Such was the path of Chelsea Ervi’s senior season.
Rather than hide from a regional collapse, Salado’s star distance runner faced her disappointment head-on.
Bent on capping her final high school season in style, Ervi did all the right things in the two weeks leading up to the University Inter-scholastic League State Track and Field Meet.
And finally in the broiling afternoon heat at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Saturday, Ervi confirmed what some people have believed for years - that she is indeed one of the best 1,600-meter runners in the state.
After pacing herself for the first half of the race, Ervi glided into the lead on the third lap and never relinquished it, running alone out front for the final 600 meters on her way to the gold medal in the Class 2A girls 1,600.
Afterward, as her closest competitors battled to catch their breath and stay upright in the medals tent, Ervi basked in the moment and even talked on a cell phone.
“My grandpa, who is one of my biggest supporters, had a major operation on his back and couldn’t be here today,” Ervi said of the conversation. “So I was giving him the play-by-play.”
The postrace enjoyment was in stark contrast to the Region IV meet, when Ervi failed to qualify for state in the 3,200 and eked out a one-second win over Academy freshman Emily Koenig in the 1,600.
But it was that performance - and the doubts it raised - that fueled Ervi to finally seize the moment and that elusive gold medal.
“I really wanted it,” she said. “I overcame a lot of stuff and I just feel really proud for working so hard. It always seems like it’s better coming in as the underdog because everybody is cheering for them.
“But it really motivated me to get to the top this year, and I really worked for it. It really feels good for it to pay off and come out of here as the top dog, or whatever you call it.”
Ervi, who has signed to run for Texas Tech, had been to Myers Stadium each of the past three years and had only a pair of silvers to show for it, but this time she commanded the race instead of it commanding her.
Koenig took silver in the 3,200 on Friday but wasn’t a factor this time - finishing fifth - and Ervi tucked in behind 3,200 champion Sarah De Los Santos of Shallowater and Hamilton’s Amber Weems at the start.
“Every year that I’ve ran here, all of the girls have gone out super, super fast,” Ervi said of her strategy. “I feel like the more I run on my pace, the better I do.”
Comfortably running in third while De Los Santos and Weems labored out front, Ervi ran to the lead 1,000 meters in. By the time she came to the line for the bell lap, she had built a 10-meter gap that only grew wider the rest of the way. She won in 5 minutes, 11.50 seconds - three seconds ahead of runner-up De Los Santos and less than seven seconds off the 2A state meet record.
“I had come into regional with one of the fastest times in the state in the 3,200 and I didn’t qualify,” Ervi said. “I had a horrible race that day, then the next day I barely won the mile. To accomplish what I wanted to, I just knew that I needed to keep my head on my shoulders.”
She did exactly that and had a gold medal on her shoulders to prove it.
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
