Sports

The Benson-KMS boys cross-country team placed second at the Paynesville Invitational last Tuesday night.  Melrose won the team title with 43 points, while Benson-KMS was second in the 10-team field with 65 points.

Leading the way for the Fighting Braves was JayEven McGee, who was third overall.

In the results that follow is also a recap of the Milaca “Mega Meet” Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 22.  The Benson-KMS were 12th of 26 teams and the girls were 20th of 24 teams.

Only two regular-season meets remain for the Benson-KMS cross-country teams, including the Montevideo Invitational, set for Tuesday (yesterday), and the Benson Invitational, set for Monday, Oct. 8 at the Benson Golf Course....

The Benson-KMS girls tennis team topped Sauk Centre, Thursday, 6-1, to claim second place in the final WCC standings.  The Fighting Braves also competed at the Litchfield Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 22, but the conference tournament, Saturday at Alexandria was canceled due to weather.

That means Benson-KMS finished the regular-season with a 13-3 overall record and 7-1 mark within the WCC after going 10-7 last season.

The Fighting Braves also earned the third seed in the Section 6A Girls Tennis Tournament and were set to host Yellow Medicine East in the first round, Thursday (tomorrow) in Benson.  

The winner advances to the Section 6A “Final Four”, set for Tuesday, Oct. 9.  The Section Individual Tourney is set for Oct. 10 and 16.  Minnewaska Area and Osakis earned the top two seeds...

The Benson football team ran into the state’s top-ranked Class AA football team, Friday night, and the result was a 78-8 thumping at the hands of the BOLD Warriors in a game played at Olivia.

BOLD, which improved to 5-0 overall, didn’t score its first touchdown until 4:47 had elapsed in the game, but the Warriors went on to score 62 points over the final 19:13 of the first half to go into halftime with a 62-0 lead and then scored the first touchdown of the second half to build its lead to 70-0.

Hurting the Braves were seven total turnovers (three fumbles and four interceptions).  Benson had just one turnover (interception) over the first three games, but has 10 turnovers (three fumbles and seven interceptions) in the last two games combined.

The Saints scored 22 points in the second half to turn a 6-6 halftime tie into a 28-14 victory at Upsala-Swanville Area, Friday night.

KMS, which improved to 1-1 in the sub-district and 2-1 overall, dominated the game with 461 yards of offense, including 303 yards rushing on 34 carries by Dylan Rudningen, who now has 712 yards rushing through three games with nine touchdowns.

The Saints are set to celebrate Homecoming week this week with a home game against Kimball Area, Friday in Murdock....

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Pictured: Christian Diederich kicks the extra-point for the Saints as Weston Gjerde (7) does the holding.

The Benson volleyball team kept busy last week, playing six matches over five days.  The Braves opened up the week with a 3-0 loss to Sauk Centre, last Tuesday night at home.  Benson also fell in three games at home to BOLD, Thursday, before the Braves went 1-2-1 at the Minnewaska Area Tourney, Saturday, to place fifth.

The Braves, now 2-7-1 overall, were set to go on the road for two weeks.  Benson was set to play at ACGC, Tuesday (yesterday), at Montevideo, Thursday (tomorrow), and at the Lakeview Tournament, Saturday....

For more on this story, and to keep up on all the latest in area sports, subscribe to the Swift County Monitor-News print edition or our PDF internet edition. Call 320-843-4111 and you can get all the local news and sports delivered to you!

Pictured: Abbie Mitteness goes low to return a shot against Sauk Centre as Matilyn Short (left) and Beth Cain look on.  The Braves lost in three games.

For the second week in a row the Benson football team gave up eight touchdowns.  This time, however, the Braves came through with just one of their own, resulting in a 56-8 loss to Osakis during a battle between sub-district teams in Benson, Friday night.

Jacob Backes, of Osakis, also became the second runningback in a row to rush for four touchdowns.  Backes had 194 yards rushing on only eight carries, scoring on TD runs of 49, 7, 43, and 55 yards.

“We started out with a nice drive to open the game and were able to move the football through the air with short passes, but were unable to get across the goalline in the first quarter,” Benson head coach Scott Gonnerman said.  “Will Enderson did a nice job of reading the defense and making some quick throws to different wide receivers.  Jared Knutson, Matt Tolifson, and Matt Goossen all had early catches in the game for us.  Osakis did a great job in the second half.”

The Benson-KMS cross-country teams opened up the season last Tuesday at the Morris Area-CA Invitational at the Pomme de Terre Golf Course.  The Benson-KMS boys team finished fourth of 10 teams, while the girls team was ninth of nine teams.

The meet had been scheduled for Monday, but was pushed back a day due to rain.

Leading the way for the girls team was junior Allie Mitteness, who was 15th overall, while leading the way for the boys team was Brady Ascheman, who was 16th.
Back for her second year as the head coach of the Benson-KMS cross-country program is Samantha (Goff) VanHeuveln, a graduate of Benson High School, who was also a state relay gold medal winner in the 3200 meter relay for the BKMS track team.

The Benson-KMS girls tennis team improved to 6-1 overall with a 6-1 victory over MACCRAY in the conference opener last Tuesday in Benson.

Olivia Hoffman and Hannah Andrews led a strong effort in doubles, while Sophia Curriel earned a 6-1, 6-0 win at first singles to give Benson-KMS another three points in the three singles’ matches.

The Fighting Braves, coached by Don Brehmer, were set to play at Morris Area/WCA, Tuesday (yesterday) before getting ready for a match at Minnewaska Area, Monday, Sept. 10 and a match at Montevideo, Tuesday, Sept. 11.

The Lakers are considered the WCC favorites this season, while Montevideo is also among the top teams in the conference.

Through seven matches, Hoffman and Andrews lead their team with perfect 7-0 records, while Gracie Lenz is 6-1, and four others have five victories....

Saints rush for 376 yards and hold Braves to 48 total yards

Dylan Rudningen ran for a 36-yard touchdown on the fifth play of scrimmage for the Saints, giving a glimpse of what was to happen over the next two hours of football during the season opener between KMS and Benson Friday night on Brock Field.  Rudningen went on to gain 220 yards rushing and score four TD’s as KMS won the opener, 26-0.

There was nothing complicated about the win by the Saints.  KMS ran 60 plays from scrimmage and 56 were run, including 24 to Rudningen.  The Saints ended the game with 377 yards of total offense, while Benson, which ran just 28 plays from scrimmage, had 48 net yards.

It was a quick and clean game by both teams as only four penalties were called, there were no interceptions or lost fumbles, and only four passes were completed all game.

The Benson-KMS boys and girls cross-country teams are set to open up the 2018 season Monday, Aug. 27 at the Morris Invitational.
Despite losing four seniors to graduation, the Benson-KMS girls and boys cross-country teams should both have improved seasons this year.

The boys team lost state qualifier Jon Tostenson to graduation, but the team does return six seniors, two juniors, and one sophomore who saw action last year, along with a promising group of ninth-graders.

The girls cross-country team meanwhile, lost three athletes to graduation, but does return a good corps of experienced runners, including junior Allie Mitteness, who led the team in every race last season.

Last year’s cross-country season ended on a high note as Jon Tostenson earned the program’s third-straight cross-country state trip, placing 49th at the State Meet at St. Olaf....