The Class A Girls continued the morning session with temperatures climbing to almost perfect conditions. The team race was expected to go fairly handily to St. Marys. They didn't win by as much as expected, but it was still a double digit victory over Trinity Christian and Charleston Catholic, each of whom ran a little better than predicted. Individually, Bella Boggs was the heavy favorite, and she came through with the 30 second win over Bentlee Williams.

At the top of the hill at approximately 0.70 miles, Charleston Catholic's Bella Boggs had already established a commanding lead, coming through at 4:33. St. Marys' Anna Bennett was in 2nd at 4:41 with Bentlee Williams in 3rd at 4:46. Those two were well ahead of the remainder of the field. Tucker's Estoria Chase and Wheeling Central's Rylee Wright were battling for 4th with Chase having a slight edge but both at 4:59. Calhoun's Paige Sterns was in 6th at 5:03, just ahead of Trinity Christian's Brianna Blake, who was at 5:04. St. Marys' Savana Burd was in 8th at 5:07. Trinity Christian's Lauren Williams was in the 9th spot at 5:11, with Madonna's Sophia Soly in 10th at 5:12 and Charleston Catholic's Bailee King in 11th at 5:13. Wheeling Central's Ila Hutnick was in the 12th spot at 5:16 with Wood County Christian's Elliot Handley matching that time in 13th. Tucker's Addi Moats was in 14th at 5:17 with Charleston Catholic's Ella Green matching that time in 15th. Wood County Christian's Amber Perkins was close behind in 16th at 5:18. The next four came through pretty much together, each at 5:21, with Charleston Catholic's Mary Rushworth in 17th, and the Wirt trio of Allison Bumgarner, Kinsley Nicolais, and Skylie Thompson running in 18th through 20th respectively.

At the Mile Mark, Bella Boggs had extended her lead to over 10 seconds, coming through at 6:23. Bentlee Williams had made a big move in this section to move into 2nd place at 6:34. Anna Bennett was in 3rd at 6:36. These two had nearly doubled their gap on the rest of the field in this short stretch. Rylee Wright now had a slight edge over Estoria Chase for 4th with both at 7:01. Paige Sterns remained in 6th at 7:06, just ahead of Brianna Blake in 7th at 7:07. Savana Burd was in 8th at 7:10. Sophia Soly was in 9th at 7:14 with Lauren Williams in 10th at 7:15. Elliot Handley had moved into 11th at 7:17, and Amber Perkins had moved up to 12th at 7:19. Bailee King was in 13th at 7:21 with that time matched by Addi Moats in 14th. Ila Hutnick was in 15th at 7:23. Allison Bumgarner led a foursome at 7:25 in 16th. Matching that time were Kinsley Nicolais in 17th, Skylie Thompson in 18th, and Trinity Christian's Alexander Ayers in 19th. Ella Green was in 20th at 7:28.

Near the mid-way point (roughly at 1.4 miles), Bella Boggs had continued to extend her lead, coming through at 9:01. Bentlee Williams had taken complete control of 2nd at 9:15. Anna Bennett was all alone in 3rd at 9:26. Rylee Wright had a slight gap on Estoria Chase with Wright in 4th at 9:53 and Chase in 5th at 9:54. Paige Sterns had closed on them a little, coming through at 9:57 in 6th. Briana Blake remained in 7th at 10:01. Savana Burn was in 8th at 10:09. Elliot Handley had continued to move up and was now in 9th at 10:12. Lauren Williams was still in 10th at 10:13. Sophia Soly was holding 11th at 10:15. Amber Perkins remained in 12th at 10:17. Addi Moats moved up to 13th at 10:22. Allison Bumgarner had moved up to 14th at 10:25. Kinsely Nicolais was up to 15th at 10:26. Bailee King was in 16th at 10:27. Ila Hutnick was in 17th at 10:28. Alexandra Ayers had picked up a spot into 18th at 10:31. St. Marys Maddie Smith had climbed into the 19th spot at 10:39. Ella Green was in 20th at 10:42.

At about 1.8 miles, Bella Boggs remained strongly in the lead at 11:43. Bentlee Williams further extended her grip on 2nd at 11:58. Anna Bennett remained well ahead of the pack in 3rd at 12:19. Estoria Chase had moved back into 4th with Rylee Wright in 5th and Paige Sterns in 6th. The front 3 were so far ahead, that was all I could get here.

At the two mile mark, Bella Boggs remained in control of the lead at 13:06. Bentlee Williams was still easily 2nd at 13:22. Anna Bennett was still all alone in 3rd at 13:44. Rylee Wright and Estoria Chase continued to battle back and forth with Wright now with a very slight edge for 4th with both at 14:16. They had started to pull back away from Paige Sterns in 6th at 14:22. Brianna Blake was in 7th at 14:26. Savana Burd remained in 8th at 14:39 with Elliot Handley matching that time in 9th. Lauren Williams remained in 10th at 14:43. Amber Perkins was up to 11th at 14:50. Sophia Soly was in 12th at 14:55. Addi Moats was in 13th at 15:02. Allison Bumgarner was in 14th at 15:08. Kinsley Nicolais was in 15th at 15:11. Bailee King was in 16th at 15:18. Ila Hutnick was remained in 17th at 15:22, just ahead of Alexandra Ayers in 18th at 15:23. Maddie Smith was still in the 19th spot at 15:34, and Trinity Christian's Sephore Rose had moved into 20th at 15:42.

Coming onto the track, Bella Boggs was all alone as she had nearly doubled her lead over the final mile, crossing the line at 19:55. Bentlee Williams easily maintained the 2nd spot in 20:25. Anna Bennett easily held the 3rd spot in 20:44. Rylee Wright made the pass into 4th on the backstretch and pulled away in the final 75 meters to take 4th in 21:35. Estoria Chase took the 5th position in 21:38. Brianna Blake held the 6th position in 21:49. Savana Burd closed well to take the 7th spot in 21:54, just ahead of Paige Sterns in 8th in 21:56. Elliot Handley took the 9th spot in 22:01. Amber Perkins used a strong showing on the track and a big final 75 meters to snag the final podium position, moving into 10th with just over 30 meters to go and crossing in 22:15. Lauren Williams was right behind in 11th in 22:16. Addi Moats used a strong kick to move into the 12th spot in 22:51. Allison Bumgarner made a pass into 13th with just 10 meters to go, taking the line in 22:53 with Sophia Soly in 14th in 22:54. Kinsley Nicolais took the 15th spot in 23:06. Sephora Rhodes used a strong final mile to move up to 16th in 23:13. Bailee King took the 17th position in 23:19. Ila Hutnick held the 18th spot in 23:26. Maddie Smith moved into the 19th spot in 23:32, and Mary Rushworth moved back into the final medal spot in 23:35.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? I'll call it a strong set. I got the team champion and runner-up, and the only team place that was incorrect was a 4-5 swap. Individually, I got the Champion correct and 9 of the Top 10. That dropped to 12 of the top 15, but improved back to 23 of the top 25. On average, runners finished within 3.95 places of their predicted finish. That's 0.48 worse than last year, but any time it's under 5, I like it. The runner who climbed into a podium position was Calhoun's Paige Sterns (picked 14th, got 8th). Those who climbed into the top 25 were Ritchie's Cassandra Hardbarger (picked 28th, got 22nd) and St. Marys' Mariah Whitlock (picked 26th, got 24th). The biggest mover of the day was Charleston Catholic's Elle Cicenas, who climbed 17 spots from a predicted 54th place finish to an actual 37th place finish. From a team standpoint, I'm doing that a little differently this year. The team that scored the largest percentage better than their predicted score gets that nod rather than the team that lowered their score by the most points. That puts the nod in the hands of Ritchie County, who outperformed by 15.0%.

In searching for the MVP, I settled on a difference maker that secured the podium. Had this athlete finished where she was predicted, her team does not climb onto the podium. If she finishes where she was predicted, the lost the spot by a heartbreaking single point. But she climbed from a predicted 21st place finish to an actual 16th place finish. That's only 5 spots, but they were all team points, and two of those that she passed to get into that position were from Charleston Catholic. For picking up the crucial points to secure her team's position on the podium, the 2025 RunWV MVP is Trinity Christian's Sephora Rhodes.

I offer my congratulations to the St. Marys girls. You were at the top of the standings all season and had that target on your backs. It was not a season without trials, and it was not a meet that was all sunshine and roses, but you did what you needed to do to secure the win. It is a testament to your quality and depth that you can have a day that is not your best and still win the title by a double digit margin.

I offer my congratulations to Bella Boggs. You took control of the race early and were never threatened. You pushed hard for the finish, doubling your margin over the final mile. It was not an easy season for you. Even getting to the starting line was not an easy task. But you got there, and once you did, it was over, with a dominant 30 second 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 don't mean anything. That's why we run the race.