Freshman Carter Welsh led the way on the first-team with a fifth-place finish and a time of 18 minutes, 18.5 seconds. Junior Elijah Weatherford and senior Chamberlain Albert were honorable mention after taking 18th and 20th, respectively. Weatherford finished with a time of 19:18.8 and Albert a time of 19:28.7.

The Top 7 runners are first-team all-league, runners 8-14 are second team and 15-21 honorable mention.

THS junior Kolton Hoffines placed 30th (21:15.7) and sophomore Joseph Dean 37th. Senior Taylor Maslak placed 40th (23:22.3).

Tonganoxie placed fifth on the boys side with 106 points. Eudora won the team title with 34 points. Louisburg finished second with 56, Bonner Springs third with 61 and Baldwin fourth with 98. Paola was the other league team fielding a full squad. Paola finished sixth with 156. Ottawa did not field a full team.

Tonganoxie sophomore Jude Weiser finished fourth among junior varsity runners with a time of 23:18.7.

On the girls side, junior Brooke Nihart led THS runners in 16th and was honorable mention all-league with a time of 21:52.5. Freshman Bobbi Vaughn placed 21st (22:40.4) and junior Adrianna Trumble 30th (23:29.9). Senior Abby Burkart (23:53.7) placed 33rd, sophomore Elizabeth Howlett (24:31.4) placed 34th and junior Lillian Sanders (25:01.6) 35th. Senior Gabriela Garza (25:49.5) finished 37th.

The girls race took place first Thursday, which meant course conditions were muddier for the boys race.

Tonganoxie placed fifth out of fifth league teams with a score of 126. Baldwin won the meet with 28. Paola placed second with 53, Louisburg third with 57 and Eudora fourth with 87. Paola junior Ella Needham won the individual title with a time of 19:50.9.

THS coach John Tollefson explained his race strategy after the meet.

“For my top guys to run in position,” Tollefson explained. “We knew where we shoulda have been. Carter (Welsh) should have been in the Top 7. Find your way to the Top 7 and don’t worry about your times in this mess.

“We just wanted to run in position and try to beat our seeds.”

For Tonganoxie runners, competing in less-than-ideal conditions has been old hat this year. Some race days have come with sunshine and clear skies, while a few were similar to Thursday.

“This was similar to Rim Rock,” Weatherford said. “Muddy races. It’s been a pretty we year.”

Albert said he opened the race less aggressive based on the conditions and then once he reached into the second and third miles, “you want to be aggressive and start making your move.”

“So I think it helped,” Albert said.

Welsh, who will be making his first postseason appearance for THS as a freshman, discussed his anticipated mindset for substate on Oct. 24 at the Baldwin Golf Course in Baldwin City.

“Just go out there na have fun,” Welsh said. “The is going to be a pretty fast course.”

Both Weatherford and Albert agreed with Albert’s assessment of the course.

For Albert, that means not being too passive or too aggressive as he paces himself at substate.

THS runners also will be hoping the weather will be more agreeable.

Instead of a single regional at each site has has been tradition, the Kansas State High School Activities Association has moved to two substates per site. That means there will be four races total at Baldwin, as well as at Buhler, the other site.

The Tonganoxie girls are in the Baldwin A substate, while the THS boys are in the Baldwin B substate.

Tonganoxie has the No. 10 seed out of 13 teams on the boys side with an average time of 20:34.1. Wamego is the top seed with a 17:34.2 average. Seeding is determined by the average time of each team’s Top 2 meets.
The THS girls are the No. 9 seed out of 11 teams with a 23:51.7 average time. Baldwin is the No. 1 seed with a 21:02.8 average time.

The girls A substate teams are Baldwin, Chanute, Eudora, Coffeyville-Field Kinley, Ottawa, Paoal, Parsons, Santa Fe Trail and Tonganoxie. The girls B substate field is Atchison, Bishop Miege, Fort Scott, Hayden, Independence, Labette County, Louisburg, Rock Creek and Wamego..

The Baldwin B boys substate teams will be Atchison, Baldwin, Bishop Miege, Eudora, Labette County, Ottawa, Parsons, Rock Creek and Tonganoxie.

The Top 3 teams in each substate will advance to state. The Top 15 runners to cross the finish line in each race also advance.