The Class AA Girls opened the afternoon session. Conditions were sunny and a bit warmer than expected. The team race was expected to be the most exciting of the day, and it delivered. The top 3 teams were separated by just 5 points, with a tie for the 2nd podium spot. Pre-meet favorite Frankfort came through with the 5 point win with Braxton getting the runner-up spot over Lincoln on the tie-breaker. Buffalo put together and excellent race to put themselve in the conversation. Individually, it was expected to be between a trio of runners, but it was Ravenswood's Riley Sotomayor who pulled off the win, keeping herself within striking distance throughout the race and then showing her 400 speed on the track. I had said after watching her at Fort Frye, LKC, and Regional that if she would keep herself in contention until the last half mile that she would be a problem, and that's just what happened. She didn't let the leaders get too far away, and was able to use her excellent closing speed to run them down. Each of the top 4 finishers spent at least a little time at the front of the pack. It was a fun race with Lincoln's Raley Cochran taking the 2nd spot, Frankfort's Bailey Ferguson in 3rd, and Williamstown's Cassie Sites in 4th.

At the top of the hill at approximately 0.7 miles, Lincoln's Raley Cochran had gotten out to a lead, coming through at 4:38. The next three were close with Frankfort's Bailey Ferguson in 2nd, Ravenswood's Riley Sotomayor in 3rd, and Williamstown's Cassie Sites in 4th, each at 4:41. Lincoln's Adalynn Milnes was in 5th at 4:43 with Frankfort's Paisley Raines in 6th at 4:44. Ravenswood's Gwyn Gorrell was in 7th at 4:45 with Braxton's Leah Payne in 8th at 4:46. Doddridge's Emily Cottrill was in 9th at 4:50 with that time matched by Buffalo's Cami Samples in 10th. Logan's Keelyn Perry was in 11th at 4:53. Doddridge's Kaitlyn Key was in 12th at 4:58 with Berkeley Springs' Bella Shoemaker in 13th at 4:59. Braxton Addison Lloyd was in 14th at 5:01 with that time matches by Buffalo's Sara Landers in 15th. Lincoln's Samantha Fitch was in 16th at 5:03. Braxton's Reece Carpenter was in 17th at 5:04. Philip Barbour's Kayla Baker was in 18th at 5:05. Weir's Lea Young was in 19th at 5:06 with South Harrison's Savannah Holden in 20th matching that time.

At the Mile Mark, Raley Cochran continued to lead at 6:29. Bailey Ferguson remained in 2nd at 6:32. A small gap had opened to the next two with Cassie Sites in 3rd and Riley Sotomayor in 4th with both at 6:36. Adalynn Milnes was in 5th at 6:37 with Paisley Rains in 6th and Gwyn Gorrell in 7th with both at 6:38. Leah Payne was in 8th at 6:40. These 8 had gotten completely away from the field. Emily Cottrill was in 9th with Cami Samples less than a step behind in 10th with both at 6:49. Keelyn Perry was in 11th at 6:53. Kaitlyn Key was in 12th and Addison Lloyd was in 13th with both at 6:59. Bella Shoemaker was in 14th at 7:03. Reece Carpenter had moved up to 14th at 7:04. Sara Landers was in 16th at 7:06 with Samantha Fitch in 17th at 7:07. Kayla Baker was in 18th at 7:09 with Savannah Holden in 19th at 7:10. Frankfort's Hailey McBride had moved into 20th at 7:11.

Near the mid-way point (roughly at 1.4 miles), Bailey Ferguson had made a significant move, turning a 3 second deficit into a 4 second lead, coming through at 9:11. Raley Cochran was in 2nd at 9:15. Cassie Sites had a small lead over Riley Sotomayor for 3rd, 9:17 to 9:18. Adalynn Milnes was in 5th at 9:22 with Gwyn Gorrell in 6th at 9:23. Paisley Raines was in 7th at 9:29 with Leah Payne in 8th at 9:30. Cami Samples had moved into 9th at 9:45 with Keelyn Perry in 10th at 9:46. Emily Cottrill was in 11th at 9:49. Addison Lloyd had moved into 12th at 9:55 with Kaitlyn Key in 13th at 9:56. Reece Carpenter was in 14th at 10:03. Kayla Baker had moved up to 15th at 10:07. Samantha Fitch was in 16th at 10:08 with Sara Landers matching that time in 17th. Bella Shoemaker was in 18th at 10:09 with Hailey McBride now in 19th at 10:10. Lincoln's Kennedy Linville had moved into the 20th spot at 10:13.

At about 1.8 miles, Bailey Ferguson continued to lead and had stretched it to 6 seconds, coming by at 11:55. Cassie Sites had moved into 2nd at 12:01 with Raley Cochran in 3rd at 12:02 and Riley Sotomayor in 4th at 12:03. Gwyn Gorrell had made the move into 5th at 12:10. Adalynn Milnes was in 6th at 12:15. Paisley Raines was in 7th at 12:22 with Leah Payne in 8th at 12:23. Keelyn Perry had moved into 9th at 12:42 with Cami Samples in 10th at 12:43. Emily Cottrill was in 11th with Addison Lloyd in 12th and Kaitlyn Key in 13th.

At the two mile mark, Bailey Ferguson remained in the lead at 13:19, but it was shrinking, with Cassie Sites in 2nd now within 4 seconds at 13:23. Raley Cochran had the slightest edge over Riley Sotomayor for 3rd with both at 13:25. Gwyn Gorrell was extending her grip on 5th at 13:35. Adalynn Milnes remained in 6th at 13:42. Paisley Raines was in 7th at 13:48 with Leah Payne in 8th at 13:49. Cami Samples had moved back into 9th and opened a small gap at 14:08. Keelyn Perry was in 10th at 14:11. Addison Lloyd had moved into 11th at 14:17. Emily Cottrill had a narrow edge over Kaitlyn Key for 12th with both at 14:20. Kayla Baker had moved up to 14th at 14:35 with Reece Carpenter matching that time in 15th. Samantha Fitch remained in 16th at 14:43. Hailey McBride was in 17th at 14:49, just ahead of Bella Shoemaker in 18th and Kennedy Linville in 19th with both at 14:50. Sara Landers was in 20th at 14:52.

Coming onto the track, it was Cassie Sites having moved into the lead, but Riley Sotomayor was only about 5 meters behind. It did not take her long to make the pass, doing so on the backstretch. Sites tried to go with her for about 30 meters before Sotomayor started to pull away. She opened the gap significantly in the turn and sped away to the 6 second victory. Meanwhile, Bailey Ferguson and Raley Cochran were battling each other for 3rd, and they found themselves closing on Sites. Cochran had one more move and powered away into the 2nd spot in 20:21. Ferguson also made the pass into 3rd in 20:23. Sites, out of gas, shut it down and strolled across the line in 4th in 20:27. These 4 all closed very well. At the 2 mile mark, 4th place was 10 seconds ahead of 5th. It ended at 33 seconds. Gwyn Gorrel came onto the track in 5th, but Paisley Raines made the pass at the end of the backstretch. However, Gorrell had one more burst and got back by into 5th, hitting the line at 21:00. Raines took the 6th spot in 21:02. Adalynn Milnes maintained the 7th spot in 21:06 with Leah Payne right behind in 8th in 21:08. Cami Samples moved up to 9th in 21:32 with Addison Lloyd completing her 4th podium performance by moving into the 10th spot in 21:35. Kaitlyn Key moved up to 11th in 21:41 with Keelyn Perry taking 12th in 21:45. Reece Carpenter moved up to 13th in 22:15. Hailey McBride made a late pass to cap a strong final mile to move into 14th in 22:22, just ahead of Kayla Baker, also in 22:22. Samantha Fitch took the 16th spot in 22:31 with Kennedy Linville moving up to 17th in 22:32, just ahead of Bella Shoemaker in 18th, also in 22:32. Oak Glen's Amelia Kampmeyer moved up into the 19th spot over the final mile to finish in 22:34. Emily Cottrill held the final medal position in 22:42.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? This was a really good batch of picks. I got the Team Champion, Runner-Up, and 3rd Place Team in what we knew was going to be a hotly contested race. There was only one place swap in the group, taking place at the 4-5 position. Individually, I did not get the Champion, but those top 4 were expected to be the top 4...just 1 and 4 switched. I got 9 of the Top 10, 12 of the Top 15, and 24 of the Top 25. On average, runners finished within 5.39 places of their predicted finish. That's 0.58 better than last year. While it was a very good overall set of picks, it was hindered by having 4 runners over 20 spots off their predicted spot. The runner who climbed into a podium spot was Braxton's Addison Lloyd (picked 12th, got 10th). I should have known as she had finished on the podium each of the prior 3 years. The runner who jumped into the Top 25 was James Monroe's Layla Taylor (picked 27th, got 25th). The biggest mover of the day was Buffalo's Caroline Clendenin, who rose 23 spots from a predicted 53rd place finish to an actual 30th 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 Buffalo, who outperformed by 12.5%.

In searching for the MVP, when it's this close, you have to look at the top. And there may be more to look at than just the numbers. You can look at who passed who and when. The thing is, there wasn't a single move by one runner that made the difference. Frankfort had a pair of girls move up 3 spots over the final mile, but neither made the whole difference. So, I look at the 2nd place battle since it was decided by a tie-breaker. Maybe there was a last second pass. There was not. That leaves me to just go with my gut, and I'm going to go with a girl that placed just 4 spots ahead of her predicted finish. She was outside the top 20 early. She was still only 19th near the mid-way point. She moved up 5 spots from there, including one from a contending team. For trusting her race strategy, for picking up much needed team points over the final stages of the race, and for coming through when her team needed her, the 2025 RunWV MVP is Frankfort's Hailey McBride.

I offer my congratulations to the Frankfort girls. You were afterthoughts for a lot of people for a lot of the season. I could see you lingering in the background, and I told someone a couple weeks before the meet that it looked like you would have a good shot. Still, I was a little surprised when I did the predictions, and you came out on top. You knew it was going to be close. You knew you had to run well. You knew no one could have an off day. And you stepped to the line and performed. You ran controlled races and moved up when it was time. With your discipline and grit, you brought home Frankfort's first girls' title.

I offer my congratulations to Riley Sotomayor. No one expected you to win this. Judging from the look on your face as you crossed the finish line, neither did you. But this time, you kept yourself in contention in the early stages, setting yourself up for your big finish. You did not lead this race until you were on the track, but the track is your second home, and you showed why, pulling away for the big 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.