By Coach Tim Ferrell, East Ridge High School
Leading the Knights yet again was Super Sophomore Axel Sallault in a record breaking performance of 15:44. Sallault broke his own record from the 2023 season where he ran a 16:12 at the District race. That performance was at the END of the season. Sallault broke his own record by over 30 seconds IN THE FIRST REGULAR SEASON RACE of the season. Saullault’s performance was not only historical in East Ridge terms, but also places him in the top 20 fastest performances ever at Cecil Field.
Sallault’s performance was not the only eye-popping result for the East Ridge Knights. Junior Caleb Walker ran one of the fastest performances in East Ridge history, completing the race in a time of 16:45. This was good for 16th all time in East Ridge history! In addition, this was a personal best for Caleb by over 30 seconds!
The great weather and flat course was the perfect recipe for personal bests. The East Ridge Boys Cross Country featured many personal bests throughout the team. Other than Sallault and Walker, Junior Gustavo Vargas also ran a personal best. He was able to set a new best time by just 0.60 seconds, but, a personal best is a personal best (18:02.00). Vargas’ teammate Tyce Ertel also PR’ed with a time of 18:21. Vargas and Ertel were East Ridge’s third and fourth scorers, respectively. East Ridge’s all important fifth scorer was yet again Freshman Aubin Sallault, who also set a personal best time of 18:32, just eleven seconds behind Ertel.
Providing quality depth for the Knights included a mix of veterans and new faces. Juniors James Laack and Dylan McCleary put down solid, steady races. Laack ran a season best of 18:49 and McCleary finished the course in a time of 19:41, also a season best for him. Rounding out the Varsity team featured two Freshmen and a Sophomore running his first varsity race. Finishing eighth for the Knights was Freshman Watson Dunham, running a season best time of 19:51. Just behind Dunham was fellow Freshman Sidney Stewart, also running a season best time of 20:46. Sophomore Eli Parks also ran a season best time of 21:10, finishing tenth for the Knights.
After winning the Junior Varsity Team Title last week at the FCA Preseason Invitational, the Junior Varsity runners were excited to follow their races up with more fast times. They certainly did not disappoint as many Personal Bests were scattered all over the course. The top JV runner was Freshman Gavan Flaugher who impressed yet again by running a personal best time of 19:38. This put him in 75th place, in a field of OVER 400 runners! Completing the course second for the JV Knights was Junior Scott Bori who ran a season best time of 21:02. Just a little over thirty seconds behind Bori was fellow Junior Evan DeAnnuntis, running a season best time of 21:34. Running a personal best time of over a whole minute was Freshman Aiden Floudiotis (21:39). Junior Andrew Conway also ran his race in a personal best time (21:43). Rounding out the JV team was Freshman Isaac Bori, shattering his personal best time by almost a minute (22:21), Junior Daniel Baggett (23:33) who ran a personal best time by almost two minutes, Maddox Nickolaou who also ran a personal best time by almost THREE minutes, Sophomore John Hall (25:50), and Senior Jayden Ramjohn (26:00). Ramjohn broke his personal best time by over FIVE minutes.
The Knights are back in action next Saturday, August 31st at Whispering Pines Park in Inverness, Florida. The Varsity girls will kick things off at 8:00 followed by the Varsity Boys at 8:35. The JV races will be staggered with the JV Boys at 9:05 and JV Girls at 9:10.
Photo credit to South Lake Photography
