ANDERSON – It didn’t take Scott Erba long to make his way to the top of the awards podium.
Erba, the former WCHS girls track and cross country coach, was the overall champion this past weekend in his first race of the season.
Erba, who stepped down after last season as track coach to focus on training and competing in runs and triathlons, won the Dino Trail Run Series event held at Mounds State Park.
Erba covered the 15K trail run course in an impressive winning time of 56:24.6. Robert Wiltshire of Ohio, the runner-up for overall honors, finished second in time of 59:39.1.
“This was my first race of the 2017 season and a chance to improve on my second place finish last year at this race,” noted Erba in an email. “Last year I fell back to second place early in the race only to gradually work my way back up to the co-leader spot. However, with a 1/2 mile to go, I could not keep pace with the leader and watched him finish just :07 ahead of me after nearly an hour of racing (58:24). This year, with a year of training and a stronger mental game, I was determined not to crack or crumble if I was in the same situation. My goals for this year were to: 1) run a faster time and break 57 minutes and, 2) move up one spot on the podium (if possible).
“On Saturday, I started under control yet wanted to establish a faster pace up front. Shortly after the first mile, I was able to gain a bit of separation over the eventual second place finisher on a short hill and started to hit my goal splits through the winding trails, slippery boardwalks and stairs and hills. Coming around the final turn and seeing the race clock at 56 minutes and change was a welcome sight and finishing in 56:24 was 35 seconds better than my goal time coming in to the event.”
Erba not only was the top competitor among the field of 147 entrants, but he also finished 35 seconds ahead of his pre-race goal. He also earned the championship after placing second in the race last year.
The highly-disciplined and organized Erba, who is the Health/Physical Education Department Leader at WCHS, returns to action on April 1 at the Circular Logic Marathon in West Lafayette where he is the defending champion. His first triathlon of the season is scheduled for May 20 at the Morseman Triathlon (half Ironman distance) in Noblesville.
