YATESVILLE – Taryn Ashby hesitates and never really comes to an answer when asked to choose a favorite sport.
The four-year, four-sport starter at Pittston Area, however, has grown comfortable with knowing which sport is best for her future.
“I think I realized, probably, going into my junior year,” said Ashby on the day she held a signing ceremony for her partial athletic scholarship to compete in track and field on the NCAA Division I level at Villanova University. “Then, definitely toward the end of my junior year, I knew this was the way I should go.”
Ashby has been in the spotlight in the Pittston Area girls athletic program since the start of her freshman year, playing goalie in soccer and shortstop in softball. In basketball, she scored more than 1,000 career points, received multiple all-star honors and earned a reputation as one of the Wyoming Valley Conference’s toughest defenders.
“I love all the sports that I have played,” said Ashby, who also played baseball as a youth athlete before transitioning to softball for high school. “It’s kind of hard to pick one.”
As she climbed into the top 10 large school javelin throwers in the state, Ashby’s highest-level recruiting interest came in track and field. She let basketball recruiters know she was headed in a different direction and sorted out her options.
Ashby went on official recruiting visits to Villanova, Holy Cross and College of Charleston while keeping in communication with Rice and others.
Villanova made a scholarship offer in December and Ashby informed coaches early this year she would accept.
“My parents have definitely been a big help with going on the visits with me, making the pros and cons of each school,” Taryn said of mother, Tracy, and father, former Major League Baseball pitcher Andy. “They were a big help in keeping me level-headed through the whole experience.”
At Villanova, Ashby plans to study communications with the hope of ultimately landing in the broadcasting field.
Track will help keep her busy in two of the three college athletic seasons. She will be part of the indoor track team in the winter before turning to her specialty in the spring.
“Since you can’t do javelin indoor, they want me to expand my horizons with jumping,” said Ashby, who has added long jump and shot put to her events at Pittston Area. “We’ll see when the season starts.”
Ashby, who was playing in the district semifinals with Pittston Area in softball Friday before competing in her final state track and field meet in the javelin Saturday in Shippensburg, knows her emphasis will soon be on a single sport.
“I have gotten used to the idea,” she said of leaving other sports behind. “Basketball is the one I have played, probably the most, out of all my sports.”
But that’s about to change.
