Warsaw’s Scott Erba, center, finished as an age group champion at the USA Triathlon National Championships this past weekend. (Photos provided)

CLEVELAND – Scott Erba has made quite a name for himself in the area triathlon scene. This past weekend, he made quite an impression on the national circuit.

Erba won his age group for the second year in a row and claimed a Master’s Division national championship at the USA Triathlon National Championships Saturday in a two-day event. Erba ranked first of 171 competitors in his age division with a total time of 2:07:07 on Saturday, which remarkably put him 34th overall of 1,607 total competitors.

In Sunday competition, unsafe water conditions in Lake Erie forced an amendment to the course structure, made the Sprint Distance trek a 2.7K run, 20K bike and 2.7K run. Erba’s time of 51:00 put him third in the Master’s category and 28th of 984 competitors.

Saturday’s race breakdown was an Olympic Distance setup of 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run, which is virtually double of that which is run at local Warsaw and Syracuse triathlons. Erba, who has won several area triathlons, noted the rough lake waters and heavy wind in and around Lake Erie made for very challenging factors, but neither element slowed him much.

“I was very happy with my efforts and mental state during the weekend,” began Erba. “I felt I was able to push myself and continually monitor my efforts to keep getting stronger during each leg of the race. I have confidence that the second half of my swim, bike and run will be as fast if not faster than the first half. It might not always work out that way but that is what I strive to do.

“I loved the rough swim in Lake Erie on Saturday, it did not bother me at all and I believe I handle adverse swim conditions better than a lot of athletes. There was a long run to get from the beach to the transition area which gave me a chance to get my legs functioning, however it still took 2-3 miles for me to get my biking legs comfortable. The bike course ran along Lake Erie for seven miles before turning inland and we had to deal with several lengthy, moderately inclined hills going both directions.  The wind was certainly a factor heading out in those first seven miles. Each mile I felt better and more confident and after we made the turnaround at the halfway point, I was ready to crank it up even another notch and felt very good in the last 10 miles.

“After another quick transition, I knew the run would be a challenge since I had pushed hard on the bike, it was getting hotter and the run course had some challenging hills throughout. I caught the leader in my age group around mile one and was able to extend the lead over the next five miles. There was a lot of discomfort and I was glad to race down the final downhill and make the final turn to the finish line. I did not know I had won the Masters’ Title until after the race was complete and I saw the results from the 40-44 age group that had started an hour before us.”

Sunday’s events were affected by storms that rolled through late Saturday night, which kept the competitors out of Lake Erie altogether because of red flag rip currents. The alteration of a run-bike-run didn’t slow down Erba to start, but wore down a little at the end of a grueling two days in Cleveland.

“I would have preferred a 2.5K run-20K bike-5K run format but I understand the position the race directors were in to keep things as simple as possible by repeating the same run course twice with over 1,500 athletes on the course,” stated Erba. “The chosen format really helped the better cyclists and hurt those of use who rely on swimming or running as our weapons. However, I was thrilled with my first run effort (fastest in my age group) and once again had a bike leg that improved every mile. The final run could have been faster but I was scraping the bottom of the barrel at this point and even though it was the fastest second run in my age group, it was not good enough to catch the leader.”

Erba is now training for USA Triathlon Nationals for Ultra-Distance (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) in Oklahoma City on Sept. 22.