This morning, 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, Florida. It was a sunny and humid Central Florida morning, and the temperature hovered around the mid-70s. This was the sixth time that the Knights had competed at the Whispering Pines Invitational. Last season East Ridge’s girls varsity team won the Invitational, so this season the Knights were back to defend their championship title.
Girls from 16 different teams throughout Central Florida participated in this morning’s 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, lime rock, and sand, and then meandering through the woods of Whispering Pines Park.
East Ridge’s first runner to cross the finish line was junior Rhyen Foley! Foley was the runner-up out of a field of 130 varsity female runners and finished in a swift time of 18:49 – a 59-second improvement from her performance at Whispering Pines last season! A couple of familiar rivalries presented themselves for Foley at Whispering Pines, as she would once again go the distance with Mary Summers, a young and decorated runner. This time around, both runners pushed the throttle a lot more, which made for an exciting showdown that brought the best out of both. Foley was also able to defeat county rival, Cheyenne Thomas of Tavares High School, another decorated runner in her own right. Foley has made it her business to compete with the absolute best throughout the entire state, as it enables her to gauge her relative improvement. Her performance this morning was Foley’s third fastest time in her high school career and she has solidified herself as the fastest Knight to compete at Whispering Pines!
Following Foley’s lead were her teammates, senior Hanna Warren and junior Veronica Peterson who finished in sixth and seventh places, respectively! Both Knights secured their second consecutive sub-twenty minute performance of the regular season. Warren finished in a speedy time of 19:41 – a more than twenty second improvement from her performance last season! Her result is now the second fastest time an East Ridge runner has accomplished at Whispering Pines! Beyond that, Warren was the second fastest senior in a large field of 33 total seniors who competed in the varsity girls race at Whispering Pines! Peterson followed in her teammate with an impressive 19:45 finish! Peterson’s performance this morning was a near forty second improvement from her performance at Whispering Pines last season! Furthermore, Peterson now holds the third fastest time a Knight has ever achieved at Whispering Pines.
The fourth Knight to finish was junior Adriana Mustin. Mustin finished in 22nd place and posted a time of 21:28 – a result that was 45 seconds faster than her time last year at Whispering Pines! Mustin’s performance from this morning is now the ninth fastest time by a Knight at Whispering Pines! The fifth finisher and final scorer for East Ridge was sophomore Taylor Walker who finished in 24th place and in a time of 21:35! Walker’s performance this morning was a near 40 second improvement from her performance at Whispering Pines last season!
The sixth finisher for the Knights was senior Neelyanis Lugo. Lugo placed 35th and posted a time of 22:26 – a two minute improvement from her performance at Whispering Pines last season! The seventh finisher for the Knights was junior Avery Post. Post placed 47th overall and posted a time of 23:53.
East Ridge High School was the team runner up out of sixteen complete teams this morning! The Knights were able to place three runners in the top ten positions. Although they did not successfully defend their team championship from last season, East Ridge showed immense improvement, averaging a 20:16 this morning – a forty second improvement from their average time at Whispering Pines last season. The Knights of Vanguard took the top team honors, as they placed their top five runners in the top fourteen positions. Vanguard finished with an impressive one minute one-to-five split. The overall individual winner for the girls varsity race was Mary Summers of Seven Rivers Christian. Summers finished the race in a swift time of 18:37, as she claimed her second consecutive individual championship at Whispering Pines.
The Knights also had eight runners participate in the girls junior varsity race this morning at Whispering Pines. Freshman Sara Garzon placed sixth overall out of a field of 82 runners in the junior varsity race this morning! Garzon finished in a time of 24:48 – a new career personal best time by more than fifty seconds! Junior Thirsa Cnossen followed in her teammate, as the second Knight to cross the finish line, placing seventh overall. Cnossen finished in a new career personal best time of 24:51 – a near three minute improvement from her time at Cecil Field last Friday! Sophomore Lexi Whitehead was the third Knight to finish as she placed tenth overall in a time of 25:14 – a near four minute improvement from her performance at Whispering Pines last season! Next for the Knights was freshman Daniela Garzon, who placed seventeenth overall and finished in a time of 26:45 – a new career personal best time by nearly a minute! The fifth finisher for the junior varsity was senior J’Mariana Douglas, who placed 21st overall and finished in a time of 27:14 – amore than ten second improvement from her performance at Whispering Pines last season! Senior Allie McCleary finished 23rd overall in a time of 27:21 – a new career personal best by a near minute! Junior Alyssa Schacht finished 27th overall and in a time of 27:39 – another career personal best by fifteen seconds! Freshman Annabel Bandelin placed 43rd overall and finished in a time of 31:08. The Knights’ junior varsity team placed second out of six complete teams at Whispering Pines this morning.
For full results for the girls varsity race at the Whispering Pines Invitational visit: https://fl.milesplit.com/meets/629861-whispering-pines-invitational-2024/results/1065439/formatted.
