The Class AA Girls opened the day's events. They had excellent conditions with temperatures in the low 50's, but the course was already soft from the week's rainfall. However, it was as good as it was going to be for the day. In the team competition, Winfield was expected to win fairly handily, and they did just that, taking the title by 28 points. Fairmont Senior got by Wayne for the 2nd spot. Individually, Rachael Withrow was the favorite, and she backed it up. She took over early, established a large lead by the top of the hill, and was never threatened in coming away with the 19 second win. Addison Lease put together an excellent race to step up into the 2nd spot while defending champion Lydia Falkenstein settled for 3rd.

At the gun, it was Winfield's Miriam Al-Zoubi sprinting away from the field. She had sped out to a 6 second lead by the time they headed back into the opening field. At the top of the hill, however, at approximately 0.7 miles, Winfield's Rachael Withrow had firmly moved to the front, coming by in 4:32. Miriam Al-Zoubi was in 2nd at 4:43. Fairmont Senior's Lydia Falkenstein was in 3rd at 4:49. Wayne's Emily Williamson was at the front of a pack in 4th at 4:52. That time was matched by Scott's Jalynn Browning in 5th. North Marion's Taylor Hess was in 6th at 4:53 with Nicholas' Natalie Barr in 7th at 4:54 with that time matched by Frankfort's Addison Lease in 8th. Nitro's Nicole Donato was in 9th at 4:55 with Liberty Harrison's Destiny Berryman in 10th at 4:56. Liberty Harrison's Aliya Todd matched her teammate's time in 11th. Berkeley Springs' Audrey Helmick was in 12th at 4:57 with that time matched by Grafton's Emily Viani in 13th. Nicholas' Haley Johnson was in 14th at 4:59 with Robert C. Byrd's Claudia Moore in 15th at 5:00. Winfield's Sophie Briscoe was in 16th at 5:02. Shady Spring's Charlotte McGinnis was in 17th at 5:50, trailed closely by East Fairmont's Marissa Haymond in 18th at 5:06. Oak Glen's Sophia Arner was in 19th in 5:08 with Winfield's Nikki Walker in 20th in 5:09.

At the mile mark, Rachael Withrow had extended her lead to 19 seconds, coming through in 6:20. Miriam Al-Zoubi remained in 2nd at 6:39 but Lydia Falkenstein was closing in, running in 3rd at 6:40. Addison Lease had moved into 4th, just at the front of tight pack that saw 10 runners within 5 seconds. Lease was at 6:45 along with Nicole Donato in 5th and Emily Williamson in 6th. Coming through in 6:46 was Taylor Hess in 7th. A trio came through in 6:47 with Jalynn Browning in 8th, Olivia Williamson in 9th, and Aliya Todd in 10th. Natalie Barr was in 11th in 6:48. Audrey Helmick was in 12th in 6:49, and Destiny Berryman was in 13th in 6:50. Claudia Moore was in 14th at 6:53. Sophie Briscoe was in 15th at 6:55. Haley Johnson was in 16th at 6:56. Emily Viani was in 17th at 6:57. Braxton's Laura Cain was up to 18th in 7:04. Charlotte McGinnis was in 19th in 7:06 with that time matched by Fairmont Senior's Bella Haught in 20th.

I didn't get my usual footage at the highest point on the course as there was a mixup with the camera. From my notes, I can tell you that Rachael Withrow had extended her lead to 24 seconds, passing at 9:18. Lydia Falkenstein had moved into 2nd at 9:42 with Addison Lease moving up to 3rd in 9:43. I don't know specific places after this, and there were too many coming past together too quickly to write much down. Miriam Al-Zoubi was through in 9:48, Aliya Todd was at 9:51, Claudia Moore was at 9:55, and Destiny Berryman was at 10:01.

I got my usual bit of bonus footage at about 1.85 miles with Rachael Withrow still with a commanding, but slightly diminished lead. She came by in 12:13. Lydia Falkenstein remained in 2nd at 12:33 with Addison Lease right on her heels at 12:34. Aliya Todd had made the move up to the front of the pack, running 4th in 12:39. She was trailed closely by Olivia Williamson, Emily Williamson, Miriam Al-Zoubi, and Nicole Donato, each at 12:40. Jalynn Browning was in 9th at 12:41. Taylor Hess was in 10th at 12:43. Claudia Moore had moved up to 11th in 12:44. Natalie Barr was in 13th.

The the 2 mile mark, Rachael Withrow continued to hold a commanding lead, coming through in around 13:10. Addison Lease had moved into 2nd position at 13:29. Lydia Falkenstein was in 3rd at 13:31. The tight pack racing for the next spots remained in tact with Aliyah Todd at the front in 4th, Miriam Al-Zoubi in 5th, Taylor Hess in 6th, and Olivia Williamson in 7th with each at 13:47. Nicole Donato was in 8th, Emily Williamson in 9th, and Jalynn Browning in 10th with each at 13:48. Claudia Moore was in 11th in 13:51. Natalie Barr was in 12th in 13:56. Audrey Helmick was in 13th in 13:57. This group had opened a sizeable lead over the remainder of the field. Destiny Berryman was in 14th in 14:09 with Haley Johnson in 15th in 14:11. Sophie Briscoe was in 16th in 14:12. Then there was another gap. Laura Cain was up to 17th in 14:22. Bella Haught held a slight edge over Sophia Arner for 18th with both at 14:33. Elkins' Samantha Sproul had moved into 20th in 14:34.

Coming onto the track, Rachael Withrow remained alone having maintained her entire gap for the last 1.1 miles. She cruised to the finish in 20:04. Addison Lease pulled away for easily take the 2nd spot in 20:23. Lydia Falkenstein held onto the 3rd spot in 20:38. Nicole Donato moved up into the 4th spot and pulled slightly away to finish in 20:42. Olivia Williamson moved into the 5th spot in 20:46. Miriam Al-Zoubi kicked back into 6th in 20:47. Emily Williamson edged Jalynn Browning for 7th with both getting 20:48. Taylor Hess held onto 9th in 20:50. Aliya Todd used a strong finish on the track to reclaim 10th, making the final pass late to take the spot in 20:53. Claudia Moore got the 11th position in 20:59. Audrey Helmick was 12th in 21:15 with Natalie Barr 13th in 21:21. Haley Johnson was 14th in 21:29. Destiny Berryman held the 15th spot in 21:32. Sophie Briscoe was 16th in 21:41, just ahead of Laura Cain in 17th with a 21:43. Samantha Sproul closed well to move up to 18th in 22:01. Marissa Haymond kicked her way into 19th in 22:03. Sophia Arner rounded out the top 20 in 22:04.

I had to dig around for an MVP. You start with the winner, but they won by enough that no one's performance really made the difference. So, then I look at teams that finished higher than expected. I had a 3-2 swap, a 4-5 swap, a 6-7 swap, and a 9-10 swap. 4-5 was just a 1 point finish, and that's where I landed initially. But ultimately, it's the podium that really matters, so I went back to that 3-2 swap, which brings us to Fairmont Senior. There wasn't a single performance that made the difference as they had 4 runners (ladies #3-#6 on the team) each move up from 3-7 spots each from their predicted finish. I decided the most fair thing to do give it to the one that moved the most. The move wasn't huge, and it wasn't the complete difference maker, but for these purposes, it was enough. For her move up the charts, the 2021 RunWV MVP for Class AA Girls is Fairmont Senior's Caroline Logue.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? It was a pretty solid group of picks. I got the team Champion. I didn't get the runner-up right, though. No team finished more than 1 spot away from where they were predicted. Individually, I got the champion correct and 9 of the 10 podium finishers. I did only get 12 of the top 15, but rebounded to have 22 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 5.04 places of their predicted finish, which is slightly better than last year. The runner who stepped up into that podium position was Winfield's Miriam Al-Zoubi (picked 11th, got 6th). Those who climed into the top 25 were East Fairmont's Marissa Haymond (picked 30th, got 19th), Liberty Harrison's Sara Lowe (picked 27th, got 21st), and Frankfort's Aikaterina Burleson (picked 26th, got 22nd). The big mover of the day waas Frankfort's Addison Tharp who moved up 12 spots from a predicted 65th place finish to an actual 53rd place finish. From a team standpoint, the biggest move was made by Nicholas County, who scored 16 points fewer than predicted.

I offer my congratulations to the Winfield girls. You sat atop the charts most of the season. You weren't blessed with tremendous depth, which meant everyone needed to come through, and they did. You went out hard and maintained throughout and were never threatened.

I offer my congratulations to Rachael Withrow. You had the target on your back and opted for aggression. It paid off as you were alone for almost the entire race. You didn't allow anyone else to believe they had a chance.

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.