By Grant Mollett, M.Ed. East Ridge High School
The East Ridge High School girls cross country team opened the 2019 season, as they competed in the Whispering Pines Invitational at Whispering Pines Park in Inverness, Florida. It was a clear, sunny, and humid central Florida morning, and the temperature hovered around the high 70s. Though warm, the morning’s conditions were a positive turn from the dreaded afternoon heat the runners have been practicing in for the past several weeks. This was the second consecutive season that the Knights had tested the course at Whispering Pines, and this year the sharp turns and steep, but short hills along the narrow forested path presented a new challenge – a swarm of bees that were disrupted by the trampling feet of over a hundred runners!
Girls from 22 different schools throughout Central Florida participated in this morning’s meet. The gun sounded at 8:00 am sharp, and the girls were off and running. East Ridge’s first runner through the finish line was senior Reagan Parks. This year Reagan finished in a time of 20:41 – more than a minute faster than her time last year at Whispering Pines. Reagan placed sixth in the field of 104 female runners.
Junior Mackenzie Hill came through the finish chute second for the Knights. Mackenzie put up a time of 22:03 and placed sixteenth overall. Mackenzie’s finish time at Whispering Pines was more than two minutes faster than her finishing time last season at this meet.
The third Knight to finish was junior Olivia Peine. Olivia finished in 27th place and posted a time of 23:47. Olivia’s finish time this morning was nearly two minutes faster than her finish time at Whispering Pines last season. The fourth finisher for East Ridge was freshman Alanis Melgar who finished in 56th place and in a time of 26:26. The fifth runner and final team scorer for the Knights was junior Caitlyn Cavender. Caitlyn placed 64th and posted a time of 26:51 in her debut as an East Ridge Knight. Junior Heidy Castillo followed in her teammate in 65th place and in a finish time of 26:55 in spite of enduring a bee sting early in the race!
As a team, the East Ridge girls placed fifth out of twelve schools that fielded complete teams. Montverde Academy, a nearby East Ridge rival, also participated at Whispering Pines. They claimed first place at the meet by placing six of their runners in the top ten. The overall winner for the girls’ varsity race was Lily Henne from Montverde. She finished the race in a swift time of 18:48.
The Knights also had one runner participate in the girls’ junior varsity race this morning at Whispering Pines. Sophomore Mansi Patel finished in a time of 30:54 in her cross country debut.
The girls cross country team will travel to Mount Dora on Saturday, August 31st to participate in the Mount Dora Christian Invitational.
For full results from the Whispering Pines Invitational visit https://www.arrowliveresults.com/WhisperingPinesInvitationalVarsityGirls2811.
