The 16th-ranked Warsaw girls cross country team is returning to the state finals Saturday, but it’s not exactly the same squad. “This is almost a brand new team,” Warsaw coach Scott Erba said. “The only returning girls are (senior) Ashley (Erba), who ran, and (junior) Madeline Hooks and (senior) Emily Stouder, who went but didn't run. So, we've got, essentially, a whole new crew down there.” Gone from last year’s team are the graduated Brooke Kline, Kristin Quick, Creigh Ogle and Michelle Feng, as well as junior Anna Bearss and sophomore Ellie Bearss, who transferred to Rochester. The lone girl returning is a pretty good one, as Ashley Erba set a 5K record on Terre Haute’s LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course last year, winning the title in 18:05.6. Ashley looks to defend that title Saturday, when the girls race begins at 1 p.m. “Last year, I was still very much an underdog going into the state meet,” she said. “I'd had a strong season, but people weren't really expecting much. It was kind of fresh and new to me. This year, I'm more experienced.” The change in her is evident, as last year’s state-record time of 18:05 will almost surely be broken, and it may be broken by more than a minute. “That's what I'm looking for Saturday, to break the 17-minute mark,” she said. Ashley, who verbally committed to run at Providence College earlier this week, has already broken the overall state record on two occasions this year. The first time she set a new state mark was Sept. 22 at the Culver Academy Invitational when she won in 17:13. At the regional in Cuver, Ashley won with a time of 17:12. Then, Saturday at the New Prairie Semistate, she reset the time when she finished first in 17:06.9. However, a couple hours later at the New Haven Semistate in Fort Wayne, Mishawaka sophomore Anna Rohrer lowered the time by winning in 17:03.96. Rohrer also defeated Ashley at this year’s New Prairie Invitational, but despite what would seem to be a rivalry, the Lady Tiger downplays it. “I don't go into races thinking about what other girls are going to do,” she said. “I like to go into races thinking about what I'm capable of doing and what my goals are. She's been running really well. “It will be a fun race, but I just don't go into races thinking about the other competitors,” she added. “I just don't. It's not how I operate.” While Ashley’s vying for another state title, her senior teammate Sarah Ray is going into the state meet completely fresh. An avid runner, Ray had never run competitively, even while she attended school in Illinois at St. Charles High School. Despite her lack of experience in competitive running, that changed after the Erbas leaned on her after she transferred to Warsaw last year. “We've been going at her since last fall,” Ashley said. “I sat with her at lunch and she'd say, 'Oh, I went out and ran three or four miles last night.' I remember she went out and did the Thankful 4, a regular run (in Wakarusa on Thanksgiving), which is a four-mile run. She said her time nonchalantly, where I said, 'Sarah, you could be incredible. You have to do track.' We were really on her case.” Those conversations in the cafeteria quickly turned into a recruitment. “I kept talking to her,” Scott said about recruiting Ray to run cross country last year. “I'd see her in the halls, see her over summer vacation and with Ashley eating lunch with her, I'd have her talk to her. Her joining has been a great thing. She's enjoyed it and we've enjoyed having her and have benefitted so much with having her here. We wouldn't be the team we are without her running. It was a win-win thing.” As a first-time cross country runner, Ray’s excelled this year, finishing second at the Northern Lakes Conference Meet, then third at the sectional and regional and 10th at the semistate. “Honestly, I never thought this season would go as well as it has, especially after the first race,” Ray said about her eighth-place finish at Huntington North Invitational on Aug. 18. “That one surprised me and I thought, 'OK, maybe I can do this.' It's been really fun seeing the improvement.” That improvement has helped Warsaw reach the state finals for only the third time in team history. “Team-wise, getting (to the state finals) back-to-back is huge,” Ashley said. “Sarah's been right there with us, which has been awesome for her first year. Even if we hadn't made it as a team, she would have made it individually, which is just incredible. I'm so excited for her and I'm so excited for our team as a whole.” And Ashley’s pushing her didn’t stop at the lunch table. “She pushes me to keep going,’ Ray said about Ashley. “I think she's the reason I've been so successful, just because you are training with that elite athlete. She just really pushes you to do better. When you don't think you can go any further, she's saying, 'Yeah, you can.’” If she runs her best at state, Ray is hoping for all-state honors, which she would get by finishing in the top 25. “I definitely want to get all-state and just try to run my best time of the season,” Ray said. “I just want to end the season on a high note.” While Ray is experiencing all this for the first time, Ashley will look to translate her familiarity of the course into her second-straight championship. “I used to not like it, just because it's a course that can be deceptive,” Ashley said. “You have to know how to run it. I've really grown to like it a lot. I'm really looking forward to getting on it this year.”
