November 4, 2024
East Ridge High Girls Cross-County Team Win Third Straight District Championship
By Kyle Coppola
East Ridge High Girls Cross-County Team Win Third Straight District Championship
(Rhyen Folley would finish 2nd overall at the district meet behind Viera’s Addison Elwell. Photo Credit – Jeff Warren of South Lake Photography.)
(Junior Veronica Peterson placed seventh overall at the Class 4A District 3 Championship. Photo Credit – Jeff Warren of South Lake Photography.)
Junior Veronica Peterson and senior Hanna Warren joined Foley in the top ten, placing seventh and eighth with times of 19:25 and 19:29, respectively. Both runners contributed to East Ridge’s high team placement, earning individual medals for their efforts. Peterson’s finish recorded the fifth fastest district time in school history.
The Knights’ depth continued with junior Adriana Mustin (23rd, 21:02) and sophomore Taylor Walker (24th, 21:03), whose strong performances rounded out East Ridge’s top five, helping to secure their team victory. Senior Neelyanis Lugo and sophomores Jessie Volz, Avery Post, Lexi Whitehead, and freshman Kori Lindley completed East Ridge’s lineup, demonstrating the team’s resilience and depth across the roster.
(East Ridge High will move onto the Regionals at Boca Raton this upcoming weekend where a spot in the FHSAA Class 4A State Finals will be on the line.)
A total of 21 teams and 163 runners competed, with Viera High School’s Addison Elwell winning the individual title in 18:28. Lake Minneola High School placed second in the team standings, trailing East Ridge, who dominated with five of their runners in the top 24. Also a shoutout to the boys team that finished in 6th place overall respetively.
The Lady Knights will advance to the Class 4A Region 2 Championships on November 9 at South County Regional Park in Boca Raton, with the girls’ race starting at 7:30 a.m., as they continue their bid for a state championship.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
