Aug. 23—MITCHELL — With the start of the fall season approaching, the Mitchell High School cross country team is preparing to take the course with a few returning runners and young core looking to leave a mark in 2026.
The Kernels graduated eight varsity long-distance runners from last year's team, five coming from the boys side and three on the girls side, meaning the Kernels are thin on upperclassmen this season.
Coming into this year, MHS will have no senior boys and only two senior girls with Londyn Schroeder and Averi Gerfen coming back for their final cross country seasons. For Schroeder, however, her season will be shortened after suffering an ACL injury from basketball season in the winter. MHS head coach Katie Buschbach is hopeful she will return to competition midway through the year.
With a few key upperclassmen on the girls side, rising leaders on the boys side and a mix of up-and-coming underclassmen, Mitchell is entering the new year with a sense of reset under Buschbach.
"We had a huge group of runners graduate last year, so this year is going to be kind of a little bit of a rebuilding year and really for the next couple years." Buschbach said. "We have a really young group, but this team is looking to fill some roles this season. I have really been pleased with everyone's efforts in practice so far."
The boys team is led by returner Micah Bennett, who is only going into his freshman year, but Buschbach believes he is poised to have a solid season as the lead runner on the boys side. Bennett's top finish came in the Platte-Geddes Invite a season ago, where he placed 11th with a time of 18:52.1. Bennett also competed in the state meet last year to give him confidence and some experience heading into his freshman campaign.
"Micah should be really helping us point wise and just really being one of our top runners," Buschbach said. "We recently did a timed mile and he was ahead of everybody. He has been really focusing on running and he wants it bad. He wants to fill Hunter Patton's shoes, and then do even better. And that's the goal."
Karsten Herges is a rising sophomore on the boys side that has gone to the state meet since he was a seventh grader, and Will Mullenmeister, Kaiden Colomb, Blake Russell and Carter Buschbach will aim to help boost the team as a youthful group.
On the girls side, Schroeder and Gerfen are set to lead the group this fall. Schroeder was the Kernels best performer last season as a junior and finished with a team-high state time of 19:56.3 to take 42nd, while Gerfen, Kapri Herges, Skylar Lawson and Sydnie Pischel each competed in the state meet a season ago.
Although Schroeder is expected to miss some competitions this season, she had two first-place finishes in her 2025 campaign, placing first in the Mitchell Invitational and first in the Platte-Geddes Invite.
"Londyn should be back midway through, but we will have to take that day-by-day for her. As for Averi, she has gone to state the last couple of years and will be a solid top runner for us," Buschbach said. "She is also one of the leaders of the team and has really stepped up since Londyn's injury, which is great to see."
With the first week of practice in the books, Buschbach said the beginning of the season will be about focusing as a team and enjoying time with one another.
"Really all of these kids that are here have been coming since July," Buschbach said. "We were doing open runs in July, and that's a testament to the work they have been putting in to get better as a team. They all just work together and have fun, and that's all I can ask for as a coach."
The Kernels first competition of the season will be the annual Mitchell Invite on Thursday, Aug. 27, at Wild Oak Country Club.
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