The 2024 version of the East Ridge High School Boys Cross Country Team has an opportunity to be a record-breaking team, and ultimately, the best the school has seen yet. East Ridge High School Boys cross country has yet to qualify at the state meet as a team. This team has the best chance to do it, and here is why. The Knights return all but one Varsity runner from last year’s 4A region 1, regional-bound team. The Knights return the fastest runner in East Ridge History, Axel Sallault, along with fellow distance running phenom, Caleb Walker. Pair those two blazing-fast runners with ever-improving Gustavo Vargas and Tyce Ertel, and the sky is the limit for these Knights in 2024. In addition, the Knights will be receiving some Freshmen reinforcements from the successful middle school programs in Lake County. All of this makes the 2024 East Ridge Knights quite possibly the deepest team in school history

The Knights in 2024 will be led by their record-breaking Sophomore, Axel Sallault. As a Freshman, Sallault broke the school record at the District meet, held at Hagerty High School with a time of 16:12. His impressive Freshman year carried into the Track season where he qualified for the state finals and ran a record-breaking race in the 3200-meter race, a blisteringly fast 9:23, finishing 8th. Junior Caleb Walker, who had an enormous Summer, is looking to run alongside Sallault throughout the season. Walker, who is the 11th fastest runner in East Ridge History with his Districts run in a time of 17:17, is looking to improve on his personal best time immediately in the season.

To have a record-breaking season, the Knights will be leaning heavily into their depth this season, which should put up some of the most impressive times in history and lead the Knights to some impressive races this season. Gustavo Vargas and Tyce Ertel have been steadily improving over the year and have had impressive off-season workouts. Junior Gustavo Vargas sits just outside the top 25 all-time at East Ridge High School and has a goal to be a top 10 runner in school history by the end of the 2024 season. Sophomore Tyce Ertel suffered an injury in the middle of the 2023 season which derailed what was looking to be a promising Freshman season. He is back and better than ever. Juniors Dylan McCleary and James Laack were also varsity runners for the Knights who consistently ran in the 18:00’s. Both McCleary and Laack have also steadily improved over their running careers and look to get into the 17:00’s.

Sophomores Ethan Laack and Christopher Stuemke were also varsity runners that are looking to provide depth for the varsity team and improve as both runners have gotten taller and stronger. Providing even more depth for the Knights and also continuing to develop are Juniors Scott Bori, Chase Ensor and Evan Deannuntis. These three runners are looking to crack into the varsity lineup this year and have been working hard to achieve that goal. Returning Sophomores include ever improving Eli Parks and John Hall. Parks and Hall were Freshmen in 2023 that improved with every race as the season wore on. They are also looking to be able to run at the District race with the Varsity team.

One of the most exciting aspects of the upcoming season are the many newcomers to the Knights Cross Country team. The Knights have six Freshmen that will be suiting up this season. All of the Freshmen have significant experience in distance running and worked very hard all Summer for the upcoming season. Isaac Bori, Aubin Sallault, Gavan Flaugher, Sidney Stewart, Aiden Floudiotis, and Maddox Nickolaou are all looking to add even more depth and talent to an already talented running squad. In addition to the Freshmen, several upper classmen have joined the ranks. These newcomers include Juniors Daniel Baggett, Andrew Conway, and lone Senior Jayden Ramjohn. All three worked extremely hard during the Summer and are also looking to help the team.

The post 2024 East Ridge High School Boys Cross-Country Season Preview appeared first on South Lake Tablet.

by Timothy Farrell, ERHS Boys Cross Country Coach

Saturday morning started with a beautiful sunrise and ended with an equally beautiful race by the East Ridge Boys Cross Country team.

The Knights competed in their first pre-season race in a number of years on Saturday Morning. The race was held by The Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the National Training Center in Clermont, Florida.

The National Training Center Course is well known for its hilly and challenging terrain. However, despite the adversity of the course, the Knights, who welcomed a number of new runners to the program, were able to pull off the win by finishing in first place. The Knights placed four of the five scorers in the top fifteen and ended with a low score of 54 points. Finishing runner-up to the Knights was Timber Creek High School with 72 points, followed by Tavares High School scoring 76 points. Rounding out the top five was Celebration and Lake Minneola High School.

The Knights were led by both new and familiar faces. The Knight who finished first for East Ridge and third overall was Freshman phenom Axel Sallault in a time of 17:07. This was a personal best for Axel who started his High School career out in impressive fashion. Axel’s performance already has placed his time as the fastest time any Freshman in East Ridge History has ever recorded. Finishing second for the Knights and fourth overall was returning Sophomore and 2022’s Freshman phenom, Caleb Walker, in a time of 17:56. Caleb also set a personal best with that time, doing it in the first race of the season. Walker and Sallault’s personal best times were not the only Knights who set personal bests. Senior Kevin Lederer also set a personal best time of 18:36, placing tenth overall. Yet another Knight ran a personal best, Sophomore Dylan McCleary, ran the race in a time of 18:37, finishing one spot below Lederer. Rounding out the scoring was yet another personal best time, with Freshman Tyce Ertel finishing 26th and in a time of 20:24. Following Ertel were a few Sophomores, Scott Bori (20:42, 29th place) and James Laack (20:52, 32nd place).

Following Laack’s finish was his brother Ethan in a time of 21:38 and 44th place. Running in his first varsity race of his career was Sophomore Chase Ensor in a personal best time of 24:06 and finishing in 66th place.

The East Ridge Junior Varsity team finished in third place at the FCA Pre-Season Invitational. The Knights had several finish in the top fifteen and medal. East Ridge was led by Freshman Christopher Stuemke who finished fifth in a time of 22:12 in his first High School race of his career. Just behind Christopher in sixth place was Sophomore Gus Vargas in a time of 22:51. finishing in thirteenth place was Freshman John Hall in a time of 25:00. Rounding out the scoring was Sophomores Owen Degges (28:41, 20th place) and Alex Stewart (29:26, 21st place).

The East Ridge Cross Country program will kick off its regular season this coming Saturday at the Whispering Pines Invitational in Inverness, Florida. The girls’ varsity race will kick off at 8:00 am, followed by the boys’ varsity and then the junior varsity races.

The post East Ridge Boys High School Cross Country Team Finish First At The FCA Pre-Season Invitational appeared first on South Lake Tablet.

Due to the youth of the Knights, they will be leaning considerably on their lone Senior, Kevin Lederer. Kevin is a three-year Varsity runner for the Knights and was a top-five scorer for the Knights in most of the 2022 season. He ran a personal best time of 18:16 at the CHS Bears Invitational in Brooksville where he placed 12th overall. Kevin is looking forward to bringing leadership and a solid veteran presence to this team while looking to break his PR time and lead the Knights back to Regionals. Kevin’s calm and steady demeanor should lead to great success this season.

The Sophomore class will once again be led by Freshman phenom Caleb Walker. Caleb was a fixture near the top of every race last season, usually as the team runner-up to sensational Senior Connor Carroll. He is the top returning runner for the Knights. Caleb ran a personal best time of 18:03 at the CHS Bears Invitational with a 7th-place finish and a scorching 18:15 at the District race last year. Other Sophomores with Varsity experience that are looking to build on their freshmen campaigns include several runners who, as Freshmen, ran sub-twenty minute 5ks. They include James Laack (PR – 19:51), Scott Bori (PR – 19:12), and Dylan McCleary (PR – 18:54). McCleary also was consistent and a team scorer multiple times for the Knights in 2022, even as a Freshman. The Sophomore group includes several other runners that have been working hard all Summer, hoping to earn a spot on the varsity team in 2023, including Chase Ensor, Owen Degges, Alex Stewart, and Gustavo Vargas. Ensor in particular has dropped well over five minutes off of his 5k time since the end of the 2022 season and had a terrific Summer.

The Freshman class could prove to be one of the best classes to ever come out of East Ridge and has Head Coach, Coach Ferrell extremely excited about the future of East Ridge Cross Country. First, the Knights welcome Freshman Axel Sallault, coming to East Ridge from France. Axel is a hard-working tri-athlete who has worked his way into an exceptional runner. The addition of Axel will help solidify an already terrific varsity boys team. The freshman class includes several other runners loaded with potential that could vie for a spot on varsity. Tyce Ertel, Eli Parks, John Hall, Ethan Laack, Christopher Stuemke, and his twin brother Alexander Stuemke all come from local Middle Schools with a ton of valuable experience in long-distance running. All of these Freshmen have been working extremely hard all Summer and have a ton of potential in becoming some of the best runners that East Ridge has ever had.

If you want a sneak peek into what the 2023 version of the East Ridge High School Boys Cross Country team will look like, the Knights will be participating in the FCA Preseason Invitational on August 19th at the National Training Center in Clermont. The boys take off at 7:15 AM, with the girls running right after the boys.

The post 2023 Boys Cross Country Season Preview: Young And Hungry (Preseason Invitational, Aug 19) appeared first on South Lake Tablet.