Twenty-four hours before she competed against New York’s best in the state track and field competition at Middletown High School, Erin Ball lined up alongside eight elite athletes in an entirely different setting.
In The Osborn’s formal dining room on June 13, the Rye City Lions Club honored the senior long jump and high jump standout as Rye High School’s 2025 scholar athlete of the year.
Ball was one of nine Garnet seniors up for the award. The Lions Club and Rye’s athletic department chose athletes of the month every month from September through May. From that group, Rye High School students voted Ball as the athlete of the year.
“It was definitely super exciting,” Ball said. “I didn’t really expect that. It’s a huge honor, especially being chosen among so many other great athletes.”
Other monthly honorees nominated for the annual award included Kaden Zion (boys soccer), Caroline Doyle (field hockey), Bowyn Brown (girls soccer), Jake Kessner (boys basketball), Drew Dolan (boys hockey), Archer Fenton (boys rugby), Tucker Hess (boys lacrosse), and Mary Sack (girls lacrosse).
Each student-athlete’s respective coach gave remarks about their athletic, academic, and personal success before Rye Lion Tommy Maloney announced Ball as the winner.
“Erin has been a great athlete and leader for our team,” said track and field coach Kevin Murphy. “Her hard work and determination are the main reasons behind her success. She gives 100 percent in practices and sees the result of that in meets.”
Ball’s monthly recognition came in January, during the indoor track and field season, when the senior won league titles in high jump and long jump. She concluded the indoor season competing in nationals, which she calls the highlight of her sports career.
“In track and field, it’s rare you see someone who can do every event and do it successfully,” Murphy said. “It’s really impressive when you do see it. She figured out where her niche was and just worked hard to constantly improve. She has a competitive nature within herself. What’s nice was that every time we’d say, ‘This is what you need to do,’ she’d push and try those things to get better in those events.”
City and county officials at The Osborn read proclamations after Ball was announced as the winner. Her name was shown on the electronic screens outside of Westchester County Center, along with other schools’ athlete of the year selections, and the county officially dubbed June 14 “Erin Ball Day.”
The morning after adding a shiny, new athlete-of-the-year trophy to her collection, Ball woke up — on “Erin Ball Day” — and got back to work. She drove to Middletown and promptly medaled in long jump at the outdoor state championships.
When it comes to track and field, she’s no stranger to picking things up quickly. Two years ago, she hadn’t even competed in the sport.
Ball played volleyball all four years at Rye, but until her junior year, she spent the spring seasons playing for the softball team. One winter, she tried indoor track and field as a way to stay in shape and discovered she had the skills and passion to excel.
“Volleyball was my first love for sports,” she said. “I played it my whole life. When I started track and field, everything just kind of clicked with the jumping. Volleyball helped with that, and it translated very well.”
Well enough that Ball now holds several school records and consecutive trips to state track and field.
“Erin was with us for two years, which was great,” Murphy said. “She took a gamble on herself to see what she could do, and it was the right gamble for her at that point. She long jumped 18’3”, which is fantastic, and in the winter, she broke school records in high jump and long jump too.”
After June’s graduation, Ball will join another former Lions Club monthly honoree, her older sister, Mara, at Virginia Tech. Thanks to Ball’s combination of athletic and academic success, the possibilities are endless — including she says, the option to join the university’s club track and field team.
However far her next leap takes her, Ball says she’ll remember her roots in Rye.
“I love Rye and loved growing up in Rye,” she said. “It’s a great community. Sports is such a big part of it, growing up both watching and playing. I’ll definitely be coming back here.”ons Club monthly honoree, her older sister, Mara, at Virginia Tech.
