Knights Are Team Runner Up At The 4A Region 2 Championships

November 15, 2025 – Boca Raton, Florida

The East Ridge High School girls varsity cross country team competed in the Class 4A Region 2 Championships on Saturday morning at South County Regional Park in Boca Raton. This was the second time that the Knights had run at this venue, as South County was the host for the Region 2 Championships last year.  Last season the Knights made history by winning the program’s first regional championship. This year, with the Knights coming off their historic fourth consecutive district title, the regional championships presented a special opportunity for East Ridge to compete for a second regional title. The Region 2 race had it all – beautiful weather, elite competition, and fast times!

106 total girls, including runners from fourteen different complete teams and eight qualified individual girls, 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.

Donning their pink uniforms, the Knights’ “Pink Wave” quickly put themselves close to the front of the large field of state qualifying hopeful teams and individuals. Each Knight, knowing their most capable opponents, sought to put themselves ahead of as many runners from Boone, Lake Minneola, and Spanish River as they possibly could. Breaking up other elite teams has been a recipe for success for the Knights this season. Leading the

The next thirty-five seconds of the race would see the rest of the Knights’ scoring runners finish! Next up from the Knights’ Pink Wave was junior Jessie Volz. Volz stormed the long straightaway in an effort to keep other title contending opponents behind her. She ultimately took fourteenth place overall and finished in a swift time of 19:14.65! Volz’s performance enabled her to join her teammate in the regional medal line after the race! This is also now the eighth fastest regional performance by a Knight in school history! Volz’s performance at the regional championship on Saturday was more than a two minute improvement from her performance at South County last year! Her performance was also a new career personal best performance, as she retained her position as the fourth fastest girl in the program’s history!

The third finisher for the Knights was senior Veronica Peterson. Peterson, trailing in close proximity to a key opponent, rushed the hill, and gunned it across the long straightaway. Her efforts enabled her to overtake her opponent at the finish line! Peterson finished in nineteenth place and in a swift time of 19:26 – a new season personal best performance! Peterson’s performance at the regional meet is now the ninth fastest regional performance in school history! In fact, Peterson is the only runner in the program’s history to have all four of her regional performances within the top ten all-time list of East Ridge regional performances!

The Pink Wave kept on rolling! The fourth finisher for the Knights was freshman Hortance Sallault. Sallault placed 21st overall and finished in a swift time of 19:37! This was Sallault’s second fastest performance of the season! Her result is now the eleventh fastest regional performance in the program’s history!

Junior Taylor Walker would be the fifth scorer for the Knights at the regional championships. She placed 28th overall and finished in a swift time of 19:48 – a new career personal best performance! Walker’s performance on Saturday was more than a thirty second improvement from her performance at South County last year! With that, Walker is now the seventh fastest runner in the school’s history! Furthermore, her regional performance enabled the team to make some special history. For the first time in program history, the Knights had all five scoring finishers under the 20:00 mark!

The sixth finisher for the Knights was sophomore Helen Robertson. Robertson took 35th place overall and finished in a swift time of 20:26 – a new career personal best by two seconds!

Rounding out the Knights finishers was junior Lexi Whitehead. Whitehead placed 55th overall with a time of 21:31 in her first regional race of her high school career.

In a highly competitive race, East Ridge’s historic performances earned them the regional team runner up! Spanish River edged out the Knights by eight points to win the regional championship. East Ridge was able to keep their other district rivals behind them, as Lake Minneola took third and Boone took fourth in the region. This is now East Ridge’s fifth team in school history to qualify for the state championships! They qualified in 2011 when the team competed in Class 3A. In Class 4A, the team has qualified for the state meet for the past four consecutive years. 

The Knights will compete in the Class 4A State Championships on Saturday November 22 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.  The gun time for the 4A girls race will be 9:00 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/699806-fhsaa-4a-region-2-2025/results.