Last season: BOYS — qualified for 4A State Tournament, finished 11th, GIRLS — third at 4A District Tournament 

Coaches: Lyndsay Hart (Head coach), Levi Bonnell (Assistant coach) 

Key returners: Kylie Calderone, jr.; Abigail Huggins, jr.; Brock Tuma, jr. 

Key newcomers: Kinzie Bradley, so.; James Wold, fr.; Helaman Romero, fr. 

Outlook: Both the Bonners Ferry boys and girls cross country teams enter 2026 with zero seniors and collectively have five juniors. 

That's a young group, and head coach Lyndsay Hart knows that this year will be more about building and progressing her team as runners. Thankfully, she said the young athletes are bringing the energy necessary to begin putting a winning team together early.

“Those younger kids bring a great energy to the team, too,” Hart said. “So far, they're all running really well.” 

While the youthful Badgers are progressing, they’ll be led all year by Kylie Calderone. The junior runner qualified for the 4A State Tournament individually in 2025 and led the team at their first meet, the Post Falls River Run, placing 12th in the two-mile competition with a final time of 14:07.  

Calderone is set to lead a packed Bonners Ferry girls team alongside Abigail Huggins, another junior. The Badgers have 10 runners on their girls team, and Hart said she has a good feeling that the team will be able to create a block that will be hard for opposing teams to navigate on the course. 

On the boys’ side, Bonners Ferry will depend on the lone returner from the state tournament team, junior Brock Tuma, to lead them. Hart said she’s excited to see what freshman James Wold and Helaman Romero are able to do in their first year with the team. 

As of publication, the Badgers only have three boys on the team, which is not enough to form a team that can go to state. Though the boys could qualify individually, Hart said she’s still actively recruiting more Badgers to join the team and give them a chance at state as a team. 

Though the team is looking to build on whatever the results of this year may be, Hart said she’s also trying to instill a love of running in the Badgers. Hart said the uniqueness of cross country makes it a lifelong sport that she would like for the students to continue past graduation. 

Coach’s comments: 

Hart on what she’s looking forward to in 2026: “Taking the kids that I have and helping them just to get stronger and faster, and that's the fun thing about cross-country. Even when you don't have a full team, you still get to compete, and race other kids and race yourself and improve times and overall performance.” 

Hart on Calderone: “She had a great year last year and a really strong track season this spring and actually qualified for nationals for track. And had a little trip to Los Angeles, which was really cool for her. She's kind of coming back as our top girl.” 

Hart on improving the team’s sportsmanship: “We like to say that it’s that suffering together really kind of brings people together. So just [building] some cohesiveness in the team this year, but [also] just supporting one another and the other runners that they're competing against.” 

Hart on the team’s most anticipated meet: “We are going to go to the Nike Bob Firman Invitational, earlier in the season on that course, so we get to see it before we go and run districts. It's a really, really big meet, and I think that that'll be fun for them to be on a bigger stage like that and get to run in a really competitive field.” 

Schedule: 

8/22 @ Post Falls Run 

8/28 @ Libby Cross Country Meet 

9/12 @ Timberlake Invitational 

9/19 @ CAN-AM Invitational  

9/22 @ Bonners Ferry Invite 

9/25 @ Nike Bob Firman Invitational 

10/1 @ Ben Castro Invite 

10/22 4A District 1 Championship