Wetta, the Chieftains’ lone qualifier for the Class 4A state meet, finished 56th individually with a time of 16 minutes, 56 seconds on Saturday at Wamego Country Club.

“I was kind of disappointed at the end because I could feel that I didn’t run my best race, but I was good with top-60,” said Wetta, who ran the third-fastest girls time in school history at regionals on Oct. 20.

Wetta ran into some unexpected contact at the beginning of the race. Runners collided with each other as they jockeyed for rank in the first 100 yards, which ultimately led to a poor start for the THS rookie.

“I got stuck right in the middle, so everybody was shoving me around, trying to get up front,” she said. “I didn’t really get a chance to get up there, but it evened out pretty well once I got about halfway through the race.”

After the initial pileup, Wetta battled through what she called a “crazy amount” of hills. She closed out the race in favorable fashion, though, finishing in less than 17 minutes for the sixth time this season.

“I thought she did a great job,” coach Phil Williams said. “The first time you go out there, it’s always a little tough to perform well since you’re a little intimidated, but she ran extremely well to get under 17.”

Wetta said she’ll take a few weeks off from running, but likely will continue to run at least three times a week throughout the offseason. She’ll look to lead a team that will return six of its top seven runners in 2013.