The Class AAA Girls continued the afternoon session. In the team battle, it was expected to be a Bridgeport romp, and they delivered with a resounding 49 point victory. The battle for 2nd was expected to be a close one between 3 teams, and it was Herbert Hoover who came out on top in that battle, just one point better than Elkins. In the individual race, Herbert Hoover's Maysen Fletcher was the very heavy favorite, and she also delivered with a 53 second victory. The race for 2nd was the one that was expected to be exciting, but Emilia Tenney broke away to take the 2nd spot by 11 seconds with the other 3 candidates for that spot separated by just 4 seconds.

I got absolutely no video of this race as I was in the Class AA Awards Ceremony. That's one drawback to this 4 class schedule. As long as I'm coaching, I'll miss at least one race. I'll piece together what I can from the NFHS feed. In the very early going, as they came back through the starting field, Herbert Hoover's Maysen Fletcher had already established a gap. Bridgeport's Aria Selario was in 2nd 2 seconds back with Greenbrier East's Neena McClintic in 3rd also 2 second back. Herbert Hoover's Jenna Brown was in 4th 3 seconds back. I'm not sure who was in 5th. I think it was Hampshire's Bailey Nichols in 6th 4 seconds back. I think Winfield's Juliana von Wulffen was in 7th 5 seconds back. I think it was Grafton's Addison Sole and John Marshall's Zoe Zervos in 8th and 9th, also 5 seconds back, and maybe Maddie Lilly in 10th, 6 seconds back. This is from a distance and from the back, so I could be way off.

Just past the top of the hill at approximately 0.8 miles, Maysen Fletcher had stretched her lead, coming by at 4:31. Neena McClintic had pulled away into control of the 2nd spot at 4:41. Aria Selario was in 3rd at 4:52. Zoe Zervos was in 4th at 4:57 with Juliana von Wulffen in 5th also at 4:57. Elkins' Julia Biola had moved up to 6th at 4:59 with that time matched by Shady Spring's Baylee Garrett in 7th and Elkins' Emilia Tenney in 8th. Jenna Brown was in 9th at 5:00 with that time matched by St. Albans' Abigail Torman in 10th. Addison Sole was in 11th at 5:01. Bailey Nichols was in 12th at 5:03. John Marshall's Kalyn Reese was in 13th at 5:05. Maddie Lilly was in 14th at 5:10 with Herbert Hoover's Audree Born matching that time in 15th. Fairmont Senior's Sienna Zuchelli was in 16th at 5:11. Greenbrier East's Caroline Perilli Hancock was in 17th at 5:15. Bridgeport's Mikaela DeMoss was in 18th at 5:16 with that time matched by Fairmont Senior's Lyla Garcia in 19th. Spring Valley's Chezney Baker was in 20th at 5:17.

Around the Mile Mark, Maysen Fletcher came by at 5:46, opening her gap a bit more. Neena McClintic remained in 2nd at 5:58. Aria Selario remained in 3rd at 6:10. Julia Biola was in 4th with Emilia Tenney at her side with both at 6:18. Julia von Wulffen was in 6th at 6:19. Zoe Zervos was in 7th at 6:20. Jenna Brown was in 8th at 6:22 with Abigail Torman matching that in 9th. Baylee Garrett was in 10th at 6:23 with Bailey Nichols matching that time in 11th. Addison Sole was in 12th at 6:24. Kalyn Reese remained in 13th at 6:30. Fairmont Senior's Sienna Zuchelli was in 14th at 6:34. Audree Born remained in 15th at 6:36. Mikaela DeMoss was up to 16th at 6:37. Maddie Lilly was in 17th at 6:38. Layla Garcia was in 18th at 6:42. Bridgeport's Bethsayed Dankiewicz was in 19th at 6:43, and Caroline Perilli Hancock was in 20th at 6:44.

Prior to the 2 mile mark (about 1.9), Maysen Fletcher passed by at 11:11. Neena McClintic remained in 2nd at 11:48, but Emilia Tenney had made up nearly all of a 20 second deficit to come by in 3rd at 11:49. Alaria Selario was in 4th at 11:55. Julia Biola was in 5th at 12:05. Juliana von Wulffen was in 6th at 12:16. Zoe Zervos was in 7th at 12:20. She was trailed closely by Bailey Nichols in 8th at 12:21 and Jenna Brown in 9th at 12:22. Abigail Torman was in 10th at 12:30. The angle of the video changed at this point, so the next batch is at more like 1.95 miles. Kalyn Reese was in 11th at 13:10 with Addison Sole in 12th at 13:11 and Sienna Zuchelli up to 13th at 13:12. Mikaela DeMoss was up to 14th at 13:18. Baylee Garrett was in 15th at 13:25. Audree Born was in 16th at 13:29. Bethsayed Dankiewicz was up to 17th at 13:31. Bridgeport's Ashley McBrayer had moved up to 18th at 13:33. Maddie Lilly was in 19th at 13:35 with that time matched by Lyla Garcia in 20th. The video did catch Maysen Fletcher coming through the 2 mile mark at just under 12:00, and Emelia Tenney made the pass into 2nd.

Coming onto the track, as expected, Maysen Fletcher was all alone. She decimated the field by 53 seconds to finish in 18:16. Emelia Tenney pulled away to control the 2nd spot in 19:09. Neena McClintic finished strong on the track to maintain the 3rd spot in 19:20. Aria Selario held the 4th spot in 19:22. Julia Biola made up ground on them over the final mile but couldn't quite get there for the pass, taking 5th in 19:24. Juliana von Wulffen easily held the 6th spot in 19:43. Zoe Zervos held the 7th spot in 19:56. Bailey Nichols took the 8th position in 20:03 with Jenna Brown in 9th in 20:06. Abigail Torman was not threatened for the final podium spot, taking 10th in 20:15. Kalyn Reese was 11th in 20:21, pulling well away from the ones she was battling near the 2 mile mark. Addison Sole took the 12th spot in 20:47, just ahead of Sienna Zuchelli in 13th in 20:49. Bethsayed Dankiewicz climbed up to 14th in 20:55 with Ashley McBrayer right behind her in 15th in 20:56. Mikaela DeMoss was 16th in 21:04. Audree Born held the 17th spot in 21:12. The next 4 spots were decided by just 0.28 seconds with one being denied a medal. Maddie Lilly claimed the 18th spot, Lyla Garcia in 19th, and Bridgeport's Isla Tobrey getting the final medal with each at 21:13.

How did RunWV do on the predictions? It was a solid batch. I got the Team Champion, but who didn't. My 2 and 4 swapped places. My 5 and 6 swapped places, and my 7 and 8 swapped places. I got the Individual Champion and Runner-Up correct. The Top 5 actually finished in the exact predicted order. I got 9 of the Top 10, 12 of the Top 15, and 22 of the Top 25. On average, runners finished within 6.91 places of their predicted finish. That's 0.76 worse than last year. There were 5 that finished 20 or more places off their predicted spot. The one who climbed into a podium spot was Hampshire's Bailey Nichols (picked 12th, got 8th). Those that climebed into the Top 25 were Fairmont Senior's Sienna Zuchelli (picked 31st, got 13th), Keyser's Ava Barrick (picked 30th, got 23rd), adn John Marshall's Lily Williams (picked 37th, got 25th). The biggest mover of the day was North Marion's Annabelle Todd, who rose 33 spots from a predicted 74th place finish to an actual 41st 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 John Marshall, who outperformed by 15.1%.

In searching for the MVP, I can't really look at Bridgeport. They won by way too much. Herbert Hoover getting the 2nd podium spot by a single point is a good place to look. They had multiple girls that you could look at for that one, single point. I landed on one that rose 8 places from her predicted finish to her actual finish. She picked up 8 team points along the way to secure the win for her team. There were actually two that mostly fit that description, but one was higher up the field where it's harder to make up multiple spots. In addition, this runner held off a pack of 5 that were very close to knocking her down the charts and taking that podium appearance away. For her strong race and move up the field to secure 2nd place for her team, the 2025 RunWV MVP is Herbert Hoover's Audree Born.

I offer my congratulations to the Bridgeport girls. You were not really on anyone's radar at the beginning of the season, but a lot of strong new runners quickly moved you to the top of that charts, and it was clear that you were far and away the class of the field. As long as you were healthy, the title was going to be yours. Getting to the line healthy at the end of the season is certainly a large part of the battle, and you accomplished it, and then you ran a really strong race putting your front five all in the top 20, and doing it with discipline as most of them moved up significantly over the course of the race. It was a dominant and impressive victory.

I offer my congratulations to Maysen Fletcher. There wasn't really any doubt, and unlike last year's hotly contested battle, you ran away from the field early and continually pulled further and further away to win by nearly a minute. It was a dominant and well-deserved victory.

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.