CULVER – It was some kind of sweet redemption for Ashley Erba Saturday.

The Warsaw cross country superstar, on a cold and windy day, blazed to a new state record performance in dominating her race at the Culver Academies Invitational.

Erba, the defending state champion, responded after losing her first race since her sophomore year a week ago. Mishawaka sophomore Anna Rohrer bested Erba in the New Prairie Invitational Sept. 15.

Erba returned the favor in a big, big way on Saturday.  The WCHS senior set a new state standard in going 17:13.7 in the 5K event. Her time topped the mark of 17:14.1 set by Rohrer at New Prairie last Saturday. Rohrer’s time on that day was the fourth fastest in the country this season at the time. She clocked in at 17:32.1 Saturday to place second.

Erba, who also won a state track title and a national championship this past June, will not run against Rohrer again until the State Finals in Terre Haute on Oct. 27i.

Erba, who set a state record in winning a state title last October,  led coach Scott Erba’s No. 15 Warsaw squad to an 11th place finish in the 35-team competition Saturday.

No. 1 Carmel won the team championship Saturday with a score of 66. No. 2 West Lafayette was runner-up with a score of 104 in the field, which included more than half of the state’s top 25 ranked teams. No. 10 Northridge placed seventh with a score of 261 and Warsaw was 11th with its score of 353.

Senior Sarah Ray continued her impressive first season running for the Tigers. Ray placed 25th overall in a time of 18:56 Saturday. Hannah Dawson placed 88th overall in a time of 20:19 for the Tigers, followed by Madeline Hooks in 122nd (20:45), Emma Hayward in 124th (20:48), Brooke Rhodes in 157th (21:12) and Tayler Mylin in 189th (22:05).

Erba and Rhodes each had personal best times on Saturday for the Tigers.

Tennie Worrell led Warsaw in the Reserve Race with a time of 21:27.  The Tigers also had Hannah Thompson (21:30), Emily Stouder (21:33), Claire Kehler (22:07), Laine Hertel (23:04), Audra Harman (23:10), Alexis Winters (23:21), Alexis Himes (23:27), Mariah Harter (24:49), Ann Harvuot (25:50), McKenzie Haines (27:03) and Nicole Brackett (27:06).

The Reserve race saw personal best times turned in Saturday for Warsaw by Worrell, Thompson, Stouder, Kehler, Harter and Brackett. Haines notched a season best effort.

Warsaw completes regular-season and NLC action Tuesday. The Tigers, who are 5-0 in the NLC, face Northridge and NorthWood at Stauffer Park in Nappanee. Warsaw then competes in the NLC Meet next Saturday at Ox Bow Park.

 

CULVER ACADEMIES CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL
GIRLS OPEN (Large schools)

Team scores: Carmel 66, West Lafayette 104, Mason (Ohio) 126, Columbus North 155, Eastern-Greentown 198, Terre Haute North 206, Northridge 261, Sylvania Northview (Ohio) 281, Milford (MI) 285, Valparaiso 340, Warsaw 353, Chesterton 385, Indianapolis North Central 399, Fort Wayne Concordia 458, LaPorte 482, Indianapolis Brebeuf 485, Mishawaka 491, New Prairie 493, Portage 494, Indianapolis Pike 511, Lawrence Central 535, Colerain (Ohio) 559, Crown Point 602, Bloomington North 613, Fort Wayne Snider 639, Floyd Central 641, Lake Central 693, Warren Central 738, Munster 743, South Bend Clay 781, Lawrence North 865, McCutcheon 1056, Logansport 1073, Kokomo 1153, Michigan City 1170.

Top 20 finishers: 1, Ashley Erba (Warsaw) 17:13.7 (COURSE RECORD AND INDIANA BEST). 2, Anna Rohrer (Mishawaka) 17:32.1. 3, Bobbie Burgess (W Lafayette) 17:43.1. 4, Mackenzie Caldwell (Columbus North) 17:52.4. 5, Bethany Neeley (Eastern-Greentown) 18:05.7. 6, Rachael Sollman (Columbus No) 18:09.9. 7, Haley Harris (Carmel) 18:13.6. 8, Kelcy Welch (Carmel) 18:17.1. 9, Janelle Noe (Sylvania Northview) 18:24.4. 10, Anna Bearss (Rochester) 18:25.9. 11, Amanda Farrough (SB Clay) 18:26.9. 12, Elena Lancioni (LaPorte) 18:28.4. 13, Kristen Seiler (Colerain) 18:30.7. 14, Lauren Wood (Mason) 18:34.7. 15, Ellen Schmitz (Carmel) 18:35.4. 16, Chanli Mundy (Terre Haute No) 18:38.0. 17, Kelsey Harris (Carmel) 18:38.7. 18, Rachel Barrett (Milford) 18:38.9. 19, Meagan Murphy (Mason) 18:39.2. 20, Sierra Lax (Columbus No) 18:47.7.

GIRLS CLOSED (Small schools)

Team scores: Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 124, Plymouth 172, Culver Girls Academy 173, Northfield 195, South Bend St. Joseph 197, Hebron 221, Cranbrook-Kingswood (Mich.) 237, Mishawaka Marian 239, Fairfield 245, Wawasee 247, Rochester 275, Twin Lakes 282, Bremen 365, NorthWood 381, Frankfort 401, Western 409, Hanover Central 474, Brown County 512, Hamilton Heights 561, Carroll-Flora 570, Winamac 572, Maconaquah 602, Manchester 611, Triton 622, Morgan Twp. 694, Indianapolis Scecina 712, Pioneer 749, Lafayette Central Catholic 752, North Miami 785, Fort Wayne Wayne 837, LaLumiere Academy 840, Knox 903, University School-Carmel 905.

Top 20 finishers: 1, Madeline Lilly (Twin Lakes) 18:57.3. 2, Kyleigh Werner (South Central-LaPorte) 19:17.7. 3, Jenna Halderman (Northfield) 19:48.8. 4, Erin Crone (Chatard) 19:52.5. 5, Claire Ford (Cranbrook-Kingswood) 19:53.3. 6, Sara Slabaugh (Bremen) 20:05.2. 7, Bre Robinson (Wawasee) 20:06.4. 8, Courtney Linnemeier (Wawasee) 20:06.6. 9, Taylor Stidham (Fairfield) 20:16.7. 10, Emma Nixon (Western) 20:21.6. 11, Emily Barish (Cranbrook-Kingswood) 20:22.5. 12, Mary Claire Fagan (Chatard) 20:29.9. 13, Sammy Ruppert (Rochester) 20:30.4. 14, Olivia Martinez (Culver Girls Academy) 20:31.9. 15, Sarah Burch (Rochester) 20:35.1. 16, Abby Patrick (Plymouth) 20:36.3. 17, Molly Clark (SB St. Joseph) 20:36.8. 18, Rose Guingrich (Brown County) 20:38.7. 19, Hannah Buggein (Culver Girls Academy) 20:40.2. 20, Madison Miller (Wawasee) 20:43.5.