Erin Haugh Colleran - Nanuet - 1997
It wasn’t hard to spot Erin Haugh in track and cross country races. At 5 feet 11 ½ inches, she was usually the tallest girl in the field, and when she broke away from the pack there was no mistaking the long, bounding stride as that of the Nanuet distance queen. Over four years those regal paces carried her to more than 50 championship or invitational meet titles and a place among the all-time greats in Nanuet and Rockland athletic history.
Erin’s stellar career for the Golden Knights was highlighted by a New York State individual championship, two State runner-up finishes, three Rockland County records, six Nanuet school records, nine individual Section 1 championships and nine individual Rockland County crowns.
Erin was the first Nanuet girl to win a State cross country championship and one of only three in school history. She captured the State Class C title as a sophomore in the fall of 1994. In spring track she placed second at the 1996 State Class B championships in both the 1,500- and 3,000-meter runs. That same season, she broke an 11-year-old County record by clocking 10:07.07 to place fourth in the Penn Relays championship 3,000-meter run, losing only to elite runners from Maryland, Ohio and Virginia. Erin’s time held up as the County record for 10 years, till 2006. She also won 15 individual League titles; placed in the top 6 seven times at State meets; set County marks in the 1,200-meter run, 3:42.5, which still stands, and the 2000 meters, 6:54.6; and established school records in the indoor 3,000 and two mile, and outdoor 3,200, 3,000, 2,000 and 1,200.
In cross country, Erin was a three-time Section 1 champion, twice in Class B and once in Class C, and a two-time Rockland County titleholder. She led Nanuet to the 1994 Section 1 Class C title and a fourth-place team showing in the State meet. She also was the first Nanuet runner, male or female, to win a major race at Van Cortlandt Park, claiming the Varsity A race title at the Manhattan Invitational. As a junior she finished fifth in the State Class B race and as a senior she annexed her third straight Sectional title, clocking 19:44.5 for 5K at hilly Bowdoin Park, at that time the fourth-fastest by a Rockland girl. That was after missing several weeks earlier in the season with a stress fracture in her right foot. In 1999 she was one of 21 female harriers selected to the Rockland County All-Century Cross Country Team, as chosen by a panel of Rockland coaches and longtime observers.
If you ask Erin, her biggest victory was winning the State title in her first season as a cross country runner (she didn’t run XC as a freshman). But her most meaningful effort was the record performance at the Penn Relays because of the exposure it gave her to “big-time” racing and the implications for her future in the sport. “I really see that as a turning point in my overall running career,” says Erin, who earned a full scholarship to Wake Forest. “I believe that race and that time really opened up more opportunities for me for college recruitment since it was such a strong race at such an important event.”
Who would have thought young Erin Haugh was bound for glory when she was a 6-year-old practicing Irish step dancing with neighborhood kids in her basement, on a stage built by her dad? Actually, she may have been “training” for her running career without realizing it. She and older sister Colette, a track athlete at Albertus, rehearsed every day for about an hour after school, took weekly classes lasting two to three hours, and attended some 20 competitions a year with road trips as far away as California and Canada. Erin started at age 5 or 6 and continued till age 10; that’s a whole lot of reels, jigs and hornpipes to master, and maybe she got some aerobic benefits as a bonus.
Soccer and basketball were Erin’s sports of choice while growing up: “I never thought of running as something I would do,” she says. “My sister had run for Albertus, and being younger I would get dragged to her meets, so I had seen a lot of track meets but didn’t really consider it for myself at the time.” Erin was a benchwarmer in soccer through freshman year and got cut from the basketball team. That’s when Mark Mitchell, then Nanuet’s track coach and Erin’s art teacher, inquired about her interest in track. “He knew there was a Colette Haugh who ran for Albertus and made the connection with me. He was standing right there when I was cut from basketball and asked me to join. That’s how I got started.”
Erin was the leader of a hard-working corps of distance and middle distance girls that included Lauren Tuchband, Sara Villa, Katie Walter, Kelly Russo, Mary Moughty and Megan Skelly. That group achieved a runner-up finish at the 1996 County and 1995 and 1996 Section 1 Class B meets. In those and virtually all other meets that Erin ran, her parents John and Mary Haugh were constant sources of support. “They came to almost every race,” Erin says, “even the small after-school dual meets I would tell them they didn’t need to come to. They were very supportive.” Erin’s coaches included Mitchell, Dave Hanson, Jamie Kempton and Nancy Hogan.
At Wake Forest, Erin competed for four years and ran in the NCAA Div. I cross country championships her junior year. She also earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors for 3,000 meters during indoor track. She now lives in Westwood, Mass., with her husband of nine years, Tim, and daughters Ryan, 6, and Nora, 4. Erin left a 12-year marketing career in December and recently received her Group Exercise Instructor Certification. Besides spending more time with her girls, she teaches a before-school exercise program for local elementary school children and just started Strong Girl Fitness, an after-school functional fitness program, at Westwood’s middle school.
Erin, who is 37, had what might be called her “marathon phase,” during which she completed four marathons, including an excellent 3-hour 24-minute showing at the 2009 New York City Marathon – while four weeks pregnant, no less. Looking for different challenges, she broadened her athletic repertoire and has become a top competitor in Obstacle Course Racing (OCR), of which Spartan and Tough Mudder are the most popular. She finished 12th in her age group in the 2016 OCR World Championships in Toronto and qualified for the event’s pro division in 2017. Erin describes obstacle course racing as “American Ninja Warrior meets running” – 3- to 15-mile trail runs with 25 to 50 obstacles that include rope climbs, monkey bars, cargo net climbs, climbing over walls and other made-up impediments she never had to worry about as a pure runner!
With two young children, Erin needs to be an early riser for her fitness pursuits so she meets with a dedicated community of Crossfit zealots four to five days a week at 5:30 a.m. “The combination of strength movements and intervals are a perfect combo for Obstacle Racing,” she says. Erin still does traditional running – having done it since age 15, it’s a hard habit to break. She belongs to a local running club in Boston and does primarily trail runs these days, hitting the trails right from her front door for 10- to 13-mile trail runs each week.
“[Running] is a part of my DNA,” Erin says. “I have learned so much from it, gotten such joy from it. I think because I was lucky enough to find it at a young age, it’s something I can’t imagine not having now. It has definitely evolved over the years but it’s always remained fun for me and that’s the most important part. In the last several years, I have the bonus of feeling I am setting a good example for my girls about what a healthy lifestyle is and what a woman is capable of athletically.”
Erin’s stellar career for the Golden Knights was highlighted by a New York State individual championship, two State runner-up finishes, three Rockland County records, six Nanuet school records, nine individual Section 1 championships and nine individual Rockland County crowns.
Erin was the first Nanuet girl to win a State cross country championship and one of only three in school history. She captured the State Class C title as a sophomore in the fall of 1994. In spring track she placed second at the 1996 State Class B championships in both the 1,500- and 3,000-meter runs. That same season, she broke an 11-year-old County record by clocking 10:07.07 to place fourth in the Penn Relays championship 3,000-meter run, losing only to elite runners from Maryland, Ohio and Virginia. Erin’s time held up as the County record for 10 years, till 2006. She also won 15 individual League titles; placed in the top 6 seven times at State meets; set County marks in the 1,200-meter run, 3:42.5, which still stands, and the 2000 meters, 6:54.6; and established school records in the indoor 3,000 and two mile, and outdoor 3,200, 3,000, 2,000 and 1,200.
In cross country, Erin was a three-time Section 1 champion, twice in Class B and once in Class C, and a two-time Rockland County titleholder. She led Nanuet to the 1994 Section 1 Class C title and a fourth-place team showing in the State meet. She also was the first Nanuet runner, male or female, to win a major race at Van Cortlandt Park, claiming the Varsity A race title at the Manhattan Invitational. As a junior she finished fifth in the State Class B race and as a senior she annexed her third straight Sectional title, clocking 19:44.5 for 5K at hilly Bowdoin Park, at that time the fourth-fastest by a Rockland girl. That was after missing several weeks earlier in the season with a stress fracture in her right foot. In 1999 she was one of 21 female harriers selected to the Rockland County All-Century Cross Country Team, as chosen by a panel of Rockland coaches and longtime observers.
If you ask Erin, her biggest victory was winning the State title in her first season as a cross country runner (she didn’t run XC as a freshman). But her most meaningful effort was the record performance at the Penn Relays because of the exposure it gave her to “big-time” racing and the implications for her future in the sport. “I really see that as a turning point in my overall running career,” says Erin, who earned a full scholarship to Wake Forest. “I believe that race and that time really opened up more opportunities for me for college recruitment since it was such a strong race at such an important event.”
Who would have thought young Erin Haugh was bound for glory when she was a 6-year-old practicing Irish step dancing with neighborhood kids in her basement, on a stage built by her dad? Actually, she may have been “training” for her running career without realizing it. She and older sister Colette, a track athlete at Albertus, rehearsed every day for about an hour after school, took weekly classes lasting two to three hours, and attended some 20 competitions a year with road trips as far away as California and Canada. Erin started at age 5 or 6 and continued till age 10; that’s a whole lot of reels, jigs and hornpipes to master, and maybe she got some aerobic benefits as a bonus.
Soccer and basketball were Erin’s sports of choice while growing up: “I never thought of running as something I would do,” she says. “My sister had run for Albertus, and being younger I would get dragged to her meets, so I had seen a lot of track meets but didn’t really consider it for myself at the time.” Erin was a benchwarmer in soccer through freshman year and got cut from the basketball team. That’s when Mark Mitchell, then Nanuet’s track coach and Erin’s art teacher, inquired about her interest in track. “He knew there was a Colette Haugh who ran for Albertus and made the connection with me. He was standing right there when I was cut from basketball and asked me to join. That’s how I got started.”
Erin was the leader of a hard-working corps of distance and middle distance girls that included Lauren Tuchband, Sara Villa, Katie Walter, Kelly Russo, Mary Moughty and Megan Skelly. That group achieved a runner-up finish at the 1996 County and 1995 and 1996 Section 1 Class B meets. In those and virtually all other meets that Erin ran, her parents John and Mary Haugh were constant sources of support. “They came to almost every race,” Erin says, “even the small after-school dual meets I would tell them they didn’t need to come to. They were very supportive.” Erin’s coaches included Mitchell, Dave Hanson, Jamie Kempton and Nancy Hogan.
At Wake Forest, Erin competed for four years and ran in the NCAA Div. I cross country championships her junior year. She also earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors for 3,000 meters during indoor track. She now lives in Westwood, Mass., with her husband of nine years, Tim, and daughters Ryan, 6, and Nora, 4. Erin left a 12-year marketing career in December and recently received her Group Exercise Instructor Certification. Besides spending more time with her girls, she teaches a before-school exercise program for local elementary school children and just started Strong Girl Fitness, an after-school functional fitness program, at Westwood’s middle school.
Erin, who is 37, had what might be called her “marathon phase,” during which she completed four marathons, including an excellent 3-hour 24-minute showing at the 2009 New York City Marathon – while four weeks pregnant, no less. Looking for different challenges, she broadened her athletic repertoire and has become a top competitor in Obstacle Course Racing (OCR), of which Spartan and Tough Mudder are the most popular. She finished 12th in her age group in the 2016 OCR World Championships in Toronto and qualified for the event’s pro division in 2017. Erin describes obstacle course racing as “American Ninja Warrior meets running” – 3- to 15-mile trail runs with 25 to 50 obstacles that include rope climbs, monkey bars, cargo net climbs, climbing over walls and other made-up impediments she never had to worry about as a pure runner!
With two young children, Erin needs to be an early riser for her fitness pursuits so she meets with a dedicated community of Crossfit zealots four to five days a week at 5:30 a.m. “The combination of strength movements and intervals are a perfect combo for Obstacle Racing,” she says. Erin still does traditional running – having done it since age 15, it’s a hard habit to break. She belongs to a local running club in Boston and does primarily trail runs these days, hitting the trails right from her front door for 10- to 13-mile trail runs each week.
“[Running] is a part of my DNA,” Erin says. “I have learned so much from it, gotten such joy from it. I think because I was lucky enough to find it at a young age, it’s something I can’t imagine not having now. It has definitely evolved over the years but it’s always remained fun for me and that’s the most important part. In the last several years, I have the bonus of feeling I am setting a good example for my girls about what a healthy lifestyle is and what a woman is capable of athletically.”