Winona Lake’s Ashley Erba proved she wasn’t done collecting medallions, though her high school season is complete. Erba began her junior campaign at Warsaw Community High School by winning the state cross country title in the fall, then won the 3200-meter run on the track on June 1. Despite class being out of session, Erba is still teaching the competition lessons and placed first in Thursday’s New Balance Nationals Outdoor 5,000-meter run in Greensboro, N.C. “The meet has the best in the country,” Erba said about the competition at North Carolina A&T University during a phone conversation Thursday night. “It had the defending 5,000 champion (Wesley Frazier), who set the sophomore national record last year.” Frazier, who hails from Raleigh, N.C., was there again this season, but finished third in a time of 16:51.04, while Erba won in a meet record time of 16:18.21. “It went exceptionally well,” said Erba. “To win it and then to also set the meet record was an awesome bonus.” The time nipped the previous record of 16:18.91, set by Ashley Brasovan in 2008. Going into the race, Erba was aware of the record time, but wasn’t putting too much thought into it. “Looking at the heat sheets, it had all the record times at the top, and I did see the meet record,” she said. “But I had an idea of how I would run, and if I met my goal, it would be close to the record. But it wasn’t something where I was thinking, ‘I want to beat the record,’ or anything like that.” Early on, Erba said she actually didn’t think she had a shot at the record time. “My first mile was actually pretty slow, so I didn’t think I was going to get it,” she said. “My second mile was faster and I could hear the announcer say how I was on pace (for the record). Then, I knew I had a shot at it.” With the second-place time being 16:43.65 by Danielle Anderson, the only real competition in the race was the record time. Defending champion Frazier did hang with Erba for a while, but eventually fell off, leaving her all alone in front. “I knew Frazier would come out with me,” Erba said. “She was with me for a long time, but then I heard the announcer saying she had dropped off and I was going for the meet record.” In the fall, Erba set a new 5K record by winning the state cross country title in 18:05.6, then nearly broke the 3200 record of 10:20.66 at the state track meet, winning in 10:24.94, earlier this month. With her latest victory, her college recruitment surely took a big jump. “That was one of the reasons I was looking forward to the meet,” Erba said. “Now coaches know what I can run the 5,000 in. There were a lot of college coaches there, and for the ones that weren’t there, they’ll look it up.” The 5,000 is a collegiate event, but not one in high school. It’s also one Erba feels very comfortable with. “The longer the event, the better for me,” she said. “This was fun for me, because it’s not the typical kind of race you can run at a high school meet.” With that kind of mentality, Erba will be very attractive to colleges, who can began contacting her unsolicited on July 1. Currently, she’s only receiving recruitment forms from coaches, as well as corresponding with those she’s contacted first. However, once July 1 rolls around, things will most certainly pick up. “It’s something I’m looking forward to,” she said about the recruitment process. For now, it’s still about high school running and taking a break doesn’t seem to be in the cards. “Now it’s time for cross country,” she said about preparing for the fall sport.
