Erba Second, Tigers Fourth At NP
Ashley Erba broke yet another record Saturday in the prestigious New Prairie Invitational.
This time, however, the Warsaw senior star did not win the race.
Erba, the defending state cross country champion, was out kicked by Anna Rohrer of Mishawaka to place second in the Girls AAA (Large School) race. Rohrer, a sophomore, won the race in a time of 17:14, 40 seconds better than the previous NP Invite record set by former Culver Academy standout and current NCAA All-American Waverly Neer.
Erba, who had not lost a race this season, was second in a personal best time of 17:25 Saturday. She has set a course record in every race this season for the Tigers.
Rohrer’s time in the country’s largest high school cross country invitational, which included over 100 high school teams and some 2,000 runners, was the fourth fastest in the country this season. Erba’s time was the sixth best.
Erba and Rohrer are scheduled to race against each other again next Saturday in the Culver Academy Invitational.
Erba and fellow senior Sarah Ray, who placed 10th overall in a personal best time of 19:06, led coach Scott Erba’s team to a fourth-place finish among 31 teams in their division. No. 10 Eastern (Greentown) was first with a team score of 76. No. 8 Northridge was second with a 159, followed by No. 18 Valparaiso (165) and No. 12 Warsaw (177).
Hannah Dawson was 29th for the Tigers in a time of 20:16 in the field of 215 runners. Madeline Hooks was 58th in 20:48, followed by teammates Emma Hayward in 71st (20:57), Tennie Worrell in 114th (21:39) and Tayler Mylin in 121st (22:00).
Hannah Thompson and Claire Kehler placed 27th and 39th in the Reserve Race field of 433 runners to lead Warsaw. Thompson clocked in at 21:58 and Kehler at 22:20 for the Tigers. Also competing for the Tigers were Brooke Rhodes (22:29), Emily Stouder (22:34), Cynthia Yoder (22:38), Kara Millington (22:58), Jackie Ferguson (23:26), Laine Hertel (23:46), Audra Harman (24:02), Alexis Winters (24:11), Alexis Himes (24:33), Mariah Harter (24:52), Courtney Etchison (26:41), Emma Lehman (27:11), Nicole Brackett (29:24) and McKenzie Haines (30:29).
The Tigers had their best team time result of the season Saturday. Warsaw also had eight personal best times and a pair of season best times, according to coach Erba. Notching top times were Erba, Ray, Dawson, Hooks, Hayward, Worrell, Thompson, Kehler, Ferguson, Hertel and Harter.
Warsaw will put its undefeated conference record on the line Tuesday at Wawasee. The Tigers, who are 4-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference, will compete next Saturday in the Culver Academy Invitational.