NEW CARLISLE – The Warsaw boys and girls cross country teams are headed back to the State Finals.

Both teams earned berths with top five finishes Saturday in the New Prairie Semistate.

The No. 6 Warsaw boys team, coached by Jim Mills, earned a second place semi state finish. No. 2 Valparaiso won the team title with a score of 45. The Tigers posted a team score of 60.

The No. 14 Warsaw girls team earned the program’s third trip to State and second in a  row by placing fifth for the final qualifying spot. No. 2 West Lafayette won the girls team title.

WCHS senior Ashley Erba, the defending state champion, broke her own state record Saturday by winning the semi state race in a time of 17:06. Her previous state mark was 17:12 set last Saturday at the Culver Academies Regional.

Erba’s record effort on Saturday only stood for about 90 minutes however. Mishawaka sophomore Anna Rohrer, the only runner to beat Erba in the last two years (doing so at the New Prairie Invitational in September), clocked in a state best time of 17:04 to win the New Haven Semistate at IPFW.

The Warsaw girls team, coached by Scott Erba, placed 11th at State in 2011. The boys squad was 15th at State a year ago.

This year’s State Finals are next Saturday (Oct. 27) at the Wabash Valley Sports Center in Terre Haute. The girls race begins at 1 p.m. with the boys race at 1:45.

A more detailed story on the Tiger cross country team’s performances today in New Carlisle will be posted later tonight.