By Coach Grant Mollett, East Ridge High School
September 27, 2025 – Ocoee, Florida
The East Ridge High School girls cross country team competed in the second installment of the Ocoee Cross Country Invitational at Ocoee on Saturday morning. This was the first time the Knights had participated in Ocoee’s meet. The race started with the runners charging across the practice football field. After making a sharp right turn, the runners made their way around the softball and baseball fields. From there, a long straightaway took the runners to a nearby pond. The course continued around the pond, and onto the West Orange Trail. One long, gradual downhill straightaway led to the first turnaround on the Trail and into a second long, gradual uphill straightaway that led to the second turnaround on the Trail. The runners exited the Trail, rounded the pond again (running the opposite direction from the lap), and made their way back to the athletic fields of the campus. They made one final turn onto track for the last 300M of the race and charged the finish line.
Girls from twelve complete teams throughout Central Florida participated in the Ocoee Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. The varsity girls race started at 8:00 AM.
For the third time this season, senior Rhyen Foley was the first Knight to cross the finish line! Foley got out of the starting area fairly quickly and put herself with the other frontrunners, including Lake Brantley’s Avalyn Thompson, Horizon’s Abigayle White, Tavares’s Jimena Nava Garcia, and Rachel Judy of Master’s Academy (of Oviedo). Thompson led the field for most of the first mile, but Foley, White, and Garcia worked their way ahead of her into the second mile. By the third mile, Judy had also overcome Thompson and put herself in the race for the individual championship. The four girls hit the track a few seconds apart from each other, however White was able to put more distance between herself and the others, as she took first overall. A mere twelve seconds separated the individual champion from Foley, who ultimately took fourth overall out of a large field of 106 varsity runners. Foley finished in a time of 19:37, which was her second fastest time of the season and her third time medaling in an invitational this season!
Finishing second for the Knights was senior Veronica Peterson! Peterson kept herself in close proximity to Windermere High School’s top two runners for the entirety of the race and ultimately secured eighth place overall! Peterson finished in a swift time of 19:59 – her fastest performance of the current season!
Trailing in close proximity was the rest of East Ridge’s pack – a pack has been difficult for opponents to beat this season. Leading that pack was freshman Hortance Sallault. Sallault, once again, pushed the tempo in order to make the pack move! She kept herself in close proximity to Peterson for the most of the race, which helped to pull her other teammates along. Sallault finished in eleventh overall and finished in a time of 20:49.
The pack’s remaining four runners thinned out over the next ten finishing positions (an approximate thirty-five second spread). Junior Taylor Walker hit the track and opened her stride in hot pursuit of two opponents who were slightly ahead. Walker was able to split them in the finish chute, as she took fourteenth overall and finished in a time of 20:56!
Junior Jessie Volz finished as the fifth scorer for the Knights! She placed eighteenth overall and finished in a time of 21:15!
Junior Lexi Whitehead hit the track a few seconds behind her teammate, Adriana Mustin who found herself in a head-to-head sprint with an opponent from Master’s Academy. Whitehead, seeing an opportunity to potentially catch both runners, took the final turn of the track, and sprinted out the last 50 meters. She finished sixth for the Knights and nearly caught the opponent from Master’s Academy in the finish chute. Whitehead placed twentieth overall and finished in a time of 21:24.10 – her second fastest performance of the current season! Mustin then took the twenty-first overall position and finished in 21:24.43.
The Knights took first place as a team, as they placed their five scorers in the top eighteen positions! This was their fourth invitational championship of the season! East Ridge was able to outperform two of their District 3 rivals – including Horizon High School who was the team runner up, and Windermere High School who took third place. The overall individual winner for the girls varsity race was junior Abigayle White from Horizon High School. White finished today’s race in a swift time of 19:25.
The Knights also had ten runners participate in the girls junior varsity race this morning at Ocoee High School. Sophomore Helen Robertson very quickly put herself way ahead of the field of nearly ninety runners in the junior varsity race. Robertson was the overall individual champion and finished in a time of 22:28!
Running in second place for the entirety of the race was freshman Jamie Volz. Volz finished as the individual runner up and finished in a time of 23:39 – a new career personal best performance by 11 seconds! Sophomore Sara Garzon placed tenth overall and finished in a time of 25:27 – her second fastest time of the season! Sophomore Daniella Garzon placed eighteenth overall and finished in a time of 26:30. Junior Yeidy Diaz placed 26th overall and finished in 27:18. Next up for the Knights, was freshman Isabelle Gutierrez, who placed 41st overall and finished in 29:38 – a new career personal best performance by nearly a minute and a half! Freshman Gabriel Paul, running in close proximity to Gutierrez, placed 42nd overall and finished in a time of 29:50 – a new career personal best performance by fourteen seconds! Junior Marietta Aguirre Rincon placed 48th overall and finished in a time of 30:57 – her second fastest performance of the season. Freshman Annabelle Baggett placed 55th overall and finished in a time of 31:57 – a new career personal best performance by over a minute! Junior Alexa Puello placed 80th overall and finished in a time of 38:44 – a new career personal best performance by nearly two and a half minutes!
For full results for the girls junior varsity race visit: https://fl.milesplit.com/meets/663374-ocoee-xc-invitational-dos-2025/results/1215787/formatted.
East Ridge will host the Green Monster Invitational at East High School on Saturday October 4th. The varsity girls race, which is the first race of the morning, will start promptly at 8:00 am.
