrett continued her ascension through the field, now up to 9th in 10:14. Maria Bee was in 10th at 10:15 with Brookelyn Reynolds close behind in 10:16. Katie Hicks continued her move up, sliding into the 12th spot at 10:18, just ahead of Emily Gola with the same time. Lacey Dimit was in 14th at 10:21. Alivia Moffatt had moved up to 15th in 10:22. That was matched by Erica Davis and Gabbie Custer in 16th and 17th, respectively. Sofia Pancoast had moved back into the top 20 at 18th in 10:23. Bralynn Davis was in 19th at 10:26. Reagan Ortiz rounded out the top 20 at 10:30.

I got a little bonus footage at about 1.85 miles. Ella Hesson had extended her lead slightly, coming through at 12:38. Carlee Dillard held the 2nd spot at 12:42. Brianna Winsett remained in firm control of 3rd at 12:45. Lexie Lamb was still in the 4th spot at 13:02. Jenna Barnett was still in 5th at 13:09 with Aubrie Custer still in 6th at 13:10. Baylee Jarrett was up to 7th with Natalie Sawin in 8th, Chloe Lightfritz in 9th, Katie Hicks up to 10th, Brookelyn Reynolds in 11th, Maria Bee in 12th, and Emily Gola in 13th.

At the two mile mark, Ella Hesson had extended her lead just a bit more, coming through in 13:30. Carlee Dillard remained in 2nd at 13:35. Brianna Winsett was still in 3rd at 13:37. Lexie Lamb was in 4th in 13:56. Jenna Barnett remained in 5th in 14:01, but was closing the gap. Aubrie Custer was in 6th at 14:03. Baylee Jarrett was in 7th at 14:11, just ahead of Natalie Sawin and Chloe Lightfritz, who both matched that time. Katie Hicks was in 10th at 14:15. Brookelyn Reynolds was in 11th at 14:17. Emily Gola was in 12th at 14:19 with Maria Bee matching that time in 13th. Alivia Moffatt was up to 14th in 14:21. Erica Davis was in 15th at 14:23. Sofia Pancoast was up to 16th in 14:26. Lacey Dimit was in 17th in 14:31. Gabbie Custer was in 18th at 14:32. Hadleigh McGoskey had moved back into the top 20 in 19th at 14:34. Doddridge's Hailey Keith was in the 20th spot in 14:40.

Coming onto the track, Ella Hesson was all alone, and she used her always strong finish to pull away for the 20 second win in 20:19. Brianna Winsett made the late move into the 2nd spot to give Williamstown a 1-2 finish in 20:39. Carlee Dillard held the 3rd spot in 20:42. Jenna Barnett moved up to the 4th spot and held it with a kick at the end in 21:07. Baylee Jarrett moved up to the 5th spot in 21:11. Chloe Lightfritz moved up to 6th in 21:12. Natalie Sawin was 7th in 21:15 to give Williamstown 4 of the top 7. Aubrie Custer held onto the 8th spot in 21:22, just holding off Lexie Lamb who finished 9th in 21:23. Katie Hicks held the final podium spot with a 21:31. Sofia Pancoast used a strong final mile to move up to 11th in 21:35. Alivia Moffatt also closed well to finish 12th in 21:37. Erica Davis moved up to 13th in 21:40. Emily Gola was 14th in 21:43. Brookelyn Reynolds made it 5 for Williamstown in 15th in 21:48. Maria Bee held the 16th spot in 21:50. Gabbie Custer was 17th in 21:59. Lacey Dimit took the 18th spot in 22:06. Hadleigh McGoskey was 19th in 22:08. Tyler Consolidated's Emily Ebert moved into the 20th spot in 22:12.

In searching for the MVP, I couldn't really look at Williamstown. They could have ran without their top 2 and still won easily. Depth. So, I looked at Richwood, who moved from a predicted 8th place finish to 5th, and I looked at St. Marys, who overtook Charleston Catholic for 3rd. Ultimately, I landed on a runner whose strong run moved her up 11 spots from her predicted finish to her actual finish and picked up 8 team points along the way. That was enough to snare the 3rd spot for St. Marys. For stepping up when it counted, St. Marys' Erica Davis is the 2020 RunWV MVP.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? It's certainly not a batch to write home about. I expected this year's picks to not be as strong with very limited data on some teams and less than normal on all of them. The team champion was correct, but I don't think anyone in the state would have missed that one. The runner-up was correct as well. Three of the eight teams finished at least two places off their predicted spot, with Richwood moving up 3 spots. Individually, I only got 7 of the top 10 and only 9 of the top 15. It did improve to 23 of the top 25, which makes that part look pretty good. On average, runners finished within 4.77 spots of their predicted place, which looks pretty good. I did expect this figure to be better than in year's past because the Class A field is now split, leaving less room for 30 or 40 place jumps. Those who moved into the top 10 to take podium spots were Richwood's Carlee Dillard (picked 12th, got 3rd), Charleston Catholic's Aubrie Custer (picked 22nd, got 8th), and Tucker's Katie Hicks (picked 20th, got 10th). Those who climbed into the top 25 were Ritchie's Andrea Davis (picked 29th, got 22nd) and Williamstown's Torie Combs (picked 28th, got 24th). There was a three-way tie for the big mover of the day at 14 spots. They were Charleston Catholic's Aubrie Custer (picked 22nd, got 8th), Ritchie's Zoe Butcher (picked 48th, got 34th), and Ravenswood's Samantha Maxson (picked 55th, got 41st).

I offer my congratulations to the Williamstown girls. There wasn't really any doubt about this one, but you made sure of it with a strong run with strong packs. You showed your excellence and your depth.

I offer my congratulations to Ella Hesson. The target has been on your back all season, and you've responded. You took control when it was time to go and never looked back.

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.