KMS/Benson Boys Win Camden Conference Title as Girls Reach Third-Place Goal

KERKHOVEN, Minn. - KMS/Benson captured the boys varsity championship with 45 points at the Camden Conference Cross Country Championships on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at Madison Country Club. This was the team's first Camden Conference championship and 2nd ever team championship under the coaching of head coach Samantha VanHeuveln. The 1st team championship was in 2020 at the West Central Conference meet. Alex Zurn led the team with a second-place finish over 5,000 meters in 17:36.2. The boys achieved their preseason goal of winning the conference title, while the girls also met their target by placing third with 91 points behind runner-up Kayla Tollefsrud.

Three top-five finishers powered the boys to a 23-point victory over Ortonville, with Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd another point back at 69. Eighth-grader Levi Pappadackis finished third in 17:40.1, just 3.9 seconds behind Zurn, and freshman Wyatt Hoff took fifth in 18:05.4. That front trio finished within 29.2 seconds of one another. Cian Klucas placed 16th in 19:02.6 and Gabe Lofgren finished 22nd in 19:30.3 to complete the scoring five. Oswaldo Moreno added a 29th-place finish in 20:15.0 and Noah Barrett was 31st in 20:21.2. Lakeview’s Tate Remiger won in 17:18.7.

Tollefsrud, an eighth-grader, covered the girls varsity 5,000 meters in 20:21.6, finishing behind Border West’s Karissa Anderson, who won in 18:42.7. Ella Beyerl and Cadence Holmquist supplied consecutive finishes in 23rd and 24th, running 23:56.5 and 24:03.6, respectively. Their 7.1-second separation gave KMS/Benson a closely grouped pair behind its leader. Mamie Luft placed 28th in 24:53.8 and Halle Bolduc was 32nd in 25:46.8 to round out the scoring. Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd won with 41 points, followed by Canby/Minneota with 45.

The girls C Squad added another team championship, edging Border West 27-30 over 2,750 meters. Libby Henry won a tight individual race in 10:41.8, finishing just 0.3 seconds ahead of Border West’s Kinzie Findlay. Porsha Gravley placed third in 10:52.0. Alaina Lorenz took seventh in 12:09.4, Kenzlee Peters finished ninth in 12:22.7 and Meridith Huston placed 14th in 13:17.7, completing a scoring group made up entirely of eighth-graders.

Peyton O’Leary led the boys C Squad to third place with 57 points, finishing ninth in 11:03.2 over 2,750 meters. Atticus Goff placed 20th in 12:29.6, followed by Shane Loen in 24th at 12:58.5 and Rogan Klucas in 26th at 13:01.8. Cooper Hatfield completed the scoring group in 30th at 14:03.7. Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd took first and Border West second, both with 33 points. Yellow Medicine East’s Alexis Alejandro won individually in 9:57.7.

Mason McGeary delivered an individual victory in the boys junior varsity 5,000-meter race, finishing in 19:56.1 ahead of Canby/Minneota’s Zeyan Anderson at 20:33.2. Shane Froehlich took fifth in 21:30.8 and Jameson Klucas placed 14th in 24:48.9.

Audrey Loen paced the KMS/Benson girls junior varsity runners in 14th place, covering 5,000 meters in 27:23.9. Valentina Calderas followed in 15th at 28:51.4 and Miley Falcon finished 18th in 33:42.7. The race was led by individual winner Anna Briggs in 23:27.3.