MENOMONIE – A strong group of Menomonie High School student-athletes will continue both their academic and athletic careers at colleges and universities across the Midwest and beyond beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.

Fifteen graduating seniors have announced plans to compete at the collegiate level in a wide variety of sports. The class includes athletes headed to NCAA Division I, Division II and Division III programs, representing sports ranging from cross country and track and field to baseball, football, softball, soccer and golf.

Distance running and track and field are especially well represented in this year’s class. Lauren McCalla will head west to compete in cross country and track at the University of Washington, while Bennett Schmitt will join the University of Wisconsin track and field and cross country programs. Sara Palmer is slated to continue her running career at Gustavus Adolphus College, Luke Ray will compete in cross country and track at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, and Kyah Barnhart will stay close to home as a member of the UW-Stout cross country and track and field teams.

Callie Travis will continue in track and field at UW-Oshkosh, while Isabel Sorensen is set to join the UW-Eau Claire track and field program.

On the softball diamond, Reese Barfknecht will continue her career at the University of St. Thomas.

Baseball will send several Mustangs to the collegiate ranks. Cade Lamb and Bailey Casey are both headed to Crown College, while Charlie Mikesell will continue his baseball career at UW-River Falls. Luke Bystol will take on a two-sport role at UW-Stout, competing in both baseball and football.

On the gridiron, Max Branch is slated to join the UW-Stout football program.

Keebtxuj Xiong will continue his soccer career at the University of Minnesota Morris, while Tyler Reckin is headed to Viterbo University to compete in golf.

Menomonie Collegians is a regular feature of Menomonie News Net. The column is not limited to student-athletes, but may be a former Menomonie area student in a play, forensics, music or any type of collegiate competition. If you know of a Menomonie Collegian, please email [email protected].

The column “Menomonie Collegians” by Layne Pitt is licensed under a CC BY SA 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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