September 2, 2025
East Ridge High Boys & Girls Cross-Country Teams Win Whispering Pines Invitational
By Kyle Coppola
East Ridge High Boys & Girls Cross-Country Teams Win Whispering Pines Invitational
The East Ridge High School girls cross country team competed in their second regular season meet – the Whispering Pines Invitational at Whispering Pines Park in Inverness. It was gray and overcast Central Florida morning, and the temperature hovered around the mid-70s. This was the seventh time that the Knights had competed at the Whispering Pines Invitational. Last season, East Ridge’s girls varsity team was the team runner up at the Invitational, so this season the Knights were on a bit of a vengeance tour in an effort to reclaim a team title at Whispering Pines.
(The East Ridge High Cross-Country Team impressed once again as the Lady Knights took 1st place at Whispering Pines Invitational Hosted by Citrus High School.)
Girls from fourteen different teams throughout Central Florida participated in this meet. The gun sounded at 8:00 AM sharp, and the girls were off and running through an open field that quickly narrowed, veered left, and then onto a narrow pathway of hard-packed dirt, limerock, and sand, and then meandering through the woods of Whispering Pines Park.
East Ridge’s first runner to cross the finish line was senior Rhyen Foley. Rhyen, who is on a bit of a comeback tour of her own, placed eighth out of a field of 113 varsity female runners and finished in a swift time of 19:44 – a new current season best. Rhyen’s performance was the third fastest result by a Knight at Whispering Pines.
It was Tavares High’s Cheyenne Thomas who took top results for individual Lake County runners with a time of 18:54.0 good for a 2nd place finish. Tavares also placed Jimena Nava Garcia in the top 4 with a 19.16.7. Laken Hartley for Tavares High also finished 6th with a time of 19.23.5. But it was East Ridge High who would finish first in the team race.
(This group of East Ridge High School runners would prove to be the difference as East Ridge High would take enough team points to win the team race. Photo Credit – South Lake Photography.)
Following Rhyen’s lead for East Ridge High was her teammate, senior Veronica Peterson, who finished in eleventh place. Veronica clocked a 20:10 current season best result. Her result from this morning is the seventh fastest time a Knight has ever achieved at Whispering Pines.
“One of the most impressive features of this season’s team is their ability to pack run between positions three and six.” says coach Grant Mollett “For teams it is a rarity to have such a pack, so when you have the athletes who can do it – you do it and you win with it!”
(Rhyen Foley has been among the first Knight’s to cross the finish line all season long. Because of Rhyen and her teams efforts, they won 1st place in the team category.)
Leading that pack was the third finisher for the Knights, senior Adriana Mustin. Mustin finished in thirteenth place and posted a time of 20:36 – a result that was more than thirty seconds faster than her time last year at Whispering Pines. Mustin’s performance from this morning, which was a new season best, is now the ninth fastest time by a Knight at Whispering Pines.
The fourth finisher for East Ridge was junior Taylor Walker who finished in fourteenth place and in a time of 20:38. Walker’s performance this morning, also a new current season best, was a near one minute improvement from her performance at Whispering Pines last season! Her result is now the tenth fastest time by a Knight at Whispering Pines. The fifth finisher and final scorer for the Knights was freshman Hortance Sallault. Sallault placed fifteenth overall and posted a time of 20:41. Sallault’s performance was a new season/career personal best and earned her her first placement medal of her high school cross country career.
The East Ridge High School boys team also took home 1st place with 50 points. The next closest competition was Vanguard High with 65. Tavares High finished 5th with The Villages finishing 7th to round out the Lake & Sumter county teams in the top ten. East Ridge High’s Axel Sallault took 1st place with a time of 15:54.9. Caleb Walker finished 3rd with a time of 16.28.4. Tavares Liam Ilea finished 9th with a time of 17:01.6 and rounding out the top ten was East Ridge High’s Aubin Sallault who finished with a time of 17.01.7 in a near photo finish with Liam.
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.
