by Grant Mollett, M. ED
East Ridge High. School
Oviedo, Florida – November 7, 2020
The East Ridge High School girls cross country team had two runners compete in the Class 4A Region 2 Championships on Saturday morning at Hagerty High School in Oviedo. The meet displayed some of the best female runners in the state of Florida. The top four teams and the top four placing individuals who are on non-advancing teams at the regional meet qualified for the FHSAA State Finals. This new qualifying process makes the results more complex and more fluid than ever before. In the past, qualifications were cut and dry, with the top fifteen individuals advancing to the state meet no matter the performance of their teams. For East Ridge’s individual runners, the only way they could qualify for the state meet would have been to clinch one of those four highly coveted and highly contested individual positions. Here is the kicker – during the race the runners, coaches, and spectators can only estimate the team results to gage whether or not one of their individual runners is in position to clinch one of those four qualifying spots. For East Ridge, the regional meet is viewed as both a celebration of a successful season and a special opportunity to advance to the state championships. In fact, in East Ridge’s nineteen-year history there have only been two individual female runners and one team to advance to the state championships. Unfortunately, this season the Knights missed qualifying for the regional meet by one team position last week at the district meet. However, for senior Mackenzie Hill and sophomore Bre Peine, this season’s regional meet was both a celebration of a successful season and a special opportunity for advancement to the state meet.
Girls from twelve different schools competed Saturday morning in the Class 4A Region 2 Championships. The girls race went off at 8:00 AM. Assigned in box sixteen on the far left side of the starting line, Mackenzie and Bre, along with two other regional qualifying individuals from last week’s district race, approached the starting line. The course spanned the athletic fields of Hagerty High School’s campus. With the sound of the official’s starter pistol, nearly one hundred varsity runners were off and racing across the practice football field, heading straight into a glaring sun!
For sophomore Bre Peine, the regional meet was a special celebration of her spectacular cross country season. She bolted across the practice football field, jockeying for a favorable position amidst the best runners in Central Florida. Bre was able to put herself in the middle of the pack, and was spotted rounding the first mile in approximately 6:50. She settled into the second mile, attempting to recover from a speedy first mile, but the competition of the race pushed Bre to continue to increase the tempo. Rounding the second mile, Bre was able to keep herself in the middle of the field of runners. She put everything she had left in herself into her final mile and finished in 55th place in a time of 22:30 – her second fastest time of the season. This was Bre’s second trip to the regional championships, as last year she was a member of East Ridge’s regional qualifying team. Bre will return next season as East Ridge’s top runner, and is eager to lead her team back to the regional championships next year!
For senior Mackenzie Hill, the regional meet provided both a celebration of her spectacular season and a special opportunity for advancement to next week’s state finals. Of course, with each advancement within the state series, the competition becomes even better. Predictions, generated by www.fl.milesplit.com, projected Mackenzie to finish in eighteenth place overall. More than that, those same predictions had her finishing as the ninth individual from a non-advancing team and, ultimately, not qualifying for the state championships. What those generated projections cannot account for is the individual runner’s preparation, grit, heart, and determination. Surrounded by teammates, family members, and coaches who believed she could qualify and equipped with a strategy to give herself the best opportunity to do so, Mackenzie charged the starting area, and worked her way quickly into the top ten.
Rounding mile one in a swift time of approximately 6:18, Mackenzie kept her top ten positioning. More importantly, she was spotted in close proximity to other individual hopefuls from Boone High School, West Orange High School, Windermere High School, and Lake Brantley High School. The harsh reality of this situation was that four of those five girls would claim the four contested individual qualifying spots, and one of those five girls would have their season come to an abrupt end. This did not deter Mackenzie, as she rounded mile two, she was spotted behind the individuals from Boone, West Orange, and Lake Brantley, with the individual from Windermere on her heels! Mackenzie surged early in the third mile to overcome the Lake Brantley runner, putting herself in what was potentially the third qualifying position. Whether or not Mackenzie could keep her favorable position and keep her swift pace was to be determined by what was absolutely the most competitive and significant mile of any race in her high school career. Mackenzie rounded mile three a mere two to three seconds ahead of Lake Brantley’s Kayla McCarthy and Windermere’s Katie Ranck. Ranck, a senior, who was running in the unfortunate fifth spot, surged around Hagerty’s football field to overcome McCarthy, who had run in that coveted fourth spot for most of the third mile. Ranck did not stop there, and surged past Mackenzie in the final stretch, taking the third qualifying spot for individuals on non-advancing teams. How did Mackenzie respond to this untimely setback? Preparation, grit, heart, and determination. In a 60-yard straightaway to the finish line, Mackenzie extended her lead on McCarthy, and crossed the finish line in the fourth and final qualifying position for individuals on non-advancing teams!
Mackenzie finished in a swift time of 20:01 – a new career personal best time! As well, she placed seventh out of 97 varsity runners! Beating the projections, Mackenzie’s performance qualified her for next week’s FHSAA State Finals in Tallahassee! In East Ridge’s nineteen-year history there had only been two females to have qualified for the state meet as individuals – Meredith Kelly in 2002 and Kelsey Arellano in 2005. Mackenzie’s performance on Saturday made her the third female in the school’s history to qualify for the state meet! As well, Mackenzie’s performance at the regional meet was just one second shy of the fastest regional time posted by a female in East Ridge’s school history. That record is held by Anita Green, who ran a 20:00 at the regional meet in 2011.
Mackenzie will compete in the FHSAA State Finals on Saturday November 14th at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee. The girls race for Class 4A is scheduled to start at 10:20 Saturday morning.
The four teams from Class 4A Region 2 that qualified for the state meet were Lake Mary, Dr. Phillips, Timber Creek, and Winter Park. Winter Park won the regional championship by placing three girls in the top ten. Timber Creek was the regional runner up. Winter Park’s Emma Noel was the regional individual champion and finished in a time of 19:08. The four individuals on non-advancing teams who qualified for next week’s state meet were Boone High School’s Megan Dolan, West Orange’s Ella Klyce, Windermere’s Katie Ranck, and East Ridge’s Mackenzie Hill.
For full results from the Class 4A Region 2 Meet visit http://elitetiming.net/live-results/2020/20201107-4ar2/.
