Warsaw Girls Track Team Makes It Five In A Row The Warsaw girls track and field team celebrated its second championship in a week and its fifth sectional title in five years Tuesday at the Tiger Athletic Complex. A week after cruising to its sixth-consecutive Northern Lakes Conference championship, the Lady Tigers won their fifth-straight sectional crown, scoring 147 points, putting plenty of distance between themselves and second-place Goshen, who scored 89. "There's a different feeling between them," Warsaw coach Scott Erba said when asked about comparing NLC and sectional titles. "Conference has a little more of a local feeling, where you're competing against those teams all year long and it's a nice finale to it. At sectional, the game changes because it goes to individuals and relays. If you want to keep competing, you have to be in the top four. For some of the girls tonight, they're part of a sectional championship, but their individual seasons are over. That's the bittersweet part." By placing in the top four, competitors from the Warsaw Sectional advance to the Bremen Regional Tuesday, where competition begins at 6 p.m. At Bremen, Warsaw qualifiers will be joined by qualifiers from Bremen, Madison-Grant and Rochester sectionals. Lady Tigers advancing to the regionals by winning their respective events at the sectional were senior Leah Moore in the 400, freshman Ann Harvuot in the 100, senior Lauren Burish in the discus and sophomore Ashley Erba, who won the 1600 and set a new-school record in the 3200, eclipsing Erica Ridderman's 2009 time of 11:20.77 by winning in 11:18.41. "It was one of those things where I wanted to give everything I had in the (3200 relay) and the mile," Ashley Erba said about her night. "Then, I was kind of going with whatever was left in the two-mile. It worked out really well tonight." Ashley Erba's night did begin with anchoring the winning 3200 relay, which included junior Brooke Kline, junior Hannah Cutshall and freshman Anna Bearss. The win was the 3200 relay's third-straight sectional championship. Along with placing first in all three events she competed in, Ashley Erba also defeated Northridge senior Skylair Hilton in the 3200 for the first time. Coming into the sectional, Ashley Erba had gone 0-5 against the Lady Raider in the two-mile race. "I think she had a little more motivation," Scott Erba said about his daughter. "We talked about it at practice and at home — about what she wanted to do and what she's capable of doing. She had some really good workouts at the end of last week and over the weekend. That gave her a lot of confidence. And not having that 800 in-between like she's been doing the last couple of meets also helped." Ashley Erba had been running the 800 toward the end of the season, including last week's NLC meet, meaning she was running four distance events, with the 3200 being the last. Without the 800 mixed in, she had a much better kick, putting 25 seconds between herself and second-place finisher Cynthia Medina of NorthWood. Hilton finished the race in third place with a time of 11:46.73. "I didn't necessarily warm up as much as I normally would have," Ashley Erba said about her mindset going into the 3200. "I thought more about my stride tonight and focusing on that. Last week (at the NLC meet), by the time I got to the 3200, I kind of let it go and I regretted it all week. I was going around the track thinking, 'OK, this counts. It matters.' About three-fourths through it, I began to realize I could go for that record." Along with the winners, other Warsaw girls to qualify out of the sectional were: Second-place finishers Bearss (800), Harvuot (200), the 400 relay (Regina Anderson, Madison Long, Brittney Rhodes, Harvuot), Hanna Kammerer (pole vault), Emily Umbaugh (shot put); third-place finisher Claire Hickerson (pole vault); fourth-place finishers Kristin Quick (100), Jackie Ferguson (300 hurdles), Samantha Jensen (discus) and Sarah Heagy (shot put). Bearss also qualified in the 1600 even though she placed fifth because Hilton, who had placed third, opted not to run the event at regional. Wawasee scored 19 points in the meet, placing them 10th overall, although the Lady Warriors do have an athlete moving on to the regional, as Mallory Rondeau placed third in the 800.
WARSAW 147, GOSHEN 89, NORTHRIDGE 88, FAIRFIELD 68, ELKHART MEMORIAL 52, ELKHART CENTRAL 48, CONCORD 44, NORTHWOOD 37, JIMTOWN 24, WAWASEE 19, ELKHART CHRISTIAN 6, BETHANY CHRISTIAN 1 (Top Four Advance To Bremen Regional)
