Senior Erin Haugh added the steeplechase to her distance running to help her team score more points. (Centre College Athletics Photo)
Senior Erin Haugh feels like she is peaking at just the right time with the Southern Athletic Association Outdoor Championships coming up April 25-26 at Sewanee, Tenn.
She has recorded some personal bests this season and has always felt she has been at her best in the conference championships, a trend she hopes continues this year as Centre tries to maintain its spot as the best team in the conference.
“Coach (Lisa) Owens is good at tapering us at the right time so that we are performing our best at the right time,” said Haugh, a Louisville Sacred Heart product. “
She likely will compete in the steeplechase, 1,500-meter run and 800-meter run in the SAA Championships.
“It can definitely be grueling doing three events, but I feel like I’m kind of used to it at this point. You just have to kind of reset for the next thing,” Haugh said. “In a way, I feel like it kind of helps to spread out the nerves a little bit when you do multiple events. Once I have one event and hopefully that goes well, then it kind of gives me momentum for the other ones.”
Haugh was part of a class that studied in Thailand during the three-week winter in January. She’s an environmental studies major and the class was part of her major but it also included a chance to feed and interact with elephants.
“The elephants were really cool. But so was the natural beauty of Thailand. I had never seen beaches like that before,” the Centre senior said.
Still, she found time to run and stay in shape for indoor season because she knew the conference indoor championship would be not long after she returned to Danville. Junior Reeve VanDemark, a distance runner on the men’s team, was also on the trip and the two ran in the mornings.
“A lot of times we would just be running in the streets but it was super nice to have him there. I definitely feel like I would not have run as much without him keeping me accountable and it also made me feel more safe to have someone to run with,” she said. “t would have really been hard to get in shape fast for the conference meet if we had taken that much time off.”
Her sophomore year she studied abroad in Mexico and she didn’t run often because she didn’t have anyone to run with.
“I didn’t feel as much pressure to be in shape when I came back from Mexico, but for Thailand it is my senior year and I wanted to be in shape to help our team,” Haugh said.
Owens has been pleased with Haugh’s consistency and strong performances.
“She has competed four years in cross country and track and field. She is a really good person. She’s kind, compassionate and always has a smile on her face,” the Centre coach said. “She is the quiet, but competitive type that I love.”
Haugh has learned to appreciate the steeplechase, a 3,000-meter event with 28 barriers and seven water jumps. Owens persuaded Haugh to try the event as a way to add points for the Colonels at the conference championship.
“I am also kind of tall so she probably figured I could get over the hurdles,” Haugh said. “But that is hard for a distance runner because we are not too focused on technique. It’s just get over the hurdle. In my opinion, it is the most grueling event that I have to do. It can be exhausting.”
She admits it was “scary” her freshman year learning to navigate the jumps.
“The water jumps are very intimidating for sure but each year it gets a little easier,” Haugh said. “At a certain point it kind of becomes muscle memory.”
Obviously landing in the water soaks a runner’s shoes and Haugh has learned not to wear socks in the steeplechase because that helps avoid blisters from running in wet socks.
She does wear socks in her favorite event — the 1,500-meter run— and 800 run.
“The 800 is kind of like middle ground for me. You have to have speed and endurance. It’s an in-between type of run,” she said. “I’ve struggled with the 1,500 until this year but my training has really paid off this season.”
Haugh also says cross country training helps with her track events even though she likes cross country and track equally well. She was fifth individually in the SAA Cross Country Championships to earn all-conference honors.
“I really did want to be first team my senior year. We fell short as a team (finishing second to Berry) which was really disappointing but I was proud of the way I ran,” she said.
Centre dominated the SAA Outdoor Championships in 2024 with a conference record 303 points. Haugh knows next week’s conference meet will present a much more difficult challenge to outscore Berry.
“In some ways I think it makes it more satisfying if it is a challenge but at the same time it is more stressful,” the Centre senior said.
She’s not stressing over her future after graduation. Not only is she an environmental studies major but also will have minors in Spanish and data science.
“It is kind of a broad range but the thing I like about Centre is that you can study a lot of different subjects,” she said. “That’s why I still have to figure out what I will do after graduation.”
Since she’s also been running cross country and track since third grade even though she tried basketball, soccer, field, hockey, tennis and volleyball but running was always her favorite. Haugh already knows she’ll not only miss her teammates but also the daily practices and workouts
“If it wasn’t for the team aspect, running would not be as enjoyable as it is for me. I’ll definitely miss that, but I definitely want to continue running. Doing road races, probably marathons, maybe ultra marathons.”
An ultramarathon normally covers 31.1 miles — a marathon is 26.2 miles — but the ultra can also be a 62.-1 mile (100 K) distance.
“I’m excited to kind of see what running after college looks like,” Haugh, who will compete in the Centre Twilight meet Friday, said.
