by Coach Grant Mollett
Photos contributed by Dave Worthington
September 9, 2023 at Lake Minneola High School,
The East Ridge High School girls cross country team competed in the Hawks on the Hill Invitational, hosted by Lake Minneola High School. This morning’s temperature was 71 degrees as the sun emerged from some morning clouds. The race offered more than a good temperature, but an opportunity for some season-best, career-best, and school-record-breaking performances! The Knights finished fourth at the Hawks on the Hill Invitational last season. This season, the girls’ team is acutely focused on raising the bar from last season in each of their performances, and today’s efforts did not disappoint!
Girls from more than 16 different schools throughout Central Florida participated in this morning’s meet.
The first attempt at starting the race resulted in a necessary restart due to runners falling in the first 50 meters. However, the runners quickly got themselves reset, and the large field of girls was off across the athletic fields of Lake Minneola’s campus.
East Ridge’s super sophomores, Rhyen Foley and Veronica Peterson, quickly put themselves amidst the elite runners at today’s meet. Both Foley and Peterson were clocked at a swift 5:49 at the first-mile mark. In pursuit of keeping the rival schools’ best runners behind them, Foley and Peterson worked off of each other’s efforts through the duration of the race. Rounding the second-mile marker, Foley was clocked at 12:01 and her teammate, Peterson, followed closely at 12:10. The third mile, and more specifically the 300M track finish, brought Foley and Peterson into an even closer race, as the two touched down on the track, pursuing some rivals that were just ahead, and holding off others who were right behind. Foley and Peterson both stormed the finish line in an unprecedented pair of performances! Foley finished in 19:21 and Peterson in 19:23!
Foley’s performance set the new school record for a girls’ 5K time at East Ridge High School by four seconds – yes, the record that was set just one week prior by Peterson! Peterson’s 19:23, which was two seconds faster than her record-setting performance from the previous week, is now the second-fastest recorded 5k time by a girl in East Ridge’s history! Foley secured fifth place and Peterson secured sixth place out of a field of 103 varsity girls! Foley’s performance this morning was a near two-minute improvement from her time last season at Hawks on the Hill! Peterson’s performance from this morning was a near minute-and-a-half improvement from her time last season at Hawks on the Hill!
The third Knight to finish was junior Hanna Warren. Hanna finished in sixteenth place with a finish time of 20:21 – her second fastest time of the season and more than a minute-and-a-half faster performance than last season at Hawks on the Hill!
Freshman Taylor Walker was the fourth scorer for the varsity team this morning. She placed 26th overall and came across the line in a time of 22:01 – her second-fastest time of the season. The fifth runner and final scorer for the Knights was junior Neely Lugo. Neely placed 30th overall and posted a time of 22:22 – a new season best and a near one-minute improvement from her performance at Hawks on the Hill last season!
The sixth finisher for the Knights was junior Madi McCormack, who placed 47th overall and in a time of 23:55 – her new season-best performance. The seventh finisher for the Knights was junior J’Mariana Douglas, who placed 85th and in a time of 27:10 – her second-best performance of the season.
In a morning characterized by two career personal best and record-breaking performances and two season-best performances, the varsity team placed second out of eleven complete teams at the Hawks on the Hill Invitational.
East Ridge was edged out by its crosstown rival, Lake Minneola, but was able to fend off district rivals Olympia High School and Ocoee High School. The overall winner for the girls’ varsity race was Annabella Tomasic from Lake Highland Prep. Annabella finished the race in a swift time of 17:42.
The East Ridge Knights also had seven participants in the girls’ junior varsity race this morning. Freshman Lexi Whitehead placed 12th overall out of a field of 49 junior varsity runners and finished in a time of 28:03 – a new season/career personal best by more than twenty seconds! Senior Sarah Tingler, the second finisher for the Knights, placed fourteenth overall, and finished in a time of 28:14 – a new season personal best by three seconds! The third runner-in was senior Kayden Page who placed 23rd overall, and finished in a time of 30:09. Sophomore Shane George was the fourth finisher for the Knights. Shane placed 24th overall and finished in a time of 30:18. Junior Bianca Brauti-Heidemann was the fifth and final scorer for the junior varsity team this morning. She placed 25th overall and finished in a time of 30:51 – a new career/season personal best performance by over ten seconds! Sophomore Alyssa Schlacht was the sixth finisher for the Knights. Alyssa placed 26th overall and finished in a time of 30:57. Junior Isabella Stuemke was the seventh finisher for East Ridge. Isabella placed 45th overall and finished in a time of 36:36.
The girls cross country team will participate in the Savannah and David Memorial Meet on Saturday September 16 at Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange, Florida.
For full varsity results from the Hawks on the Hill Invitational visit: https://fl.milesplit.com/meets/558271-13th-annual-hawks-on-the-hill-invitational-2023/results/954461?type=formatted.
For full junior varsity results from the Hawks on the Hill Invitational visit: https://fl.milesplit.com/meets/558271-13th-annual-hawks-on-the-hill-invitational-2023/results/954462?type=formatted.
