KMS/Benson Girls Repeat as Class A State Champions, Boys Record Four Personal Bests
KERKHOVEN, Minn. - KMS/Benson middle school girls captured their second consecutive Class A team championship with 66 points at the Minnesota Middle School State Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Lower Recreation Center. Libby Henry led the champions with a third-place finish in a personal-best 11:53.4.
The championship meet also brought personal bests for all four KMS/Benson boys in the Class A 3,000-meter competition. Seventh-grader Rogan Klucas led the group in 82nd place at 13:48.9, with fellow seventh-grader Shane Loen finishing just 7.1 seconds behind in 86th at 13:56.0. Eighth-graders Hudson Helgeson and Graesyn Henkel followed in 95th at 14:38.5 and 107th at 17:04.3, respectively.
The boys race featured 112 finishers, with KMS/Benson absent from the official team standings. Twin Cities German won the 13-team competition with 47 points, followed by Riverside Christian with 61 and RAACHE with 65. Riverside Christian's Emmett Arntson claimed the individual championship in 10:29.2.
In the girls Class A 3,000-meter race, KMS/Benson put four runners among the top 20 finishers to build its championship score. Porsha Gravley placed eighth in a season-best 12:16.4, Alaina Lorenz finished 14th in a personal-best 12:51.4 and Kenzlee Peters took 18th in a season-best 13:22.8. Henry contributed two team points, while Gravley, Lorenz and Peters added five, nine and 13, respectively.
Meridith Huston completed the scoring five in 48th place with a personal-best 14:39.1, contributing the final 37 points. KMS/Benson finished 11 points ahead of runner-up Border West, which scored 77 in the 10-team standings. Border West's Kinzie Findlay won the individual title in 11:15.6 among 87 finishers.
Angela Espinosa followed Huston across the line just 5.6 seconds later, placing 52nd in a personal-best 14:44.7 as KMS/Benson's sixth runner. Seventh-grader Kimberlynn Pownell completed the lineup in 79th at 17:17.3. The girls finished with four personal bests and two season bests.
KMS/Benson's first six girls finishers are eighth-graders, and the majority of Border West's lineup also consists of eighth-graders, giving the two programs young cores for their continuing rivalry. The champions recorded an official combined scoring time of 1:05:03.1, an average of 13:00.7 and a spread of 2:45.7 between their first and fifth scorers.
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