Sports

Celebrate the end of the school year with a potential angler-to-be by fishing for free with a child 15 or younger, June 7-9, during Take-A-Kid Fishing weekend, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said.

“This is a great opportunity to discover fishing,” said Mike Kurre, the DNR’s mentoring program coordinator. “Minnesotans 16 or older who take a child 15 or younger fishing don’t need a license that weekend. Opportunities for beginning anglers abound throughout Minnesota.”

by John Fragodt, Sports Editor

The KMS softball team is headed back to the state tournament for the third-straight year after beating Edgerton-Southwest Minnesota Christian, 3-0, in the Section 3A championship game, Thursday in Marshall.

The Saints improved to 22-0 for the season, giving the team a 70-2 record over the past three years with one third and one fifth-place finish at state the past two years.

KMS earned a berth in  the finals by beating Clinton-GB (12-0), Wheaton-HN (15-1), Wabasso (9-4) and Edgerton-SWC (6-2), earlier in the tourney.

KMS is set to begin state action against the Section 8A winner at 1 p.m., Thursday, June 6 in Mankato.

by John Fragodt, Sports Editor

The Benson-KMS girls track earned a second-place finish at the Section 3A Track and Field meet in Benson last Thursday afternoon.  The girls team, one of the best in the area for at least the last 5-10 years, earned 69 points and qualified five entries to the State Track and Field Meet, set for this Friday and Saturday, June 7-8 at Hamline University.

Luverne, one of BKMS’ main nemesis, won the overall title with 89 points and 4-of-18 event titles while Benson-KMS was second with 69 points, and Lac qui Parle/Dawson-Boyd was third with 60.

Qualifying to state for the Benson-KMS girls were Emma Peterson in the high jump (second place) and 300 meter hurdles (first); Hannah Ricard in the shot put (second); the 1600 meter relay team of Peterson, Sydney Walsh, Bethany Rosemeier, and Emily Tostenson (first); and the 3200 meter relay team of Leah Tessem, Jessica Goff, Tostenson, and Rosemeier.

by John Fragodt, Sports Editor

The Benson-Hancock softball team lost its first two games of the season last week.  The Brave-Owls were shut out by Sauk Centre in the opener, Thursday night in Benson, 12-0, and Benson-Hancock also lost a close game with Montevideo, Friday night in Benson, 6-5.
The Brave-Owls have four more games scheduled this week, beginning with a home game with Atwater-CGC, Monday, and continuing with a game at Minnewaska Area, Thursday (tomorrow), and a doubleheader at BOLD, Friday, May 3.

by John Fragodt, Sports Editor

The Benson-KMS boys and girls track and field teams were set to get the season underway Tuesday, April 2 at the Benson Invitational, but that meet was cancelled a few weeks ago because of poor weather.  The Fighting Braves were then set to get going outside Tuesday, April 9 at the Morris Invitational, or Thursday at the Minnewaska Invitational.  However, the Morris meet has been postponed and the Minnewaska meet has been cancelled.  That means the “newest” opener for the track team is Tuesday, April 16 at the ACGC Invitational followed by the Benson Invitational Thursday, April 18.  

The girls team, coached by Lisa Manska and CeCe Terlouw, won three meets during the 2012 season (Benson Invitational, MACCRAY Invite, and Melrose Invitational), while the boys team, coached by Chad Carroll and Bob Jerdee, won the first meet at Benson.  

The Storm boys hockey team certainly saved its best for last this year.  MBA closed out the 2012-2013 season with a 17-10 overall record and 6-4 mark within the Southwest Conference.

The Storm started off 0-3 and 3-6 before turning the season around with an 11-4 victory over Worthington, Jan. 5, the first day of the new year.

Prior to that, MBA had given up 10 or more goals in four of the first nine games, but only gave up that many one time over the last 18 games.

The Storm had a 14-4 record during the 2013 portion of their schedule, including a 4-2 win over league-champion Luverne.  MBA ended up losing 5-4 to  Marshall one game later, preventing the Storm from contending for the Southwest Conference title.

Abby Fragodt and Emily Auch, both of Benson, were key members of the UM-Morris women’s basketball team, which won its fourth-straight UMAC regular-season title during the 2012-2013 season.

In addition, Fragodt earned three postseason honors as she was named to the 17-member All-Conference team, 5-player UMAC All-Defensive team, and 8-member Sportsmanship Team, one from each team and selected by team members.
Two UM-Morris teammates earned placement on the All-UMAC first team, including UMAC Player of the Year, Emily Mehr, while Fragodt was named to the seven-person honorable mention team.  

Fragodt, a starting junior forward, was first on the team in rebounds (10.4 per game), minutes played (29.6 per game), and blocks (2.3 per game), was second in steals, third in assists, and fifth in scoring (5.6 per game).