Trio Of Tigers Selected As All-StarsIndiana state champion Connor Sorrells of Barr-Reeve and record-breaking Ashley Erba of Warsaw lead this year’s Indiana all-star cross country teams. The Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches (IATCCC) announced its 12-runner boys and girls lineups that will compete Saturday, Nov. 17, at the annual Mid-East Cross Country Championships in Kettering, Ohio, which also includes Warsaw’s Jacob Poyner and Robert Murphy. Similar to the Indiana-Kentucky all-star basketball series, the Mid-East meet brings together top senior high school cross country runners from four states – Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois – for a unique state vs. state competition. Last year, Ohio won the boys championship, while Indiana took home the girls trophy. Hoosier team members were selected on the basis of their performance at the IHSAA state finals in Terre Haute on Oct. 27. Sorrells, from Barr-Reeve High School, won his school’s first individual state championship by covering the tough 5,000-meter LaVern Gibson course in 15 minutes, 21.3 seconds. Erba, the girls state runner-up, waged historic battles with state champion Anna Rohrer of Mishawaka throughout the entire cross country season. Rohrer is a sophomore and not eligible for all-star consideration. Erba, the 2011 state champ, broke course records almost everywhere she ran, including the huge Culver Academies Invitational and New Prairie semistate. At the state finals, she clocked 17:29.2 and broke her own state meet course record by 36 seconds, but still finished second to Rohrer. Erba won the IHSAA’s Mental Attitude Award and has verbally committed to run for Providence College next year. Erba is also a national high school champion in track and field. She won the girls 5,000-meter run at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in June, 2012. Her 16:18.21 clocking in that race is the meet record. Joining Sorrells on the boys All-Star squad are two pairs of teammates – Jonathan Harper and Alex Hess from Carroll (Fort Wayne), as well as Warsaw’s Poyner and Murphy, who finished sixth and 14th at the state finals, respectively. The girls squad also has two pairs – Bobbie Burgess and Grace Lachmund from West Lafayette, and sisters Bethany Neeley and Brittany Neeley from Eastern (Greentown). The complete girls roster includes Ashley Erba (Warsaw), Bobbie Burgess (West Lafayette), Grace Lachmund (West Lafayette), Bethany Neeley (Eastern-Greentown), Brittany Neeley (Eastern-Greentown), Anna Aldrich (Fremont), Kendra Foley (Noblesville), Amanda Farrough (South Bend Clay), Rachael Sollman (Columbus North), Emma MacAnally (Indianapolis Cathedral), Taylor Austin (Griffith) and Ellen Schmitz (Carmel). The boys team is comprised of Connor Sorrells (Barr-Reeve), Kyle Eller (Lowell), Jacob Poyner (Warsaw), Robert Murphy (Warsaw), Matt Dorsey (Lawrence Central), Kyle Duvall (Westfield), Jonathan Harper (Carroll-Fort Wayne), Alex Hess (Carroll-Fort Wayne), Alec Kostelnik (Morgan Township), Jonathan Reynolds (North Harrison), Joel Hartman (Elkhart Christian) and Michael Passmore (Mooresville).
