MITCHELL — With the start of the fall season approaching, the Mitchell High School cross country team is preparing to take the course with a solid lineup of returning runners and young core in 2025.
The Kernels only graduated two varsity long-distance runners from last year’s team, both coming from the boys side.
Dylan Cortave, Benjamin Gerlach, Ethan Logren, Hunter Patton and Parker Taylor make up the senior boys class, while Lucy Daley, Alicia Rickett and Mya Vogel complete the senior girls class.
With the core group intact and a mix of up-and-coming underclassmen, Mitchell is entering the new year with a sense of confidence under head coach Katie Buschbach.
“My senior group is a group that I have had for a really long time, and it’s going to be a bittersweet year,” Buschbach said. “It’s going to be an amazing year because I have really good kids that are leading them, but it’s going to be really hard to see that many kids go all at once. But I am glad that they’re going to be here to lead this group and give the next group a really good head start.”
Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
The boys team is led by standout returner Patton, who finished in 16th place at the Class AA state meet a season ago with a time of 16 minutes, 43.7 seconds. Patton displayed three top-eight finishes as a junior, placing eighth at the Eastern South Dakota meet (Oct. 12), fifth at the Scotland Invitational (Sept. 9) and third in the Roger Loecker Invite (Oct. 17).
Patton also snapped a 14-year all-state performer drought as a sophomore, qualifying for the 2023 Class AA state meet and finishing in 23rd place with a time of 16 minutes, 24.33 seconds.
Buschbach is eager to see what Patton can do in this year’s competitions as one of the senior leaders.
“He’s figuring out what he needs to do in order to get a better standing in the state meet, but also, just as a runner in general,” Buschbach said. “He’s been training a lot more this summer, which is a good thing to see because in the past he has always relied on just talent and he’s got a lot of it. He’s really learning how to put in the work and combine those two things.”
Courtesy of Gretchen Smith
On the girls side, Daley and junior standout Londyn Schroeder are set to lead the group this fall. Schroeder was the Kernels best performer last season and finished with a team-high state time of 21 minutes as a sophomore.
Schroeder posted two top-seven finishes in her 2024 campaign, placing seventh in the Scotland Invitational (Sept. 9) and sixth in the Clyde Cotton Cross Country Invite (Sept. 21).
Daley qualified for the 2024 Class AA state meet in her junior season, placing 102nd with a time of 23 minutes, 20 seconds.
“Lucy has been with us since her sixth grade year, she is a solid leader and I can always rely on her,” Buschbach said. “She makes it fun. She really gets the younger kids excited about being there, being in cross country, and just running in general. It will be hard to see Lucy and Mya Vogel go at the end of the year.”
With the first official practice in the books on Thursday, Aug. 14, Buschbach said the beginning of the season will be about focusing as a team and having fun with one another before competitions start to heat up.
“They have already put in a lot of work, so now comes the part where we’re going to really start digging our toes into the sand and putting in some harder workouts,” Buschbach said. “It’s going to be about taking care of their bodies, so we can get them through October.”
The Kernels first competition of the season will be the annual Mitchell Invitational on Thursday, Aug. 28, at Wild Oak Golf Course.
Trey Houchin is a sports reporter for the Mitchell Republic. Trey graduated from Northwest Missouri State University in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in sports media and covers a wide variety of topics. A Missouri native, Houchin can be reached at thouchin@mitchellrepublic.com.
