WAMEGO -- She ran healthy. That meant she ran happy. 

And ran fast. 

Hayley Trotter served notice Saturday that she can be a distance force. 

Served notice more victories and titles will come. 

Saturday, she easily handled the Class 4A field at the Kansas State Cross Country Championships at the Wamego Country Club.  Trotter, a junior from Clearwater High School, covered the 3.1-mile course in 19 minutes, 26.6, for her first individual state title. 

She was an easy winner over the two-punch of Hanna Keltner and Sydney Owens, who sparked Eudora to the team championship by eight points over powerhouse Baldwin, winners of three of the previous four state crowns. 

That time was nearly a 40-second cut from her first race this season on the challenging hills of Wamego as she completed her season perfect against 4A competition. Her lone two runner-up placings came against Class 3A state champion, Southeast of Saline senior Jentrie Alderson. 

"I came in confident, that's all you can really ask for," she said matter of factly. "The plan was to get out quick, make those first two miles strong and then just try to hang on. 

"After the first mile, I put a surge on and I was confident and left no doubts." 

After finishing third at state a year ago behind Kansas prep all-time great Taylor Briggs, now at Iowa State, and the aforementioned Owens, Trotter told herself right then and there that she was in it to win it this season. 

"I knew Briggs would be gone and I told myself I was going to put in the work necessary to win this meet," she said. "It was just eating a lot better and getting into the weight room, getting stronger. I kind of figured out that a stronger runner is a better runner." 

Breathless from all the post-race excitement, Keltner had to gather herself for a moment to discuss her team's eight-point victory over Baldwin as well as her personal finish, a tidy 20:04, a far cry from the freshman's personal best of 19:09, but just enough to edge friend and sophomore teammate Owens by four seconds. 

"I just tried to keep myself under control, I didn't want to let my nerves get the best of me," she said. "I tried to give 100%. I knew it wasn't going to be an easy race." 

Pacing Baldwin were Diana Messick, fourth in 20:20.1, and Riley Smith, eighth in 20:30.1.

Keltner was a known talent coming in from the middle school distance ranks, but she didn't see it that way. She was ready to run middle of the pack and hopefully score some points here and there. 

"This season was not what I expected at all," she said. "I didn't think I could do this well. I didn't think our team would do this amazing. All the girls have such unique skills and they bring them to the table. We work so well together." 

Over the extent of their 4A race, senior Tanner Lindahl and his Buhler teammates reached their season-long goal of a state championship four-peat. 

"That's what we hoped to do and it all worked out," said Lindahl a state champion as a freshman in 2018. "It's kinda crazy going into my freshman year knowing we hadn't even qualified for state in five-plus years and to win state four years in a row. And there was a lot of change in those four years." 

Buhler had 51 points, 16 fewer than Wamego, which was led by Noah Morenz's seventh-place showing. 

Lindahl's time of 16:05.9 left him behind only champion Sawyer Schmidt of Augusta, who won in 15:54.5, and ahead of defending state champion and longtime rival Tanner Newkirk of Topeka Hayden, who struggled late to finish in 16:24.3.

"I kind of had a cold this week so I was a little nervous. I was like, 'I'm just going to run my own race and go out in about 5:05' and I was about 5:05," Lindahl said. "If the rest go out fast, then they can do that and I kind of let them go. 

"I'll be honest, I was nervous when they were like 15 or 20 seconds in front of me. I figured if they're going to come back to me, they come back to me and if they're not, they're not. There's nothing I can do." 

He just kept pushing ahead and noticed Newkirk beginning to falter with about 800 meters remaining, "so I decided I'm going to kick it into gear and go get him. And I got him." 

There was no getting Schmidt, however. Augusta's senior standout looked strong throughout as he and Newkirk broke away early and battled much of the way. 

"I wanted to go out with (Newkirk) and stick with him," Schmidt explained." I wanted to take the hills fast on the way down and let him work up the hills and hopefully change the paces and it ended up working. My strategy worked out very well, I was lucky in that aspect." 

Schmidt had placed behind both Newkirk and Lindahl in two earlier meetings this season.

"I'm happy to win, I really was not expecting it," he said. "I was just planning to compete as hard as I could."