Mitch Johnstone is another guy who competes for a highly respected program in Mankato-Loyola. Johnstone had an excellent Cross Country season last fall, running his PR of 16:33 at the State course to finish 17th. Just like Emmet Anderson, Johnstone is another guy improves as the distance increases, as shown by his PR's of 4:55, 10:09, and then 16:33, which is great news when it comes to XC season. Johnstone will be the leader of a Mankato Loyola team that is returning from a remarkable season in 2017, going undefeated as a team until taking third place in the State Meet, so just as much as he would love getting near the top of the podium individually, he would love getting his team back there too.
2017 XC Results
| TIME | MEET | DATE | PLACE |
| 16:33.40 | MSHSL State Cross Country Championships | 11/04/17 | 17th |
| 16:39.83 | MSHSL Section 2A Championships | 10/26/17 | 2nd |
| 17:20.20 | Gopher Valley Conference Championships | 10/17/17 | 1st |
| 16:46.86 | Madelia Invite | 10/12/17 | 1st |
| 16:56.00 | Sleepy Eye Invitational | 10/05/17 | 1st |
| 17:28.17 | Milaca Mega Meet | 09/23/17 | 9th |
| 17:29.00 | NRHEG Invite | 09/19/17 | 3rd |
| 17:15.57 | Loyola/Cleveland Crusader Invitational | 09/15/17 | 2nd |
| 17:28.31 | Norwood-Young America Lions Invitational | 09/12/17 | 12th |
| 16:52.30 | Tri-City United Gerry Smith Invitational | 09/07/17 | 3rd |
| 17:02.61 | Loyola/Cleveland Invitational | 08/31/17 | 2nd |