Warsaw's Erba Wins State Championship
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
On top of trailing for two-thirds of the state finals race at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Sports Center before making her move to win in 18:05.6, Erba also had to overcome some doubt following a subpar sophomore season.
After breezing through her freshman season, winning every meet, including a Northern Lakes Conference title and championships at the sectional, regional and semistate levels, she became ill at the state meet, and couldn't finish.
Following that stellar season, she was diagnosed with an iron deficiency, and other problems slowed her down the following year, as she finished second at the sectional and regional, then failed to make the state finals with a 30th-place finish at the New Haven Semistate.
"It was scary, because you always hear about those girls who come in and are great as freshmen, but maturity hits or they just don't have it anymore," Erba said. "I had two seasons (freshman track and sophomore season of cross country) where I ran where I didn't want to be. It was tough and I had to tell myself, 'No. Everybody goes through this' It's just been great this last year. I've talked to a lot of really successful runners like (Culver Girls Academy graduate) Waverly Neer and (Plymouth graduate) Morgan Ucency, and they talked about getting to where they are now. All of them talked about having one or two tough seasons. Everyone had those seasons where things didn't quite go right, and that helped."
Along with running cross country as a freshman and sophomore, Erba was also a cheerleader, but cut that sport out this season, and returned even stronger than she was in 2009.
Refocused, Erba ran the table again this season, completing her undefeated season by breaking the state finals record for a 5K girls race, eclipsing the 18:14.0 mark set by Center Grove's Sarah Higgens in 2008.
"For people that get to come through and make it to state every year and have success — that's great," she said. "I hate looking back on the things when I didn't have success, but it just makes this 100 times better. I know what I've worked through and what I did to overcome it. It feels incredible."
And the joy didn't only belong to her.
After seeing his daughter struggle last season, Warsaw girls cross country coach Scott Erba was pleased to see Ashley break out of the pack with the lead, and eventually run away from it, as Carmel's Sarah Bennett finished second in 18:19.0.
"I lost her in the crowd as she went into the 4K (mark)," the coach/dad said. "I couldn't find her, couldn't find her. She was right behind the four-wheelers (carrying officials), then my heart skipped a little bit, because that's where she struggled her freshman year. To see her come out of there looking so good, so strong and so relaxed — I felt real, real good at that point."
Indeed, Erba did begin the race with the pack, while a couple of girls got out to quick leads.
Sitting in fourth place at the 3K mark, Erba began to make her move, and after she got to 4,000 meters, she had taken the lead.
"Going out for the first couple miles, I knew I could just relax and stay with the top girls," Erba said. "I kind of waited for the 4K to take off and go, but it was a little before that that I felt good and saw an opportunity. I made a move and it just felt good."
Despite the race being so important, both Erbas were stressing patience.
"This course really dictates patience," Scott Erba said. "You can't get caught up and go out too fast. If you do, you'll feel really good in the first half because it's mostly downhill. It's really about coming back in the second half of the race and getting to that 2.5 to 3K mark in good position and being able to attack. That's what she was able to do today."
On top of implementing patience, Ashley also used positive visualization to become Warsaw's first state champion since Max Truex did it back in 1953.
"I've gone through this race about 100 times in my head over the last three days," she said. "In my head, that's kind of how I saw it happening. Before the race, there's always that thought of 'what if something doesn't go quite right,' but at the 4K point, everything was coming together and I felt great."
Erba's first-place finish helped the 11th-ranked Lady Tigerspost 282 points, which was good for 11th in the team standings, as sophomore Anna Bearss finished 23rd in 18:56, followed by senior Brooke Kline in 74th (19:57), junior Kristin Quick in 108th (20:29), senior Creigh Ogle in 150th (21:09), freshman Ellie Bearss in 166th (21:29) and senior Michelle Feng in 167th (21:31).
"For our first time being here (the 11th place) is great," Scott Erba said. "We had higher expectations for the team, but being here gave them a taste. I have them here watching the top five teams get their medals, so I hope that's a big inspiration for everyone that's coming back next year. At this point next year, I hope to be up high (on the podium) looking down on the crowd, rather than looking up at the award winners."
The Lady Tigers watched as top-ranked Carmel received its first-place medals for the third time in four years with a score of 43, while No. 2 Columbus North finished second with 140 points.
"Hopefully a lot of the girls are really inspired with what they did this year," Scott Erba said. "A lot of them have gotten a taste of this, and haven't gotten that in their other sports. Then, we have new girls coming in from the middle school. So, hopefully we're building the expectations on what we can do here. I hope we can look back in a few years and realize this was the first step we took."
Some of the girls may be looking to build on their success for next year, but Erba's cross country season isn't quite over yet.
"Right now, I'm on this high, but in three weeks, I'll be running at the Midwest Foot Locker (Cross Country Championships) in Wisconsin," she said. "Hopefully, I place in the top 10 there and qualify for the nationals in San Diego on Dec. 10. Those are the next two things I'm looking forward to. After that, it's track season."
And once track season begins, Scott Erba will once again be coaching his daughter, but for now, he's relishing what she just accomplished.
"It was great to see her come back this year with a healthy body, a focus," he said. "She was able come out and meet her personal goals throughout the season."
Team Scores — Carmel 43, Columbus North 140, Valparaiso 213, FW Concordia 223, West Lafayette 239, Hamilton Southeastern 242, Carroll 242, Westfield 245, Center Grove 250, TH North 266, Warsaw 282, Penn 290, Avon 307, Northridge 337, Eastern 351, Crown Point 419, Portage 436, Lake Central 436, Huntington North 451, Bloomington South 458, Evansville Memorial 474, Heritage Hills 549, TH South 588
Top 15 (All-State) — 1. Ashley Erba (Warsaw) 18:05.6, 2. Sarah Bennett (Carmel) 18:19.0, 3. Bobbie Burgess (West Lafayette) 18:21.8, 4. Mackenzie Campbell (Columbus North) 18:26.2, 5. Kelcy Welch (Carmel) 18:30.9, 6. Rachel Nichwitz (Hamilton Southeastern) 18:35.8, 7. Samantha Roush (Columbia City) 18:35.8, 8. Kendra Foley (Noblesville) 18:36.1, 9. Chanli Mundy (TH North) 18:38.1, 10. Madison Woods (Penn) 18:39.3, 11. Anna Reibs (FW Concordia) 18:39.8, 12. Helen Willman (Noblesville) 18:44.3, 13. Gina Genco (Carmel) 18:46.5, 14. Becca Conley (Andrean) 18:47.2, 15. Abigail Hostetler (Fremont) 18:49.3
Warsaw — 1. Erba 18:05.6, 23. Anna Bearss 18:56.2, 74. Brooke Kline 19:57.7, 108. Kristin Quick 20:29.4, 150. Creigh Ogle 21:09.7, 166. Ellie Bearss 21:29.8, 167. Michelle Feng 21:31.2[[In-content Ad]]
On top of trailing for two-thirds of the state finals race at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Sports Center before making her move to win in 18:05.6, Erba also had to overcome some doubt following a subpar sophomore season.
After breezing through her freshman season, winning every meet, including a Northern Lakes Conference title and championships at the sectional, regional and semistate levels, she became ill at the state meet, and couldn't finish.
Following that stellar season, she was diagnosed with an iron deficiency, and other problems slowed her down the following year, as she finished second at the sectional and regional, then failed to make the state finals with a 30th-place finish at the New Haven Semistate.
"It was scary, because you always hear about those girls who come in and are great as freshmen, but maturity hits or they just don't have it anymore," Erba said. "I had two seasons (freshman track and sophomore season of cross country) where I ran where I didn't want to be. It was tough and I had to tell myself, 'No. Everybody goes through this' It's just been great this last year. I've talked to a lot of really successful runners like (Culver Girls Academy graduate) Waverly Neer and (Plymouth graduate) Morgan Ucency, and they talked about getting to where they are now. All of them talked about having one or two tough seasons. Everyone had those seasons where things didn't quite go right, and that helped."
Along with running cross country as a freshman and sophomore, Erba was also a cheerleader, but cut that sport out this season, and returned even stronger than she was in 2009.
Refocused, Erba ran the table again this season, completing her undefeated season by breaking the state finals record for a 5K girls race, eclipsing the 18:14.0 mark set by Center Grove's Sarah Higgens in 2008.
"For people that get to come through and make it to state every year and have success — that's great," she said. "I hate looking back on the things when I didn't have success, but it just makes this 100 times better. I know what I've worked through and what I did to overcome it. It feels incredible."
And the joy didn't only belong to her.
After seeing his daughter struggle last season, Warsaw girls cross country coach Scott Erba was pleased to see Ashley break out of the pack with the lead, and eventually run away from it, as Carmel's Sarah Bennett finished second in 18:19.0.
"I lost her in the crowd as she went into the 4K (mark)," the coach/dad said. "I couldn't find her, couldn't find her. She was right behind the four-wheelers (carrying officials), then my heart skipped a little bit, because that's where she struggled her freshman year. To see her come out of there looking so good, so strong and so relaxed — I felt real, real good at that point."
Indeed, Erba did begin the race with the pack, while a couple of girls got out to quick leads.
Sitting in fourth place at the 3K mark, Erba began to make her move, and after she got to 4,000 meters, she had taken the lead.
"Going out for the first couple miles, I knew I could just relax and stay with the top girls," Erba said. "I kind of waited for the 4K to take off and go, but it was a little before that that I felt good and saw an opportunity. I made a move and it just felt good."
Despite the race being so important, both Erbas were stressing patience.
"This course really dictates patience," Scott Erba said. "You can't get caught up and go out too fast. If you do, you'll feel really good in the first half because it's mostly downhill. It's really about coming back in the second half of the race and getting to that 2.5 to 3K mark in good position and being able to attack. That's what she was able to do today."
On top of implementing patience, Ashley also used positive visualization to become Warsaw's first state champion since Max Truex did it back in 1953.
"I've gone through this race about 100 times in my head over the last three days," she said. "In my head, that's kind of how I saw it happening. Before the race, there's always that thought of 'what if something doesn't go quite right,' but at the 4K point, everything was coming together and I felt great."
Erba's first-place finish helped the 11th-ranked Lady Tigerspost 282 points, which was good for 11th in the team standings, as sophomore Anna Bearss finished 23rd in 18:56, followed by senior Brooke Kline in 74th (19:57), junior Kristin Quick in 108th (20:29), senior Creigh Ogle in 150th (21:09), freshman Ellie Bearss in 166th (21:29) and senior Michelle Feng in 167th (21:31).
"For our first time being here (the 11th place) is great," Scott Erba said. "We had higher expectations for the team, but being here gave them a taste. I have them here watching the top five teams get their medals, so I hope that's a big inspiration for everyone that's coming back next year. At this point next year, I hope to be up high (on the podium) looking down on the crowd, rather than looking up at the award winners."
The Lady Tigers watched as top-ranked Carmel received its first-place medals for the third time in four years with a score of 43, while No. 2 Columbus North finished second with 140 points.
"Hopefully a lot of the girls are really inspired with what they did this year," Scott Erba said. "A lot of them have gotten a taste of this, and haven't gotten that in their other sports. Then, we have new girls coming in from the middle school. So, hopefully we're building the expectations on what we can do here. I hope we can look back in a few years and realize this was the first step we took."
Some of the girls may be looking to build on their success for next year, but Erba's cross country season isn't quite over yet.
"Right now, I'm on this high, but in three weeks, I'll be running at the Midwest Foot Locker (Cross Country Championships) in Wisconsin," she said. "Hopefully, I place in the top 10 there and qualify for the nationals in San Diego on Dec. 10. Those are the next two things I'm looking forward to. After that, it's track season."
And once track season begins, Scott Erba will once again be coaching his daughter, but for now, he's relishing what she just accomplished.
"It was great to see her come back this year with a healthy body, a focus," he said. "She was able come out and meet her personal goals throughout the season."
Team Scores — Carmel 43, Columbus North 140, Valparaiso 213, FW Concordia 223, West Lafayette 239, Hamilton Southeastern 242, Carroll 242, Westfield 245, Center Grove 250, TH North 266, Warsaw 282, Penn 290, Avon 307, Northridge 337, Eastern 351, Crown Point 419, Portage 436, Lake Central 436, Huntington North 451, Bloomington South 458, Evansville Memorial 474, Heritage Hills 549, TH South 588
Top 15 (All-State) — 1. Ashley Erba (Warsaw) 18:05.6, 2. Sarah Bennett (Carmel) 18:19.0, 3. Bobbie Burgess (West Lafayette) 18:21.8, 4. Mackenzie Campbell (Columbus North) 18:26.2, 5. Kelcy Welch (Carmel) 18:30.9, 6. Rachel Nichwitz (Hamilton Southeastern) 18:35.8, 7. Samantha Roush (Columbia City) 18:35.8, 8. Kendra Foley (Noblesville) 18:36.1, 9. Chanli Mundy (TH North) 18:38.1, 10. Madison Woods (Penn) 18:39.3, 11. Anna Reibs (FW Concordia) 18:39.8, 12. Helen Willman (Noblesville) 18:44.3, 13. Gina Genco (Carmel) 18:46.5, 14. Becca Conley (Andrean) 18:47.2, 15. Abigail Hostetler (Fremont) 18:49.3
Warsaw — 1. Erba 18:05.6, 23. Anna Bearss 18:56.2, 74. Brooke Kline 19:57.7, 108. Kristin Quick 20:29.4, 150. Creigh Ogle 21:09.7, 166. Ellie Bearss 21:29.8, 167. Michelle Feng 21:31.2[[In-content Ad]]
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