Daily Pilot High School Female Athlete of the Week: Shayla swimming swiftly for Fountain Valley

Shayla Erickson said she does well in small groups, and the Fountain Valley High senior counts the Barons girls’ swimming team as one of those.

Erickson has enjoyed her four years on varsity. During this time, Fountain Valley has emerged into relevance, as Erickson helped the team win its first Sunset League title in 20 years as a junior and finish fifth at the CIF Southern Section Division 1 championships.

Erickson stepped up in the league finals at Golden West College last May. She became a league champion in both of her events, the 200- and 500-yard freestyle, for the first time. These were the only individual event wins for the Barons, yet they won league over rivals Edison and Los Alamitos.

Even in the pandemonium following the meet, Erickson had a mature response when asked how the Barons did it.

“It’s always nice to get first in those races, but it comes down to the relays, the people who in prelims got eighth instead of ninth, or 16th instead of 17th,” she said at the time. “It’s about the ones who really push themselves to maybe beat the person next to them.”

Last weekend, the University of Houston signee had another big meet. The Barons finished third as a team at a rainy Capistrano Valley Relays, and Erickson helped Fountain Valley register top-five finishes in all three of her relays, the 400 freestyle, 200 butterfly and 200 medley.

This time, Erickson’s remarks after the meet started with how she was proud of sophomore teammate Katelyn Dang, who swam a quick leadoff leg in the 400 free relay.

Dang is in a different year in school. She also swims for a different club, Aquazot Swim Club, than Erickson, who swims for Irvine Novaquatics. But for this season, Dang is part of Erickson’s small group.

Erickson, who finished sixth in the 200 free and tied for third in the 500 free at CIF finals, expects the team to again do big things in 2018. The Barons boast other senior standouts like captain Abbie Nelson, Alex Brooks and Cassie Koger, as well as junior Hannah Farrow. Nelson is committed to Northern Arizona University.

Erickson said Fountain Valley’s biggest competition in league should be Los Alamitos. The Barons, led by first-year head coach Christine Locke, swim at Los Alamitos in their first league dual meet on Tuesday.

“If something happens and we don’t win on Tuesday, then we’ve got all of league to figure it out,” Erickson said. “But if we do win, it’s nice to get that out of the way and enjoy the rest of the season. I think we’re all just excited to get league started back up.”

Expect Erickson to be ready. She swims long distances, like the 1,000-yard race and the mile, at club meets. Last year, just days after her high school season concluded, she finished fourth in the USA Swimming Junior Nationals Open Water 5K race at Castaic Lake.

“It’s a lot of endurance, it’s a lot of training, but I also enjoy it,” Erickson said. “I think you get more for your money when you do it.”

Locke said it’s tough not having a club swimmer like Erickson — who typically has eight club practices a week — around more often, but she appreciates Erickson’s leadership.

“She tries to help out the team in any way that she can,” Locke said. “That’s awesome, that we have so many different leaders here. Shayla and a lot of our other swimmers definitely care and inspire … I think being around some of these girls who are just ready to compete and have that drive, that really helps [our underclassmen] with their mindset too.”

Erickson, who is already a school record holder in the 200 medley relay with teammates Carly Perri, Farrow and Kennedy Hood, is also close in her individual events. Her best 200 free time of 1:49.17 is third, not far off Perri’s record of 1:48.57. Erickson’s 500 time of 4:50.32 is second only to Debbie Babashoff, who swam a 4:48.38 in 1988.

Erickson may get those school records, and she may not.

More than anything, she’s excited for one last season with this particular small group.

“Edison has been winning for a long time,” Erickson said. “If it wasn’t Edison, it was always Los Al. It’s just exciting. It makes you kind of take a step back and say, ‘Wow, this is something I’m a part of.’”

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Shayla Erickson

Born: Oct. 1, 2000

Hometown: Fountain Valley

Height: 5 feet 7

Sport: Swimming

Year: Senior

Coach: Christine Locke

Favorite food: Pizza

Favorite movie: “Anastasia”

Favorite athletic moment: Winning the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events last year at the Sunset League finals to help Fountain Valley capture its first league title since 1997.

Week in review: Erickson helped Fountain Valley’s girls finish third at the Capistrano Valley Relays on March 10. She was part of relay teams that finished second in the 400-yard freestyle, third in the 200 butterfly and fourth in the 200 medley.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo