Needless to say, a few things have changed since 1990 — the year the Tonganoxie High girls won their last regional cross country title. For more than two decades, it stood as the girls’ only title in program history. That is, until last weekend.

THS ended a 24-year drought Saturday, using six top-20 finishes to blow away the competition in its Class 4A regional at Wyandotte County Park. The Chieftains finished with a team score of 58, beating out runners-up De Soto and Atchison by a whopping 29 points.

“We keyed off where we thought we had to be,” Tollefson said. “I told the girls I needed the ones running in the high 17 (minute range), I needed about 20 seconds off their times. They gave me 40 seconds off their times.

“I don’t think they really recognized how strong of a race they ran until other people started to talk to them. Putting six in the top 20, that’s a pretty big feat.”

After a fourth-place showing at the Kaw Valley League meet Oct. 16 at the same venue, THS faced a regional field that included perennial powers De Soto, Atchison and Wamego, as well as a Basehor-Linwood squad that edged the Chieftains at the league race. Coaches and runners alike agreed there was a sense of confidence that they’d earn their first team state bid since 2006, but winning a regional title in the process came as a surprise, even to the team’s most veteran members.

“We were really shocked and really excited because we’ve gotten fourth for the past two or three years now,” said senior Emily Williams, who ran on varsity squads who fell one spot short of a team bid in 2012 and 2013. “We were kind of expecting to go to state, but the fact that we beat De Soto and Atchison, they have really good runners, so that was completely unexpected.”

Freshman Emma Campbell once again led the way, placing sixth individually with a time of 16 minutes, 29.75 seconds. She was the team’s only top-10 finisher, but Isabella Behm (12th), Mia Bond (14th), Emily Chambers (15th) and Alyssa Scott (16th) weren’t far behind. Williams rounded out the top 20, and Sophia Wetta (40th) closed out the team’s day.

The girls’ last trip to state resulted in an eighth-place finish. The team’s best-ever state showing came in 1980 when it took fourth in its state debut.

The Chieftain boys missed a team bid by just four points, but three runners qualified for state individually. Ethan Phillips, the team’s leading runner for the last several weeks, came in eighth with a time of 17:46.97. Other state qualifiers were Drew Cook (12th) and Dylan Staatz (14th).

Staatz earned the final individual state bid. Senior Brad Andrews missed a state berth by just three spots, while Chandler Hamman (27th) and fellow seniors Garrett French (39th) and Justin Patrick (44th) also saw their seasons come to an end.

“I was obviously disappointed that Brad, Garrett and Justin don’t get to run one more race, but it’s good that I get two other teammates to run and practice with,” Phillips said. “It makes me feel a lot more comfortable.”

Phillips, Cook and Staatz will be the first THS boys to run at state since the Chieftains’ earned their last team bid in 2011.

De Soto won the team title with 50 points, followed by Wamego (60) and Topeka-Hayden (69). Tollefson said the team standings were decided by some key moves in the race’s final 200 meters.

Complete results are available in the scoreboard section and at tonganoxiemirror.com. The girls team and boys trio will represent their school Saturday at the 4A state meet at Wamego Country Club. The boys race is set for 10 a.m. and the girls race will be at 11:30 a.m.

“We’ve had a nice routine that we’ve stuck to,” Tollefson said of how the team will prepare for state. “I’m just going to stick to that. I think the routine is going to be more calming than something out of the ordinary.”

Girls team scores

1. Tonganoxie, 58; 2. De Soto, 87; 3. Atchison, 87; 4. Basehor-Linwood, 88; 5. Wamego, 109; 6. Bishop Miege, 126; 7. Topeka-Hayden, 204; 8. Piper, 204; 9. Royal Valley, 231; 10. Jeff West, 252; 11. Holton, 325; 12. Bonner Springs, 334.

THS girls results

Emma Campbell, sixth, 16:29.75; Isabella Behm, 12th, 17:02.22; Mia Bond, 14th, 17:07.31; Emily Chambers, 15th, 17:09.38; Alyssa Scott, 16th, 17:10.17; Emily Williams, 20th, 17:25.08; Sophia Wetta, 40th, 18:20.16.

Boys team scores

1. De Soto, 50; 2. Wamego, 60; 3. Topeka-Hayden, 69; 4. Tonganoxie, 73; 5. Basehor-Linwood, 139; 6. Bonner Springs, 198; 7. Royal Valley, 229; 8. Bishop Miege, 234; 9. Atchison, 260; 10. Holton, 262; 11. Jeff West, 280; 12. Perry-Lecompton, 297.

THS boys results

Ethan Phillips, eighth, 17:46.97; Drew Cook, 12th, 18:19.36; Dylan Staatz, 14th, 18:29.51; Brad Andrews, 17th, 18:41.56; Chandler Hamman, 27th, 19:13.98; Garrett French, 39th, 19:53.58; Justin Patrick, 44th, 20:05.41.