NEW CARLISLE – Five was a good number Saturday for Warsaw’s girls cross country team. Competing in the New Prairie Semistate, the Lady Tigers’ five scoring runners led them to a fifth-place finish and a fifth-straight state finals berth. The top six teams, as well as the top 10 individuals not on an advancing team, qualify for Saturday’s state finals in Terre Haute. Lake Central won the team title with 55 points, while West Lafayette finished second with 114 points, despite having the top two individual finishers among the 178 female competitors. Valparaiso finished third with 126 points, while LaPorte (142), Warsaw (184) and Portage (194) finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, among the 20 teams. Manchester finished 15th with 385 points. Junior Anna Craig led the Lady Tigers with a 22nd-place time of 19:41, three seconds and four spots ahead of classmate Allison Miller. Other scoring runners for Warsaw included sophomore Mia Beckham (34th, 19:57), and seniors Emma Hayward (39th, 20:04) and Claire Kehler (63rd, 20:48). Seniors Brooke Rhodes (20:50) and Hannah Dawson (21:21) rounded out Warsaw’s lineup, finishing 67th and 85, respectively. Juniors Rae Bedke (20:33) and Clara Burdette (20:37) led Manchester by finishing 52nd and 55th. Other Manchester runners included freshmen Sarah Rohr (86th, 21:25) and Jaelyn Webb (90th, 21:36), junior Tahnee Fuentes (102nd, 21:54) and senior Natasha Niccum (126th, 23:04). Competing as an individual, Triton sophomore Baylee McIntire finished 95th in a time of 21:04. In the boys 5K event, Warsaw finished seventh as a team with 234 points, missing the state finals by one spot in the standings. Warsaw freshman Zeb Hernandez (16:26) and senior Owen Glogovsky (16;27) advanced to state as individuals after finishing 17th and 18th, respectively. Other runners for the Tigers included sophomores Lucas Howett (61st, 17:06), Xavi Ramirez (65th, 17:11) and Nathaniel Gottschalk (73rd, 17:23), senior Jon Beres (79th, 17:30) and junior T.J. Day (115th, 18:25). Competing as individuals, Manchester sophomore Thomas Rohr (17:08) and Tippecanoe Valley senior Jesse Floor (17:41) finished 80th and 116th, respectively. Boys teams advancing to state included semistate champion West Lafayette (77), Lake Central (96), Crown Point (116), Lowell (120), LaPorte (139) and Valparaiso (192).
