A former Ilwaco standout is enjoying the next phase of her athletic career as a college basketball player.

After sitting out her freshman year while recovering from a serious leg injury, Erika Glenn has become a key contributor at Western Oregon University.

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To follow Western Oregon University sports, check online at wouwolves.com/sports/womens-basketball

On the Monmouth, Ore., campus, she is studying exercise science, human biology and public health with a view to eventually joining an accelerated nursing program.

“I love the school — as well as getting to play basketball,” she said. The campus is set in a community of about 11,000, with bigger-city amenities handy in nearby Salem and Corvallis. “I am used to that small-town vibe,” she said.

As a member of the 10-person Wolves roster, she travels around the region playing Division II basketball in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).

That means road trips to Olympia and Seattle, plus flights to California and elsewhere. Teams from Alaska and Western Canada are on the schedule.

Results have been mixed. “It is a really tough conference, and our coaches say that on any given night any team can win,” Glenn said. “We are really young and doing well, trying to figure out our identity.”

Student leader

The 19-year-old was a straight-A student at Ilwaco, earning academic honors and excelling at sports, including soccer and cross country where she achieved high recognition. In track, she won state medals in all four of her events.

Long-time Lady Fisherman head coach Ned Bittner has described her as one of the best basketball players he has ever coached. He traveled to St. Martin’s University in Olympia recently to cheer for her season-opening win against a California team.

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’It’s a chance for me to get better.”

Erika Glenn

College basketball player

He was not alone in praising her talents when she signed for Western. In her latter teenage years, Glenn also played on an elite Northwest travel team called Hoopstars. The coach, Field Kline, predicted she would bring “her rottweiler-like playing style and leadership” to WOU.

Strong academics

Her achievements appear in IHS record books. She scored 58 points in her last home game, a single-game record. Until Glenn reached IHS, the record, set in 1999, was 43.

But her final high school game, a losing district playoff effort, made the wrong kind of headlines. Although she notched her remarkable 1,759th career point, she was carried off the court with a serious knee injury.

She graduated in 2021 after she and her classmates had the latter stages of their schooling disrupted by the covid pandemic. “We have always found ways to make the best out of a bad situation,” she said in her upbeat graduation speech.

Her injury meant no immediate basketball action as she enrolled at WOU, taking “redshirt” status. Glenn said she was impressed at her university’s commitment to student-athletes. They have access to trainers and strength coaches; academic professors are accommodating about travel. “We still want to get good grades,” she said.

‘It wasn’t going to be easy’

Glenn no longer plays wearing a knee brace. One enthusiastic game report posted on the university’s web site described how WOU was behind until a 3-pointer by Glenn “ignited a run for the Wolves.”

“It is what I expected,” Glenn said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. It’s more competitive basketball — and it’s a chance for me to get better!”