On the statewide scene, Toll Gate rising senior Erika Pena might be known more for her ability on the track than anything else, but locally, there is no better distance runner either.
Pena had her …
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On the statewide scene, Toll Gate rising senior Erika Pena might be known more for her ability on the track than anything else, but locally, there is no better distance runner either.
Pena had her best cross country season to date this past fall, winning the Warwick City Meet with a huge burst down the final stretch over Pilgrim standout Danika Wayss, and then following that up with a dominant showing and a first-place finish at the Class B Championships.
At the state meet, she led all Warwick runners with a 32nd place finish and ended up with a personal record of 20:07.
“She’s the type of kid that can do pretty much anything well,” said Toll Gate coach Jon Deming. “Whether it was distance or sprinting or jumping, she’s just an overall good athlete.”
That showed at the City Meet, where Pena and Wayss were co-favorites coming in. In her sophomore year, Pena came in second to Pilgrim standout Natalie Tocco. This time, she ran her fastest mile of the year out of the gate, hung with Wayss the entire way and then showed off her track speed with a big kick over the last quarter-mile to win the title.
“I went into the race thinking that I want to be the city champion,” Pena said. “That was one of the goals I wrote down. My first mile was the fastest mile I’ve run all season. When my coach yelled out the time of the first mile I was like, ‘Wow, I feel great.’ I had so much energy left.”
That win really put her on the cross country radar, and she came up big again at the Class B Meet. Facing teams like South Kingstown and Portsmouth, Pena ran with the top group for the early portion of the race, then felt strong enough to extend the lead and cruise from there.
It was another notch on her belt.
“My goal was to win that, and I did,” Pena said. “I thought that was probably the best race I ever ran.”
The competition got tougher at the state meet, but Pena’s time was her lowest yet. Next season, she’ll aim to break 20 minutes with an eye toward getting closer to 19.
And there’s no reason to doubt her at this point. If she gets there, they’ll be plenty more standout performances to celebrate along the way.
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