By Coach Grant Mollett, East Ridge High School
Photos contributed by John Watson and Quiana Peterson
October 4, 2025, Clermont, Florida
The East Ridge High School girls cross country team competed in the Green Monster Invitational on Saturday morning. East Ridge hosted its inaugural Green Monster Invitational as an alternative to the Lake County Championships.
Saturday’s Green Monster Invitational was the second home meet for the Knights this season, as they had hosted the SSG Hammond Invitational at the school last month. The start of the race took the girls across the football field and out of the stadium and onto the grassy and hilly campus of East Ridge. The course ran the perimeter of a lot of the campus, and ascended a large hill affectionately known as the “Green Monster.” Then the course normalized with some flat straightaways, making one big loop around a portion of the campus. The field of runners merged back into the “Green Monster,” but this time to descend it, and re-ran the perimeter, and back into the football stadium, and then ended with an approximately 300M track finish.
Girls from six complete teams participated in the Green Monster Invitational on Saturday. The varsity girls race started at 8:00 AM. For the fourth time this season, senior Rhyen Foley was the first Knight to cross the finish line! Foley quickly made her way to the front of the race field. For the first half mile of the race, Foley and Leesburg’s Rachel Chiles led the field of runners. However, as the elevation increased upon reaching the Green Monster, Chiles fell behind Foley and several other Knights. Foley emerged atop the Green Monster with a sizable gap between her and the rest of the field. She was able to stay in front for the remainder of the race. This was Foley’s first individual title of the season and her fourth individual title of her high school career. Previously, she won the FCA Preseason Invitational, the Lake County Championships, and the Class 4A Region 2 Championships in 2024. Foley finished in a swift time of 19:49 – the fourth fastest performance by a Knight on East Ridge’s current home course.
Senior Veronica Peterson found herself in a head to head battle for a significant portion of the race. Montverde’s Lyla McMillen emerged from the Green Monster, approximately one kilometer into the race, with an approximate three second lead on Peterson. The course flattens out a little more than the next two kilometers. However, once the runners reach the two mile marker, the hills return on the course! McMillen and Peterson reached the base of the second of four hills on East Ridge’s course together. However, Peterson leaned in, powered up, and surged past McMillen on the hill! From that point forward, Peterson retained her second place position by gradually increasing the space between herself and McMillen. Peterson was the runner up at the Green Monster Invitational, as she finished in a time of 20:22 – the now seventh fastest performance by a Knight on East Ridge’s current home course.
Staying in close proximity to Peterson for the mile was freshman Hortance Sallault. As of late, Sallault has started races in close proximity to her teammate, putting herself at the front of East Ridge’s core pack, in an effort to improve her times and finishing positions. Consequently, this has had a ripple effect on other members of East Ridge’s core pack, who are now striving to keep Sallault in their line of sight. Sallault finished fourth overall at Green Monster, as she finished in a swift time of 21:04. With that, juniors Taylor Walker and Jessie Volz claimed the fifth and sixth finishing positions, respectively. Ultimately, their performances allowed East Ridge to place five runners in the first six positions! Walker finished in a time of 21:09 and Volz finished in a time of 21:15, greatly contributing to the Knights’ team performance!
Junior Lexi Whitehead and sophomore Helen Robertson were the sixth and seventh finishers for the Knights at Green Monster on Saturday. Whitehead placed eleventh overall and finished in a time of 21:56 – a thirteen second improvement from her performance on East Ridge’s course at the SSG Hammond Invitational last month! Robertson placed thirteenth overall and finished in a time of 22:00.
The eighth finisher for the Knights was freshman Jamie Volz. Volz took fourteenth place overall and finished in a time of 22:29 – a new career personal best performance by more than a minute! Volz has improved by more than four and a half minutes since the FCA Preseason Invitational, setting new career personal bests for the last five consecutive weeks! Senior Adriana Mustin placed fifteenth overall and finished in a time of 23:05 – securing the final spot in the medal line of the Green Monster Invitational.
Sophomore Sara Garzon placed 25th overall and finished in a time of 24:43 – a new current season best performance by thirty seconds! Sophomore Daniela Garzon placed 36th overall and finished in a time of 26:53. Junior Yeidy Diaz placed 43rd overall and finished in a time of 28:04. Junior Marietta Aguirre-Rincon placed 48th overall and finished in a time of 29:27 – a new career personal best performance by nearly a minute and a half! Freshman Isabelle Gutierrez placed 50th overall and finished in a time of 29:50 – her second fastest time of the season! Freshman Saryna Stewart placed 52nd overall and finished in a time of 30:22. Freshman Gabriel Paul placed 54th overall and finished in a time of 30:45. Freshman Annabelle Baggett placed 60th overall and finished in a time of 33:40. Junior Alexa Puello placed 69th overall and finished in a time of 41:44 – a near minute and a half improvement from her performance on East Ridge’s home course at the SSG Hammond Invitational in September!
The Knights won the inaugural Green Monster Invitational! They were able to defeat their opponents by placing their first nine finishers in the top fifteen positions! Montverde Academy was the team runner up at Green Monster, as they placed their first three finishers in the top eight positions.
Scoring and Timing was managed by Kahlil Tucker and Godspeed Timing who did a wonderful job in managing the Green Monster Invitational.
For full results for the girls varsity race at the Green Monster Invitational visit:https://milesplit.live/meets/665554/team-scores/0_F_2.
