by Grant Mollett, East Ridge High School
November 9 – Boca Raton, Florida
The East Ridge High School girls varsity cross country team participated in the Class 4A Region 2 Championships on Saturday morning at South County Regional Park in Boca Raton. This was the first time that the Knights had run at this venue, so they looked to make their mark at the regional race. Last season, the regional championships were held at New World Sports Complex in Jacksonville, where East Ridge placed third due to losing a tiebreaker for regional runner-up. This season, the team traveled to Boca as the projected favorite to win the regional championship and left Boca as the regional team champion!
117 girls from sixteen different teams competed Saturday morning in the Class 4A Region 2 Championships. The girls’ race went off at 7:30 am. The large field of state-hopeful teams and individuals darted across a long straightaway before the course u-turned to begin the first of two loops in a portion of South County Regional Park. The runners then made a second full loop, passing the 4000M mark, and headed straight to the lone hill on the course. Once the runners rushed the hill, they were relieved by a nice downhill and onto a flat path. Then one last turn and then a long straightaway took the runners to the finish line. Conditions were a little warmer and humid than most runners would prefer for a November morning, but that did not inhibit the Knights from making some history!
For the eleventh time this season, junior Rhyen Foley was the first finisher for the Knights! Finishing the first loop, approximately a mile and a half into the race, Foley was spotted at the front of the lead pack with other state elite runners – including Addison Elwell, Foley’s toughest individual competition throughout the season. The two, leading the rest by a few seconds, took the right turn to begin the second loop of the course.
Once the rest of the large field of runners had made the turn, in just a few short minutes, the lead cyclists came into the coaches’ sights. This time around, Foley was alone, and had put herself nearly fifteen seconds ahead of Elwell as she crossed the 4000M mark! Some runners may take that time gap and temper their speed, especially knowing a steep hill sits between them and the finish line. However, Foley was not out there to stay within her own comfort zone. She trains extremely hard so that she can perform at the highest levels. Foley attacked that hill with something fierce and zipped around the final portion of the course, determined to claim what she had set her sights on the entire season – a regional championship!
Foley finished in a swift time of 18:08 to claim her first individual regional title – a 25-second improvement from her performance at last year’s regional championships! This was Foley’s second-best performance in her high school career, which makes her performance the second-best performance in the school’s 23-year history!
The second Knight to finish was junior Veronica Peterson. Peterson placed tenth overall and finished in a time of 19:00! Her performance, which was her second fastest time in her high school career, is now the fifth fastest regional time in the school’s history! Peterson’s season’s best performance helped to push her team to victory, and landed her in the medal line with her teammate!
Senior Hanna Warren put down another great postseason performance, as she was the team’s third finisher at the regional championships! Warren placed twelfth overall and finished in a time of 19:14 – her second-fastest time of the season! Her performance enabled her to join Foley and Peterson in the medal line – making East Ridge the only team who placed three finishers in the top fifteen positions.
The Knights’ fourth and fifth finishers, the team’s final scorers, sealed the win for the Knights! Junior Adriana Mustin and sophomore Taylor Walker ran in close proximity to each other, ensuring that they stayed in front of opposing scorers. Mustin reached the hill first, and pushed hard up the hill and onto the path that leads to the finish line. Close behind Mustin was Walker, who also rushed the hill, in an effort to pick off a few more girls to ensure the team’s victory. Walker’s kick enabled her to overcome an opponent from Windermere, and in the process, she also caught her teammate! Walker placed 33rd overall, finishing in a fraction of a second ahead of Mustin and the opponent from Windermere! Her time of 20:23.20 was her new career personal best time – an eleven-second improvement from her previous career best performance last month at New World! Walker, who earlier this season became the tenth fastest girl in the school’s history, was able to move up to the ninth fastest position in the school’s history with her performance at the regional championships
Mustin placed 34th overall in a time of 20:23.30 – a new career personal best performance by less than a second! Mustin’s performance at the regional meet made her the tenth-fastest girl in the school’s history!
Sophomore Jessie Volz, one of the team’s most improved runners this season, earned herself one of the seven coveted spots on the regional and state teams due to her performance at last week’s district championships. As the sixth finisher for the Knights at yesterday’s regional championships, Volz placed 52nd overall and finished in a time of 21:24 – a new career personal best performance by two seconds!
The seventh finisher for the Knights was senior Neelyanis Lugo. Lugo placed 56th overall and finished in a time of 21:30 – her second-fastest performance of the season!
East Ridge High School dominated the field as they won their program’s first regional title in the school’s 23-year history! This is the fourth time the Knights have qualified for the state championships in the school’s history, having qualified in 2011, 2022, 2023, and now 2024. Lake County Schools was well represented in Boca at the regional championships, as Lake Minneola High School was the regional team runner-up.
The Knights will compete in the Class 4A State Championships on Saturday, November 16 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. The gun time for the 4A girls’ race will be 7:45 am. For information regarding the FHSAA State Championships, visit: https://fhsaa.com/sports/cross.
For full results for the Class 4A Region 2 girls race visit: https://fl.milesplit.com/meets/635610-fhsaa-4a-region-2-2024/results/1106771/formatted/.
