THS finished fourth at the Class 4A state cross country meet Saturday at Wamego Country Club, tying the program’s best-ever team finish, which it originally recorded in its inaugural state trip in 1980. The race took place seven days after the team won its first regional title since 1990.

The Chieftains didn’t have any finishers in the top 20, but the team’s top five runners finished within 23 spots of each other. Freshman Emma Campbell was the closest to an individual medal, coming in 28th with a time of 16 minutes, 22.2 seconds. Isabella Behm came in just three spots later, followed by Emily Chambers (41st), Alyssa Scott (48th) and Emily Williams (51st).

“We kind of stood out as not having anybody in the top 20, but still finishing as high as we did,” coach John Tollefson said. “The girls had a 46-second spread between the No. 1 and 5, which is pretty impressive. I thought they stepped up pretty well to it. With everybody being so equal, even with a 40-second spread, you can fit a lot of runners in there.”

Sophie Wetta (68th) and Mia Bond (71st) also represented the Chieftains, but did not figure into team scoring. The state appearances were the second for Wetta and Chambers, who qualified individually in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

The top-five team finish was the Chieftains’ fourth in program history and its first since the 1989 team took fifth.

The race marked the final career action for Williams, who ran on teams that missed state bids by just one spot in each of the last two seasons. The Chieftain senior ran her fastest time of the season Saturday, crossing the finish line in 17:08.5 — an improvement of almost 17 seconds from her regional outing.

“I think it’s incredible,” Tollefson said of Williams. “She was very goal-oriented that way all season long. She thought she peaked a little bit early last year, so this year, it was pretty clear that her focus was to just get better every race. She ran her best race of the whole season on Saturday.”

As a team, THS finished with 136 points. Wichita-Trinity Academy easily won the team title with a score of 56, beating out runner-up Paola by 47 points.

The Chieftains had three individuals in the boys race in Ethan Phillips, Drew Cook and Dylan Staatz. Phillips missed an individual medal by just four spots, placing 24th in 17:22.7. Cook (49th) came in next, followed by Staatz (71st). Baldwin handily won the boys team title with 41 points, defeating second-place Clay Center by 67.

Complete results for both races are available here. With all state runners except Williams back next season, Tollefson expects both teams to have even higher standards when the 2015 season kicks off.

“I think it’s going to be hugely important to have those three guys, and with Sophie and Emily Chambers having two years of state experience and seven girls altogether having state experience, it’s certainly going to be less intimidating,” he said. “I think they’re getting an idea of just how good they are.”