The Class A Girls opened the afternoon racing. Temperatures had continued to climb, and it was now close to 70 degrees with lots of sun. Braxton was expected to roll to the title, and they did so, taking the win by 16 points over St. Marys. In the individual race, Charleston Catholic's Bella Boggs was tabbed as the heavy favorite, and she took control early and buried the field to win by over a minute.

My first checkpoint was at the top of the hill at approximately 0.75 miles. Charleston Catholic's Bella Boggs had already sped out to a large lead, coming by at 4:24. St. Marys' Anna Bennett was in 2nd at 4:42, trailed closely by Doddridge's Katie Cottrill in 3rd at 4:43. Doddridge's Bailey Holden had a slight lead on Ritchie's Bentlee Williams for 4th with both at 4:44. Braxton's Laura Cain was in 6th at 4:48. Summers' Avery Lilly was in 7th at 4:50. There was a pack that came through at 4:53 with Ravenswood's Riley Sotomayor in 8th, St. Marys' Natalie Bartrug in 9th, Charleston Catholic's Hannah Fisher in 10th, and Doddridge's Cassie Cumberledge in 11th. Braxton's Addison Lloyd was in 12th at 4:55. Ravenswood's Gwyn Gorrell was in 13th at 4:57. Braxton's Leah Payne was in 14th at 4:58. Wood Country Christian's Elliot Handley was in 15th at 5:00. Doddridge's Kaitlyn Key was in 16th at 5:02 with Braxton's Bethany Payne close behind at 5:03 in 17th. Braxton's Reece Carpenter was in 18th at 5:10 with Charleston Catholic's Bailee King and Tucker's Addi Moats in 19th and 20th, respectively with both at 5:11.

At the mile mark, Bella Boggs had extended her lead to 27 seconds, coming through at 6:07. Bentlee Williams had moved up to 2nd at 6:34 with Anna Bennett matching that time in 3rd. Katie Cottrill was in 4th at 6:36. Bailey Holden was in 5th at 6:37, and Laura Cain was in 6th at 6:39. This group had opened a gap on the remainder of the field. Natalie Bartrug was up to 7th at 6:45 with Avery Lilly close behind in 8th at 6:46. Riley Sotomayor was in 9th at 6:50. Cassie Cumberledge was in 10th at 6:52 with Hannah Fisher in 11th and Addison Lloyd in 12th, both at 6:53. Gwyn Gorrell was in 13th at 6:59 with that matched by Leah Payne in 14th. Elliot Handley was in 15th at 7:03. Bethany Payne had moved up to 16th at 7:06 Kaitlyn Key was in 17th at 7:08. Reece Carpenter remained in 18th at 7:16. Braxton's Teagan Huff had moved up to 19th at 7:18. Addi Moats remained in 20th at 7:20.

Nearing the mid-way point, Bella Boggs had further taken control of the race, coming through at 8:36. Bentlee Williams was at the front of a 5 person pack. She was at 9:17. Bailey Holden was in 3rd, Anna Bennett was in 4th, and Katie Cottrill was in 5th, each at 9:18. Laura Cain was in 6th at 9:19. Natalie Bartrug remained in 7th at 9:30. Riley Sotomayor was up to 8th at 9:37 with Avery Lilly matching that time in 9th. Cassie Cumberledge had a slight edge over Addison Lloyd for 10th with both at 9:43. Hannah Fisher was in 12th at 9:45. Gwyn Gorrell was in 13th at 9:52 with Leah Payne close behind in 14th at 9:53. Elliot Handley was in 15th at 10:03. Kaitlyn Key had moved back into 16th, just ahead of Bethany Payne with both at 10:07. Teagan Huff had moved up to 18th at 10:16. Reece Carpenter was in 19th at 10:24. I think it was St. Marys' Mariah Whitlock who had moved into 20th at 10:25.

At about 1.8 miles, Bella Boggs had taken her lead out to close to a minute, coming by at 11:08. Laura Cain had made a nice move into 2nd at 12:02. Bentlee Williams was in 3rd at 12:05 with Bailey Holden matching that in 4th. Katie Cottrill was in 5th at 12:06 with Anna Bennett in 6th at 12:09. Natalie Bartrug remained in 7th, Riley Sotomayor remained in 8th, and Avery Lilly remained in 9th.

At the two mile mark, I didn't get there in time to get Bella Boggs. I think she was around 12:28, which put her lead now over 60 seconds. Laura Cain had further stretched her hold on 2nd at 13:25. Bentlee Williams still held a slight lead over Bailey Holden for 3rd with both at 13:29. Katie Cottrill was still in 5th at 13:30. Anna Bennett remained in 6th at 13:35. Natalie Bartrug was still alone in 7th at 13:45. Riley Sotomayor had taken control of the 8th spot at 13:57. Avery Lilly was in 9th at 14:05. Addison Lloyd had moved into 10th at 14:07 with Cassie Cumberledge right behind in 11th at 14:08. Hannah Fisher was in 12th at 14:14. Leah Payne was up to 13th at 14:21. Gwyn Gorrell was in 14th at 14:24. Elliott Handley remained in the 15th spot at 14:37 with that time matched by Bethany Payne in 16th. Kaitlyn Key was in 17th at 14:44. Teagan Huff remained in 18th at 14:55. Logan's Keelyn Perry had moved into 19th at 15:14. Reece Carpnter was holding the 20th spot at 15:17.

Coming onto the track, Bella Boggs was all alone as she had been for the entire race. She sped away to the finish line, coming up just short of cracking the 19:00 barrier with a strong 19:03 run. Laura Cain came onto the track with a bit of a gap on Bailey Holden of about 8-9 meters, but Holden started closing and got right behind her as they came out of the final turn, but Cain was able to fend her off for the runner-up spot with Cain scoring a 20:13 and Holden taking 3rd in 20:14. Those two had broken free from the small pack over the final mile. Bentlee Williams held the 4th spot in 20:35, and Anna Bennett made a pass on the track to move into the 5th spot in 20:41. Katie Cottrill held the 6th spot in 20:45. Natalie Bartrug joined them under 21 minutes with a 20:57 for 7th. Riley Sotomayor held the 8th position in 21:22. Avery Lilly outdueled Addison Lloyd for 9th with Lilly clocking a 21:31 and Lloyd a 21:32 for the final podium position. Hannah Fisher was 11th in 21:44. Leah Payne was 12th in 22:05. Bethany Payne won a kick to the finish over Elliot Handley for 13th with both going 22:19. Gwyn Gorrell was 15th in 22:24. Kaitlyn Key was 16th in 22:36. Teagan Huff took 17th in 22:47. Reece Carpenter came back up to 18th, finishing in 23:04. Mariah Whitlock was 19th in 23:05, and Keelyn Perry held the 20th position in 23:14.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? It was ok. I got the team champion. 2nd and 3rd swapped with Doddridge having a couple medical issues causing a pair of DNFs. Trinity Christian qualified for the meet but did not have 5 girls finish. I don't know if they started 5 or not. As a result, only 5 teams competed for the title. Individually, I got the champion, and the expected top 7 were the top 7 with some unsurprising shuffling in the 2-5 spots. I got 9 of the top 10, but that dropped to just 12 of the top 15, but rebounded to hit 22 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 3.47 places of their predicted finish. That's slightly better thna last year. With the smaller field, a lower number would be expected, but there was still just one runner that was 10 places off her predicted place, which is pretty good. The one who rose to a podium spot was Summers County's Avery Lilly (picked 14th, got 9th). Those who climbed into the top 25 were Trinity Christian's Brianna Blake (picked 29th, got 23rd), St. Marys' Savana Burd (picked 27th, got 24th), and Wood County Christian's Amber Perkins (picked 26th, got 25th). The big mover on the day was Richwood's Alyssa Bailey, who rose 10 spots from her predicted 47th place finish to her actual 37th place finish. The biggest team improvement came from Charleston Catholic who scored 11 fewer points than predicted.

In searching for the MVP, the small team battle doesn't leave me a lot of options. Braxton won by enough and was deep enough that no particular performance saved the day, though I'll note the strong runers of Leah Payne and Bethany Payne. The only place swap was St. Marys taking the podium spot over Doddridge. There wasn't a single performance that provided that margin either as it ended at 17 points, though I'll note the strong run of Mariah Whitlock. The battle for 4th was decided by just 3 points, and with one runner having a little bit of an off day, someone needed to step forward. Charleston Catholic had one runner beat her predicted place by 9 spots. Those 9 spots included 4 team points, just enough to fend off Ravenswood for 4th. For preserving 4th place for her team, the 2024 RunWV MVP is Charleston Catholic's Izzy Paulson.

I offer my congratulations to the Braxton girls. You were at the top of the heap the entire year, riding your depth to multiple wins. You could have had an off day and still won, but you did not have an off day. You put 2 on the podium and 4 in the top 13 and 6 in the top 18. The pressure of being the favorite did not cause you to falter. You went out and ran your race and took care of business.

I offer my congratulations to Bella Boggs. Any early season injury put things in a little bit of doubt, but when you returned, it was clear that you had not lost a step, and you only got better as the final month of the season wrapped up. It was a dominant performance. You left field in your wake right from the beginning 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.