ELKHART – Scott Erba, as he prepares to walk away from his very successful stint as the Warsaw girls cross country coach, is ready to do some running of his own.

Erba, who announced last Friday that he has resigned, will focus some time now on his own running pursuits.

“This will give me a chance to do some other things, including my own training for some marathons and triathlons that I want to compete in,” said Erba Tuesday night prior to coaching the Warsaw girls track team in their NLC opener at Elkhart Memorial. “It will be nice to be able to do that and to also spend some time with my family.”

Erba and his wife Karen have two children. Daughter Ashley was a star distance runner in both cross country and track at WCHS and son Zac played football and also competed in track at Rose-Hulman in Terre Haute.

Erba said that the time commitment required to running two programs at a high level had become just too much. He plans to continue to coach the girls track team.

“Coaching both cross country and track is just physically and emotionally draining,” said Erba. “It was like being on a treadmill that was not stopping. There just is not much time at all for other things if you want to be committed to having two quality programs. I ask a lot of our kids in the two programs and it’s not fair to them for me to not put in the time too.”

Erba guided the cross country program to new heights the last five years. In his four seasons as coach, not including 2014 when assistant Matt Campbell directed the team while Erba took a leave for family reasons, the Tigers won a pair of Northern Lakes Conference titles, four sectional crowns and three regional championships. Erba guided the team to berths in the State Finals in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 with the 2011 team placing the highest at 11th. His 2015 team was 12th at the State Finals.

“We’ve got a really good thing going with the culture that we have developed with the cross country program,” Erba stated. “There’s good numbers and a lot of excitement with the program. We have younger girls who look forward to running in high school.”

“I feel good about the program. I feel good that I leave it in better shape than when I took it over. It’s easier for me to step away with the success that we have had.”

The cross country program under Erba’s leadership has seen its numbers increase from 25 team members in 2011 to 53 last fall.

Erba has many fond memories of his time with the cross country program. His daughter Ashley was a state champion as a junior in 2011 and was runner-up in 2012 and also the winner of the Mental Attitude Award at the State Finals her senior year. Ashley, who was also a state champion in track, is now a professional mountain ultrarunner and lives in Colorado.

“There are so many great memories,” said Erba. “The time with Ashley is really surreal when I think about it. I also think about the first time we beat Northridge to win an NLC championship and a sectional championship.”

Erba believes that the program will continue to prosper. Although the position will be posted, Campbell has to be the leading candidate to take over. The talented assistant for both the cross country and track programs directed the team to NLC, sectional and regional titles and a 16th place finish at the State Finals in 2014 as the interim coach.

“I expect the success to continue,” noted Erba. “Everything is in place for that to happen.”