Leading East Ridge was Sophomore Axel Sallault yet again. Axel finished second overall in a time of 16:28. This time was almost 45 seconds faster than his time last season. Sallault found himself chasing the eventual winner, Luca Martin, throughout the race but could not quite track Martin down by the end, falling just 8 seconds behind Martin. Sallault’s performance was still record-breaking as it was the fastest East Ridge time at Whispering Pines in school history. Sallault continues to break records with each race he has run this season.
Junior Caleb Walker missed the top 10 medal stand as he finished in 11th place. Walker ran the course in a time of 17:19, which was almost a whole minute faster than his performance in 2023. Walker continues to improve with every race in his High School career. Speaking of improving from week to week, Junior Gustavo Vargas and Sophomore Tyce Ertel are also East Ridge runners who get faster in their careers. Vargas finished in 22nd place with a time of 18:06. This was an extraordinary time at Whispering Pines, considering Vargas ran almost three minutes faster than in his 2023 race, in which Vargas iconically and quickly zig-zagged his way to the finish line. Ertel joins Vargas in the three-minute improvement club as he finished the 2024 race in 18:34, while in 2023 Ertel finished in 21:35.
Being the fifth scorer in a cross-country race is as important as being the first scorer. This race saw a new fifth scorer and it was Junior Dylan McCleary. McCleary completed the race in 19:30 and finished in 60th place. Finishing just behind McCleary was fellow Junior James Laack in 19:44 and 63rd place. Laack also showed improvement from 2023, in which Laack was a minute faster in 2024. The youngest runner on the varsity team, Aubin Sallault finished in 67th place, good for 67th place.
The JV boys had a record number of boys competing at Whispering Pines, which included fourteen runners, ranging from Freshmen to Seniors. These fourteen student-athletes led the Knights to a fourth-place finish. Leading the JV Knights was Freshman Gavan Flaugher again, who finished in 12th place overall. He ran his race in a time of 20:34. Just behind Flaugher was Sophomore Eli Parks finishing 23rd at 21:12. Parks ran exactly three minutes faster than he did in 2023. Parks is another Knight that continues to improve with each race. Scoring third for the Knights was Sophomore Christopher Stuemke who just edged out his teammate Evan DeAnnuntis in a time of 22:00. Rounding out the scoring for the Knights was Andrew Conway who, like Stuemke, also just edged out a teammate, this time Isaac Bori. Conway and Bori completed the race in a time of 22:19. Bori’s 22:19 was a personal best for him. Many of the JV Knights were running at Whispering Pines for the first time. This included Freshmen Sidney Stewart, Aiden Floudiotis, Maddox Nickolaou, and Hunter Odom. Stewart finished the race at 22:58 and 46th place. Just behind Stewart was Junior Scott Bori in 23:07 and 49th place. Flouidiotis and Nickolaou finished at 23:09 and 23:11 respectively. Junior Daniel Baggett finished in 24:10, placing 61st. Just behind Baggett was Sophomore John Hall in 26:43. Senior Jayden Ramjohn completed the race in 26:57. Odom, who was running in his first High School race of his career finished in 28:35.
The Knights are back in action on Saturday when they travel to the Astronaut Invitational at Chain of Lakes Park in Titusville. The Varsity girls kick off the action at 7:15 AM, followed by the Varsity boys at 7:45, with the JV race at 8:15.
