August 19, 2024
East Ridge Knights Cross-Country Team Make Strong Season Debut at FCA Pre-Season Invitational
By Kyle Coppola
East Ridge Knights Cross-Country Team Make Strong Season Debut at FCA Pre-Season Invitational
When most people journey across the picturesque rolling hills of Clermont to Southern Hills Farm, they’re usually in search of fresh fruit from the orchards. However, on Saturday morning, the farm was the setting for a different kind of harvest—The East Ridge High Knights picking off opposing runners one by one at the FCA Pre-Season Invitational. In what promises to be one of the most exciting seasons in East Ridge High School history, the Knights unveiled their talented roster for the 2024 season with the girls team securing a first place finish and the boys team taking home a 2nd place finish. Horizon High would take home the team win for the boys varsity race. Also a shoutout to Lake Minneola finishing 3rd, Tavares 4th, Mount Dora 5th and The Villages taking 7th.
Meanwhile it was the East Ridge High Varsity girls team who would finished 1st overall with Tavares High taking 2nd, Mount Dora High in 3rd. Shoutout to Lake Minneola who finished 5th and The Villages who finished 12th. Rhyen Foley finished 1st with a time of 19:28.15. That was just 27 seconds in front of second place finisher Tavares High’s Cheyenne Thomas. East Ridge’s Hanna Warren and Veronica Peterson finished 4th and 5th with Mount Dora’s Hannah Douglas finishing 7th as some of the notables.
(Junior Rhyen Foley leading Tavares High’s Cheyenne Thomas at the first mile mark at Southern Hill Farms. Photo Credit – John Watson)
Leading the charge for the East Ridge boys team was sophomore Axel Sallault. Sallault, coming off a record-breaking track season where he finished 5th at the state meet, ran a commanding race, leading from start to finish. He crossed the finish line in 16:43, a full 35 seconds ahead of the runner-up in a field of over 140 runners. Sallault’s performance firmly established him as a contender for a district championship and more this season.
Junior Caleb Walker also impressed, finishing second for East Ridge and fourth overall with a time of 17:29. Walker began the race just behind Sallault but was quickly joined by Jaiden Mckee from West Orange High School and Jacob Finch from Horizon High School, both state finalists in 2023. Despite the pressure, Walker’s run was just seconds off his personal best.
(The podium of the girls race. Three out of the top five positions were East Ridge High runners with Tavares High’s Cheyenne Thomas also finishing 2nd.)
Rounding out the scoring for the Knights were junior Gustavo Vargas, sophomore Tyce Ertel, and freshman Aubin Sallault. Vargas, continuing to build on his impressive 2023 season, clocked in at 18:25 for a ninth-place finish. Ertel, in 11th place, achieved a personal best time of 18:30, shaving off more than 45 seconds from his previous record—a remarkable feat on a challenging course. Making his high school debut, freshman Aubin Sallault finished 40th overall with a time of 19:42, contributing to the Knights’ strong showing.
The Knights’ depth was further demonstrated by the rest of the varsity squad, with all runners finishing within minutes of each other. Junior Dylan McCleary crossed the line in 19:55, placing 42nd, followed by freshman Watson Dunham in 45th with a time of 20:12. Junior James Laack and freshman Sidney Stewart finished in 60th and 79th place, respectively, while junior Scott Bori rounded out the top 92 with a time of 22:06.
In the Junior Varsity race, the Knights dominated, clinching the team title. Sophomore Eli Parks led the way, securing fourth place with a personal best of 21:39. Freshman Gavan Flaugher, making his debut as a distance runner, followed closely with a time of 21:58, good for seventh place. Junior Andrew Conway also made his debut, finishing 10th with a time of 22:20. Sophomore Christopher Stuemke narrowly missed a medal, placing 11th in 22:22. Freshman Aiden Floudiotis, another first-time high school runner, secured the fifth scoring spot for the Knights with a 15th place finish in 23:00.
The Junior Varsity team’s victory was underscored by strong performances from the rest of the squad, including freshman Isaac Bori in 18th place and junior Evan DeAnnuntis in 22nd. Sophomore John Hall and junior Daniel Baggett rounded out the team’s top finishers, with freshman Maddox Nickelaou and junior Chase Ensor also contributing solid performances.
The Knights will next be in action on Friday, August 23rd, at the Cecil Field Invitational. The JV girls’ race kicks off at 6:15 PM, followed by the JV boys at 6:45 PM. The varsity teams will compete in the elite races, with the girls starting at 7:15 PM and the boys at 7:45 PM.
Photo Credit – East Ridge High
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.
