Warsaw’s Allison Miller and Anna Craig motor around the New Prairie Cross Country Semi-state course Saturday, helping the Tigers to a state appearance. (Photos by Tim Creason)

By TIM CREASON

NEW CARLISLE – So, is the glass half-full or half-empty?

On one hand, Warsaw’s girls met their primary goal during Saturday’s semistate cross country meet at New Prairie. The Lady Tigers are headed back to the IHSAA state finals.

On the other, there’s this little matter of expectations. And Warsaw is a long way from meeting those.

“We just looked off today,” said Warsaw girls coach Scott Erba after his No. 5-ranked Tigers finished fifth out of 20 teams on New Prairie High School’s famed 5,000-meter course.

The top six teams at each of four semistates advance to next weekend’s finals at the Wabash Valley Sports Center in Terre Haute.

“We got out where we wanted to be, but we didn’t move up the way I expected as we got through Agony Hill and the two-mile,” said Erba, who was deep in though after the meet. “We just looked … tired.

“Last week (at the regional), we looked really strong that last mile. Today, we were just hanging on,” said Erba. “We had girls collapsing at the finish line and ending up in the medical tent. This wasn’t expected at all. I’m just thankful that our girls are strong enough that we were able to move on.”

Warsaw’s Brooke Rhodes

In a dominating performance, Lake Central won the girls team title with 55 points, placing five runners among the top 20 finishers. West Lafayette was second at 114.

Warsaw – which had been expected to contend for the team title – finished with 184 points. And for a moment, it was questionable whether the Lady Tigers had even advanced. The girls held hands and nervously bowed their heads as the final results were announced.

This is the kind of day it was: Team leader Allison Miller ran a strong race, but struggled coming down the homestretch and collapsed a few meters before the finish line. She crawled into the finish chute.

In the meantime, junior teammate Anna Craig passed Miller and ended up placing 27th overall as the team’s No. 1 finisher. She clocked 19:41.1.

Miller was credited with 31st place in 19:44.5. Mia Beckham, suffering from stomach cramps, was 40th in 19:57.1.

“The last stretch, my legs just started to give out. I couldn’t feel them anymore,” said Miller, who was treated by medical personnel for nearly a half-hour afterwards. “I just collapsed right at the finish. My legs couldn’t go. I honestly have no idea what happened.”

Warsaw’s Allison Miller

Emma Hayward came home 45th, clocking 20:04.5, and Claire Kehler was 78th to close out the Tiger scoring.

“I saw (Allison) go down,” said Beckham. “I wasn’t feeling good either. At that point I just wanted to finish.”

Miller acknowledged that the team is fully aware of the expectations that have been heaped upon them since their tremendous start this season. There’s no question this bunch is talented enough to contend for IHSAA award metals.

To get it, the Lady Tigers must put Saturday’s meet behind them in a hurry.

“I think as a team, our nerves and all the expectations did make a difference,” said Miller. “It seems like, a lot of times, when one runs poorly, we all run poorly. It’s a domino effect.”

So, what is the plan for next week?

“Do better,” said Beckham. “Just do better. We will.”

Triton’s Baylee McIntire concluded her sophomore season with a 96th-place finish of 21:04. McIntire has competed in the semi-state in each of her first two years as a Lady Trojan.

Warsaw begins its journey at semi-state.

Manchester’s team season ended in 15th place, led by RaeCee Bedke’s 52nd-place run of 20:33.

At the New Haven Semi-state at IPFW, Wawasee junior Elizabeth Zorn finished well off the pace, running 21:36 to finish 113rd overall. It was the second semi-state appearance for Zorn, who ran with the Wawasee team in 2013.

“It wasn’t her best race of the year, but she wasn’t afraid to go out and put herself in position,” stated Wawasee head coach Doug Slabaugh. “She gained some good racing experience racing in that field. She reached her goal of running the semi-state this year.”

Alex Buck of Pendleton Heights won the New Haven race with a time of 17:57 and Fort Wayne Carroll repeated as team champions. Penn finished fourth and Northridge fifth to claim state places. Kingsman Lauren Frank was seventh overall at 18:56.

IHSAA CROSS COUNTRY SEMI-STATE
At New Carlisle

TEAM SCORES: Lake Central 55, West Lafayette 114, Valparaiso 126, LaPorte 142, Warsaw 184, Portage 194, Munster 207, Chesterton 245, Crown Point 267, Twin Lakes 270, Hobart 273, Lowell 293, New Prairie 299, Benton Central 361, Manchester 385, Maconaquah 401, Harrison (Lafayette) 440, North Montgomery 455, Northwestern 491, Western 513.

TOP 25 FINISHERS: 1, Lauren Johnson (W Lafayette) 17:58.5. 2, Kristen Johnson (W Lafayette) 18:26.0. 3, Logan Ferngren (Valparaiso) 18:31.8. 4, Hannah Wylie (Crown Pt) 18:51.1. 5, Maggie Gutwein (Twin Lakes) 18:57.0. 6, Sydney Vandersteeg (Lake Central) 19:01.0. 7, Shelby Riehle (LaPorte) 19:03.2. 8, Madeline Lilly (Twin Lakes) 19:05.1. 9, Christina Shaginaw (Hobart) 19:05.3. 10, Gabrielle DeVries (Lake Central) 19:11.6. 11, Jenny Crague (Lake Central) 19:12.0. 12, Sarah Hunsley (Lake Central) 19:13.0. 13, Annalise James (Lowell) 19:14.2. 14, Julia Arnold (Valparaiso) 19:15.4. 15, Trinity Austin (Griffith) 19:17.8. 16, Brisa Bohling (Munster) 19:19.0. 17, Emma Weissbeck (Lake Central) 19:20.8. 18, Kyra Ball (Portage) 19:22.0. 19, Reilly Panozzo (Highland) 19:25.0. 20, Anna DeMars (Crown Pt) 19:26.8. 21, Cara Hasser (Benton Central) 19:27.0. 22, Miah Martin (Lewis Cass) 19:27.2. 23, Isabel Weise (Benton Central) 19:31.1. 24, Cami Hansen (Taylor) 19:32.7. 25, Morgan Fleming (Rensselaer Central) 19:34.2.

WARSAW FINISHERS: 27, Anna Craig 19:41.1 … 31, Allison Miller 19:44.5 … 40, Mia Beckham 19:57.1 … 45, Emma Hayward 20:04.5 … 78, Claire Kehler 20:48.9 … 83, Brooke Rhodes 20:50.6 … 112, Hannah Dawson 21:21.0.

IHSAA CROSS COUNTRY SEMI-STATE
At Fort Wayne

TEAM SCORES : Carroll (FW) 69, Pendleton Heights 85, Homestead 114, Penn 115, Northridge 132, Huntington North 180, DeKalb 202, East Noble 212, Mishawaka 244, Oak Hill 273, Bellmont 313, Concord 326, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 328, New Haven 347, Mishawaka Marian 376, Mt. Vernon (Fortville) 458, Delta 461, Union City 466, South Adams 481, Yorktown 489.

TOP 25 FINISHERS: 1, Alex Buck (Pendleton Heights) 17:57.1. 2, Madison Fruchey (Carroll) 18:17.2. 3, Abigail Green (Carroll) 18:23.5. 4, Tyler Schwartz (DeKalb) 18:40.7. 5, Bailey Beery (Bellmont) 18:43.8. 6, Josey Korte (Angola) 18:48.7. 7, Faith Baer (Pendleton Heights) 18:55.8. 8, Lauren Frank (Penn) 18:56.6. 9, Kayla McCulloch (East Noble) 18:57.7. 10, Kelsey Batt (Homestead) 19:10.1. 11, Kara Kline (East Noble) 19:12.3. 12, Emma Jankowski (Penn) 19:13.5. 13, Hannah Stoffel (Huntington North) 19:14.5. 14, Morgan Blyly (Northridge) 19:14.5. 15, Riley Welch (Fremont) 19:17.0. 16, Lauren Beckmann (DeKalb) 19:19.6. 17, Ellie Jankowski (Penn) 19:25.0. 18, Jessica Duvall (Mishawaka) 19:25.3. 19, Leah Metzger (Carroll) 19:24.4. 20, Margo Hornocker (Oak Hill) 19:30.4. 21, Emma Hall (Pendleton Heights) 19:30.6. 22, Meagan Hathaway (Carroll) 19:32.0. 23, Hannah Yeakey (Bethany Christian) 19:33.3. 24, Mariah King (Northridge) 19:34.5. 25, Grace Walther (Homestead) 19:34.8.

NOTE: Top six teams advance to IHSAA state finals in Terre Haute on Sat., Oct. 31, along with top 10 individuals who are not members of qualifying teams.

Mia Beckham of Warsaw runs with Crown Point’s Anna DeMars and Benton Central’s Isabel Weise.