It was a steamy September morning at West Orange High School on Saturday with humidity reaching record morning levels. This also made footing a bit tricky which does not make for typical scorching fast times at the West Orange Invitational. Despite the heat and humidity, the East Ridge Boys Cross Country Knights put together a very solid outing placing fifth overall. The winner of the race was Powerhouse Hagerty High School with the runner-up being Geneva School, who won in a tie-breaking finish which goes to the higher of the sixth placing scorers for each team. The West Orange Invitational brings out the top schools in Central Florida and this year was no different.The star of the race and overall winner was super Sophomore Axel Sallault. Sallault ran a very smart race as he ran with the lead pack for over two miles of the race. He was perfectly content to let some of the other front-runners dictate the pace. Once those lead runners began to get tired legs, Sallault then made his move as he moved in front with over 800 meters to go and never looked back. It was another beautiful race by Sallault who continues to improve as a runner with every race he competes in. Sallault completed the course in a time of 16:26, almost 20 seconds faster than the previous year.

Sallault was not alone in running an extremely impressive race as his teammate, Caleb Walker also finished in the top 10, finishing ninth. Walker was able to mix in just behind the lead pack as he kept a solid pace throughout. Walker completed the course in a time of 17:05, almost 30 seconds faster than the previous year’s blistering times! Walker is another runner who continues to improve with each race, building that all-important confidence in his abilities.

Rounding out the scoring was yet again different, as the Knights have had a different scoring five with almost every race. The third-place scorer for the Knights was no different, though, as Gustavo Vargas once again ran a solid race in a time of 18:17 good for 32nd place. This was almost a full minute faster than 2023! Followed by Vargas was once again Sophomore Tyce Ertel who finished in 54th place in a time of 19:09. This was over TWO minutes faster than 2023! The final scorer and marking the first time he has scored in his East Ridge career was Junior James Laack. Laack ran an impressive 19:20 good for 57th place. This was 25 seconds faster than the year before and almost 30 places better!

The final two varsity runners were spearheaded by the future of East Ridge Cross Country. Aubin Sallault completed his first-ever West Orange Invitational in a time of 19:30, good for 66th place. Fellow freshman and making his varsity debut was Gavan Flaugher, who completed the course in a time of 20:08, good for 81st place. Both Sallault and Flaugher continue to improve with each race and the future is bright for both.

The Junior Varsity Knights replicated the Varsity Knights as they also finished 5th as a team. With several varsity runners out, forcing several JV runners to run Varsity, several JV runners had to step up. One Knight in particular stepped up in a big way, Junior Scott Bori. Bori guided the Knights to a 23rd-place finish in a time of 21:32. Second for the Knights was Sophomore Christopher Stuemke who finished the race in 21:44, good for 25th place. Just behind Stuemke was fellow Sophomore Eli Parks, running in a time of 22:08 and 35th place. This was over 30 seconds faster than the previous year at the West Orange Invitational. The fourth scorer for the Knights was Junior Evan DeAnnuntis in a time of 22:18, and 37th place. The final scorer for the Knights was Junior Andrew Conway, completing the race in a time of 22:55, good for 47th place. Rounding out the JV squad were Freshman Isaac Bori (23:27, 62nd place), Daniel Baggett (24:11, 75th place), Aiden Floudiotis (24:38, 83rd place), John Hall (26:00, 115th place), and Senior Jayden Ramjohn (26:11, 121st place).

The Knights will be back in action next Saturday as they will be hosting the 2nd Annual SSG Hammond Invitational. The Girls’ Varsity race will be at 8:00 am followed by the Boys’ Varsity race at 8:30 am, closing with the JV race at 9:00 am.

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On Saturday Morning, the East Ridge Boys Cross Country team competed at a familiar course, Whispering Pines Park in Inverness, Florida. The Knights have competed at Whispering Pines for seven straight years and have had a great amount of success at the race. It is hosted by Citrus High School who have done a great job being hosts of the race year in and year out. The Knights were following up a record-breaking day last Friday Night at Cecil Field in Jacksonville. It was a day in which they saw the fastest average team time in East Ridge history and their leader, Axel Sallault, broke the school record by over 30 seconds. This was sure to be a tough course to try to replicate the times from a very fast Cecil Field course on Friday, and it was. The course at Whispering Pines has many turns, slight undulating hills and the terrain can be very uneven in places, a true cross-country course, which can lead to slower times than a faster course like Cecil Field would produce. Despite the difficult course, the boys still ran very well as they ran over a whole minute faster this year than they did in 2023 as a team (17:59). This was the fastest average time at Whispering Pines in East Ridge history. This performance brought them third place, behind two powerhouse programs in George Steinbrenner and Vanguard High Schools and ahead of another great school, Sunlake High School.

Leading East Ridge was Sophomore Axel Sallault yet again. Axel finished second overall in a time of 16:28. This time was almost 45 seconds faster than his time last season. Sallault found himself chasing the eventual winner, Luca Martin, throughout the race but could not quite track Martin down by the end, falling just 8 seconds behind Martin. Sallault’s performance was still record-breaking as it was the fastest East Ridge time at Whispering Pines in school history. Sallault continues to break records with each race he has run this season.

Junior Caleb Walker missed the top 10 medal stand as he finished in 11th place. Walker ran the course in a time of 17:19, which was almost a whole minute faster than his performance in 2023. Walker continues to improve with every race in his High School career. Speaking of improving from week to week, Junior Gustavo Vargas and Sophomore Tyce Ertel are also East Ridge runners who get faster in their careers. Vargas finished in 22nd place with a time of 18:06. This was an extraordinary time at Whispering Pines, considering Vargas ran almost three minutes faster than in his 2023 race, in which Vargas iconically and quickly zig-zagged his way to the finish line. Ertel joins Vargas in the three-minute improvement club as he finished the 2024 race in 18:34, while in 2023 Ertel finished in 21:35.

Being the fifth scorer in a cross-country race is as important as being the first scorer. This race saw a new fifth scorer and it was Junior Dylan McCleary. McCleary completed the race in 19:30 and finished in 60th place. Finishing just behind McCleary was fellow Junior James Laack in 19:44 and 63rd place. Laack also showed improvement from 2023, in which Laack was a minute faster in 2024. The youngest runner on the varsity team, Aubin Sallault finished in 67th place, good for 67th place.

The JV boys had a record number of boys competing at Whispering Pines, which included fourteen runners, ranging from Freshmen to Seniors. These fourteen student-athletes led the Knights to a fourth-place finish. Leading the JV Knights was Freshman Gavan Flaugher again, who finished in 12th place overall. He ran his race in a time of 20:34. Just behind Flaugher was Sophomore Eli Parks finishing 23rd at 21:12. Parks ran exactly three minutes faster than he did in 2023. Parks is another Knight that continues to improve with each race. Scoring third for the Knights was Sophomore Christopher Stuemke who just edged out his teammate Evan DeAnnuntis in a time of 22:00. Rounding out the scoring for the Knights was Andrew Conway who, like Stuemke, also just edged out a teammate, this time Isaac Bori. Conway and Bori completed the race in a time of 22:19. Bori’s 22:19 was a personal best for him. Many of the JV Knights were running at Whispering Pines for the first time. This included Freshmen Sidney Stewart, Aiden Floudiotis, Maddox Nickolaou, and Hunter Odom. Stewart finished the race at 22:58 and 46th place. Just behind Stewart was Junior Scott Bori in 23:07 and 49th place. Flouidiotis and Nickolaou finished at 23:09 and 23:11 respectively. Junior Daniel Baggett finished in 24:10, placing 61st. Just behind Baggett was Sophomore John Hall in 26:43. Senior Jayden Ramjohn completed the race in 26:57. Odom, who was running in his first High School race of his career finished in 28:35.

The Knights are back in action on Saturday when they travel to the Astronaut Invitational at Chain of Lakes Park in Titusville. The Varsity girls kick off the action at 7:15 AM, followed by the Varsity boys at 7:45, with the JV race at 8:15.

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Most people, when they make their way across the beautiful rolling hills of Clermont to Southern Hills Farm, are looking to pick fresh fruit from their orchards. On Saturday Morning, however, people made their way to the Farm to see the East Ridge Knights picking off opposing runners one by one to finish second at the FCA Pre-Season Invitational. In what is one of the most anticipated seasons in East Ridge High School history, the boys team were able to unveil their talented group of runners for the 2024 season. After a grueling Summer in which the boys worked and prepared to be extremely successful, they started the season on just the right foot. In addition, the Junior Varsity team finished first, showcasing the dearth of talent this group has this year.The Knights were led by the champion of the race, Sophomore Axel Sallault. Sallault is coming off of a record-breaking track season in which he finished 5th at the state meet and has high expectations for himself. Well, he is already firmly meeting those expectations by defeating the entire field of over 140 runners in a time of 16:43. Sallault led from start to finish, defeating the runner-up by 35 seconds.

Rounding out the scoring for the Knights were Junior Gustavo Vargas, Sophomore Tyce Ertel, and Freshman Aubin Sallault. Vargas, fresh off of his impressive 2023 season continues to improve his time as he ran a solid 18:25 putting him in ninth place overall. Much like Walker, this was less than 30 seconds off of his personal best time. Finishing just behind Vargas was his teammate Tyce Ertel in 11th place overall. Unlike his teammates who finished ahead of him, Tyce was able to achieve a personal best time of 18:30. This was a personal best by over 45 seconds! That is quite a feat, especially considering this is the first race of the season in difficult, sandy terrain. The final scoring Knight was another Sallault, Freshman Aubin Sallault. Aubin made his High School running debut in this race, and what a debut it was. Aubin ran the course in a blistering time of 19:42, placing 40th overall. One of the Knight’s strengths this year is their depth. This was on display in this race as the rest of the varsity runners were within just a few minutes of each other. The first non-scoring varsity runner to cross the finish line was Junior Dylan McCleary in a time of 19:55, which was good for 42nd place. Just 17 seconds behind McCleary was another Knight making his Freshman debut, Watson Dunham. His race placed him in 45th place. Junior James Laack completed his 5k in a time of 20:51, good for 60th place. An additional Freshman Varsity runner making his first appearance in a High School race was Sidney Stewart. Stewart finished 79th with a time of 21:40. Junior Scott Bori placed 92nd in a time of 22:06. That makes all ten East Ridge runners finishing in the top 92.The Junior Varsity Knights were able to bring home the JV team title by finishing in first place. The Knights were led by Sophomore Eli Parks. Parks ran in a time of 21:39, which was a personal best placing him fourth overall. This is a fantastic start for Parks as he looks to continue to improve off of his Freshman campaign. Just behind Parks, making his introduction as a distance runner for East Ridge High School, Freshman Gavan Flaugher. Flaugher finished the course in a time of 21:58, good for 7th place overall. Rounding out the medaling JV runners, also making his debut was Junior Andrew Conway. Conway placed 10th in a time of 22:20. Just being edged out by two seconds for a medaling spot was Sophomore Christopher Stuemke. Stuemke ran an impressive 22:22, good for 11th place. The ever important fifth scorer was Freshman Aiden Floudiotis, also running in his first race as a Freshman. Floudiotis placed 15th in a time of 23:00. Just behind Floudiotis was Isaac Bori, in a time of 23:14 and 18th place. Bori was yet another impressive Freshman to run this race for the Knights. Finishing in 22nd place was Junior Evan DeAnnuntis with a time of 23:40. Sophomore John Hall finished in a time of 24:36 good for 33rd place. Making yet another debut was Junior Daniel Baggett, who finished in a time of 25:09, good for 42nd place. Finishing in 52nd with a time of 26:13 was Freshman Maddox Nickelaou. Nickelaou was yet another first time High School runner for the Knights. Rounding out the JV squad was Junior Chase Ensor who ran a 28:23 (64th place) and Senior Jayden Ramjohn, who was also, you guessed it, making his first High School 5k. Ramjohn completed the course in a time of 31:11 (68th place).The Knights will be in action on Friday the 23rd in the prestigious Cecil Field Invitational. The JV girls will be taking off first at 6:15 pm, followed by the JV boys at 6:45 om. The boys and girls varsity teams will be racing in their respective elite races. The girls elite goes off first at 7:15 pm, followed by the boys at 7:45 pm

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The East Ridge Boys Cross Country team finished seventh at the Deland Invitational on Saturday Morning at the Sperling Sports Complex in Deland, Florida. The boys were just edged out by one point as Matanzas High School, in St. Augustine, scored 206 points and East Ridge scored 207. Winning the race was perennial state qualifier Hagerty High School, who placed all five scoring runners in the top eleven. Taking home the runner-up trophy was New Smyrna High School with 118 points. Finishing behind New Smyrna Beach High School were fellow District foes Deland (132 points), Seminole (143 points) and West Orange High School (174 Points).

Despite the disappointing team finish, the Knights had several individual, record-setting performances that were very impressive. The Knights were once again led by Axel Sallault who broke the East Ridge Freshman record (which was his own record that he set the week earlier at Whispering Pines Invitational) in a time of 17:00. The time placed him eighth overall in a race featuring some of Central Florida’s toughest runners. Sophomore Caleb Walker finished behind Axel in a time of 18:20, placing him 30th overall. Fellow Sophomore Dylan McCleary had one of his best regular season performances, finishing just behind Caleb in a time of 18:47 and placing 36th overall. Freshman Tyce Ertel was extremely impressive as he set a personal best time of 19:54, placing 67th overall, and finishing fourth for the Knights, which is the highest he has finished as a Knight. Rounding out the scorers was Senior Kevin Lederer who overcame a leg cramp to run a time of 20:29 and 78th place.

In a rare move, the Deland Invitational meet managers decided to cancel the JV race and instead have all boys run in one combined race. This provided the opportunity for many Junior Varsity runners to be able to run with faster competition. Several runners stepped up, including Sophomore Gustavo Vargas, who ran in a personal best time of 20:48, placing 92nd overall. Gustavo continues to work hard and force his way onto the varsity team. Freshman Ethan Laack completed his race in a time of 21:17, good for 109th place. Another incredible and personal best time was run by Freshman Christopher Stuemke who finished in a time of 21:29, good for 112th place. Sophomore James Laack finished just behind Stuemke in a time of 21:37 (116th place). Sophomore Chase Ensor ran a personal best time of 23:23, shattering his PR time by almost a minute. Rounding out the Knights cross country performance included Fellow Freshmen Eli Parks (24:19) and John Hall (24:22), newcomer Gabriel Jayjack (25:33), and Sophomore Owen Degges (27:21). Making his first appearance of the year, Alexander Stuemke, finished in a time of 27:40. Sophomore Alexander Stewart finished a second behind Stuemke in a time of 27:41.

The Knights will be closer to home next Saturday at Lake Minneola High School. The girls’ varsity race is set to start at 7:30 am, followed by the boys’ race at 8:00 am. The JV race will follow the boys’ race at 8:30 am.

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