The Class AAA Girls race opened the final session. Temperature had climbed into the low 70's and the sun was starting to peak out. Humidity remained high. The team battle was not expected to be close with Morgantown expected to run away with it. They did their job. University ran really well to make it a little more interesting, but Morgantown still won by 16 points. Individually, I felt like there were five that were legitimately in the hunt for the win. The close race did not materialize, and the one tabbed as the favorite came though with Madeline Gump pulling away in the 2nd half to win by almost 25 seconds, and Abby Rogers took the 2nd spot by over 17 seconds.
At my first checkpoint, at the top of the hill, which is at about 0.75 miles, Hurricane's Ella Hardin had a slim lead coming through at 4:26. Greenbrier East's Neena McClintic was in the 2nd spot at 4:27. A big pack came through at 4:28 with Ripley's Ellie Hosaflook in 3rd, Morgantown's Madeline Gump in 4th, Morgantown's Jennifer O'Palko in 5th, University's Abby Rogers in 6th, Huntington's Laurel Johnson in 7th, and Hurricane's Ramsee Menear in 8th. Jefferson's Hannah Phillips was in 9th at 4:30 with Cabell Midland's Maya Casto and University's Adelyn Tager matching that in 10th and 11th, respectively. Morgantown's Maraid Johnson was in 12th at 4:33 with University's Claire von Boetticher matching that in 13th. St. Albans' Abigail Torman was in 14th at 4:34. Morgantown's Sophie Renner was 15th at 4:35. Parkersburg's Ellie Hines was in 16th at 4:37. Cabell Midland's Emma Coakley was in 17th at 4:39 with Hampshire's Bailey Nichols matching that time in 18th. Preston's Hallie Simmons was in 19th at 4:40 with Morgantown's Allison Hawkins in 20th at 4:41.
At the mile mark, things were still very tight. Ella Hardin led a trio through at 6:11 with Madeline Gump in 2nd and Abby Rogers in 3rd. Neena McClintic was in 4th at 6:12. Jennifer O'Palko was in 5th at 6:13 with Adelyn Tager moving up to 6th and matching that time. Laurel Johnson was in 7th at 6:15 with Ellie Hosaflook matching that time in 8th. Ramsee Menear was in 9th at 6:16. Maraid Johnson had moved up to 10th at 6:18. Hannah Phillips was in 11th at 6:19. Claire von Boetticher was in 12th at 6:24 with Emma Coakley matching that time in 13th. Sophie Renner was in 15th at 6:25 with that time matched by Abigail Torman and Maya Casto in the next two spots. Allison Hawkins was up to 18th at 6:30. Bailey Nichols was in 18th at 6:31 with Hallie Simmons matching that time in 19th. Morgantown's Lauren Hawkins had moved into 20th at 6:33.
Near the midway point, Madelie Gump had moved into the lead at 8:39 with Abby Rogers pretty much right at her side matching that time. Ella Hardin was in 3rd at 8:42. Adelyn Tager had moved up to 4th at 8:46. Jennifer O'Palko was in 5th at 8:49. Neena McClintic was in the 6th spot at 8:50. Maraid Johnson continued to move up, now in 7th at 8:52. Laurel Johnson was in 8th at 8:54. Hannah Phillips was up to 9th at 9:01. Ramsee Menear was in 10th at 9:02. Ellie Hosaflook was in 11th at 9:04. Claire von Boetticher was in 12th at 9:05. Sophie Renner was in 13th at 9:07. Allison Hawkins had moved up to 14th at 9:11. Abigail Torman was holding 15th at 9:15 with that time matched by Emma Coakley in 16th and Hallie Simmons in 17th. Bailey Nichols was in 18th at 9:16. University's Sophia Bell had moved into 19th at 9:18. Lauren Hawkins remained in 20th at 9:19.
At around 1.8 miles, Madeline Gump had opened a small gap, passing by at 11:01. Abby Rogers was in 2nd at 11:04. Ella Hardin remained in 3rd at 11:13 with Adelyn Tager in 4th at 11:16. Maraid Johnson had continued her rise, moving up to 5th at 11:23. Jennifer O'Palko was in 6th at 11:24. Neena McClintic was in 7th at 11:28. Laurel Johnson was in 8th at 11:32. Hannah Phillips was in 9th at 11:37 with Ramsee Menear matching that time in 10th. Claire von Boetticher was up to 11th with Sophie Renner now in 12th. Ellie Hosaflook was in 13th, and Allison Hawkins was in 14th.
At the 2 mile mark, Madline Gump had taken control. In that short stretch, she had moved her lead from 3 seconds to 9 seconds, coming through at 12:15. Abby Rogers was in control of 2nd at 12:24. Ella Hardin remained in 3rd at 12:34, but Adelyn Tager had closed to within a second at 12:35 in 4th. Maraid Johnson remained 5th at 12:45 with Jennifer O'Palko still in 6th at 12:47. Laurel Johnson had moved up to 7th at 12:55. Neena McClintic was in 8th at 12:57. Hannah Phillips was still in 9th at 13:01 with Ramsee Menear matching that time in 10th. Claire von Boetticher was in 11th at 13:04. Sophie Renner was in 12th at 13:07. Allison Hawkins was up to 13th at 13:10. Ellie Hosaflook was in 14th at 13:11. Sophia Bell had moved up to 15that 13:19. Hallie Simmons was up to 16th at 13:21. Abigail Torman was in 17th 13:24 with Bailey Nichols still in 18th at 13:25. Emma Coakley was in 19th at 13:27, and Lauren Hawkins was still in 20th at 13:30.
At the finish, Madeline Gump had assumed complete control of the race, nearly tripling her lead over the final mile to win by 25 seconds in 18:28. Abby Rogers easily held the 2nd spot in 18:53. Adelyn Tager moved up to the 3rd spot in 19:10. Ella Hardin held the 4th spot at 19:18. Maraid Johnson easily maintained the 5th position in 19:28. Then we saw some position shifting. 6 through 10 came onto the track pretty close together, and it was Ramsee Menear moving up from 10th to 6th over the final mile, finishing in 19:43, just barely ahead of Hannah Phillips, who moved up into the 7th spot, also in 19:43. Jennifer O'Palko held the 8th position at 19:44 with Claire von Boetticher moving up to 9th in 19:46. Laurel Johnson took the final podium spot, and was also the last one in under 20:00, finishing in 19:52. Sophie Renner was 11th in 20:01 with Allison Hawkins right behind in 20:02. Ellie Hosaflook was 13th in 20:10. Hallie Simmons closed well to move up to 14th in 20:15. Bailey Nichols followed her up the charts, moving up to 15th in 20:21. Musselman's Sadie Yates had a strong final mile to move from 21st up to 16th in 20:28. Abigail Torman held the 17th spot in 20:32. Sophia Bell was 18th in 20:33. Emma Coakley held the 19th position in 20:35, and Lauren Hawkins rounded out the top 20 in 20:39.
How did RunWV do on the predictions? It was a mixed bag. I got the team champion correct, but it was much closer than expected. No team finished more than one spot different than their predicted finish, but we did have 3 place swaps. I got the individual champion correct, but I only got 7 of the top 10 and 11 of the top 15. I did rebound to get 23 of the top 25 correct. There were a lot of double digit moves throughout the field which resulted in the average runner finishing 7.00 spots away from her predicted finish. That's 1.73 worse than last year. Not good. The three runners who moved onto those podium spots were Ramsee Menear (picked 13th, got 6th), Claire von Boetticher (picked 12th, got 9th), and Laurel Johnson (picked 11th, got 10th). The two who moved into the top 25 were Cabell Midland's Hadley Addis (picked 38th, got 24th) and University's Haley Kramer (picked 50th, got 25th). The big mover of the day was University's Haley Kramer, who moved up 25 spots from her predicted 50th place finish to her actual 25th place finish. She was the MVP last year and the Big Mover this year. I think she likes the State Meet. The team that showed the most improvement was Jefferson, who scored a huge 35 points fewer than predicted.
In searching for the MVP, I look at Morgantown and University, but they were both very secure in their spots. I look at the place swaps, with Hurricane, Jefferson, and Hampshire moving up, and I look at place preservation with Cabell Midland holding the 3rd spot by a single point. I'll give special note to Jefferson with them having several strong runs to pilot their move up a spot. However, being higher up the chart, I'm going with that place preservation in 3rd. With Cabell Midland having a bit of a rough day overall, they did have one big performance. I actually had this runner pegged as the #6 runner for her team. She finished the day as their #2, moving up 14 spots in the process and salvaging 3rd place. For her strong performance, the 2023 RunWV MVP is Cabell Midland's Hadley Addis.
I offer my congratulations to the Morgantown girls. You continue to do this year after year. Rebuild, reload, re-win. This makes 5 in a row. Your Seniors have never known not winning the state title. You were the team to beat all season, and you showed why. You put 3 on the podium and had 5 of the top 12 in the field. That is almost impossible to beat. You handily put down the field and earned another year at the top.
I offer my congratulations to Madeline Gump. You were the favorite, but there were questions and contenders. Some doubt had to linger after getting knocked off at both the OVAC and the Regional meets, but you ran confidently and didn't let yourself panic early. You were strong and steady, and when you made a move, you did not relent and pulled away for the convincing win.
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.