Let's get caught up...track, golf, fastpitch (VIDEOS**)

The B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team has pushed through to the second day of the Section 4A tournament. After an initial 8-5 loss in the first round on Tuesday to Mayer Lutheran, the Jaguars responded with a 2-1 walk-off eight-inning win against Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart. The 1-1 record at Fenway Park in Forest Lake sets up a trip to No. 2-seeded Braham on Thursday this week. The elimination playoff game against the Bombers is at 4 p.m.

Against BL-H-S, Brielle Worms pitched a complete game in the circle with 10 strikeouts, 5 walks and 5 hits.

By the way: Fenway Park fields in Forest Lake to the Wisconsin border is a distance of less than 15 miles. That's absolutely wild to have a high school fastpitch team from our part of central Minnesota open the playoffs that close to Wisconsin. I will never understand.

In Day One games played in the Section 4A fastpitch playoffs:
Gentry Academy 17, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 1
Braham 17, Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 2
West Lutheran 10, Ogilvie 5
West Lutheran 9, Braham 3 (this knocked the Bombers into our bracket for tomorrow's game, while West Lutheran moves into the 4A semis)
Gentry Academy 6, Mayer Lutheran 1 (Gentry advances to the 4A semis)

Elimination games of 4A
B-B-E 2, BL-H-S 1 (8 innings)
Ogilvie 9, G-F-W 5

In track and field news...
Six members of the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams have earned tickets to the Section 5A state qualifying meet. They competed in the Sub-Section 5A-West meet in Litchfield on Tuesday.

The section qualifiers includes two boys' athletes and four girls' athletes as follows:
Taylor Pieper: 400 dash and long jump
Mason Douvier: 800 run
Brooklyn Breitbach: 1600 run
Ziva Miller: 400 dash
Laken Anderson: high jump
Whitney Anderson: pole vault

Here's a video from subsections on Tuesday in Litchfield:


Here's Anton Zins during the long jump in Litchfield:


Any time a student-athlete can push past track and field subsections, it's an exciting achievement. They now get another week of practice plus a memorable trip to Collegeville next Wednesday, May 27 to compete at Clemens Stadium.

In golf news...
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' and girls' golf teams competed today in the opening round of the Section 5A meet at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Willmar. Updates are forthcoming tonight.

UPDATE: Cash Lehner, Walker Winte and Owen Roering have all advanced through to the Section 5A finals. For the girls' team, both Olive Olson and Kragen Wiener saw their 9th grade seasons conclude today. Olson shot a 110, and Wiener had a 121. Both had terrific freshmen seasons this spring, with Olson being B-B-E's lone All-Conference golfer from both squads. Wiener was in the running for All-Central Minnesota Conference honors and ultimately finished in 8th place. The top 6 individual girls' golfers in the CMC earn All-CMC hardware. For the boys, the top 8 are given All-CMC honors because that group has more overall athletes in the conference.

B-B-E boys' scoring, Section 5A first round today: Cash Lehner 89, Walker Winter and Owen Roering 90 each, Jaxxon Koetter 92, Treyson Nemmers 126.

Later tonight, I will get some video posted here. It has been a wide-open, full-speed sprint for the past few days. Tonight, I'm back in Morris at the Regional Fitness Center, University of Minnesota-Morris, with AAU Wildcats basketball practice.

In baseball news...
The baseball team hosts LP-GE in the last regular season game on Thursday this week: JV at 5 p.m. and varsity to follow in Elrosa. The Jaguars (12-9) are currently ranked No. 22 by QRF in Class 1A out of 117 teams. The Thunder hold a 14-3 record and are ranked No. 19. The winner of this game has almost a lock on the No. 3 seed in Section 6A for next week's playoffs.

LP-GE finished 9-1 in the Prairie Conference to claim the title outright. Upsala/Swanville Area (13-7) took second with an 8-2 record.

Boys' golf slips in Section Finals, Nelson advances to STATE! (VIDEOS)

While I don't have official numbers yet, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team has slipped to fourth place today in the Section 5A finals. The final 18 holes of the state-qualifying meet is being held at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Willmar. The Jaguars entered the day with a one-stroke lead for first place over section favorite Lac qui Parle Valley.

UPDATE from Willmar: the Jaguars finished in fourth place at Section 5A with a score of 700. Day II was rough up and down the lineup. Lac qui Parle Valley ran away with the section title with a 658. The Section 5A runner-up team is Dawson-Boyd, who shot a 681. In third place was Central Minnesota Christian-Prinsburg with a 686.

Walker Winter led the Jaguars with a two-day score of 166. However, this fell 2 strokes short of qualifying him for the Class 1A state meet.

Results from the Section 5A track and field meet in Collegeville:
In the boys' 100 open, junior Kameron Hiltner placed fourth overall. His time was 11.3 seconds, which is .08 seconds below the state-qualifying cut.

The B-B-E Jaguars track and field team is being represented at Section 5A by four athletes.

Here's Kameron Hiltner competing in the 100 dash at the subsection meet last week:


Hiltner won the Sub-Section 5A-West title at Litchfield on May 22.

Also competing today at the section track and field meet are Bree Thieschafer (pole vault), Dominic Ramos (triple jump) and Taylor Nelson (3200 run).

Here's a 100 dash video from Litchfield featuring Miguel Santamaria:


More to come later.

Another update from the Section 5A track and field meet!
Exciting news!

B-B-E senior distance runner Taylor Nelson has qualified for the Class 1A state track and field meet. Nelson finished in second place in the 3200 run. I'll get more updated in a new blog post on Thursday.

In the Section 3A fastpitch playoffs today in Marshall...
Yellow Medicine East lost 4-1 in the elimination bracket semifinal to Edgerton/Southwest Christian. They finish their season with a 14-8 record. In today's winner's bracket final, Lac qui Parle Valley lost 10-6 to Wabasso to fall to the elimination bracket final. That game was played this evening between LQPV and Edgerton/Southwest Christian. Update: Edgerton/Southwest Christian defeated LQPV 10-6 to advance to the Section 3A championship series. The Flying Dutchmen are 17-8 overall.

The Edgerton/Southwest Christian vs. Wabasso series will begin at 4 p.m. tomorrow (May 29) in Marshall. If Wabasso wins that initial game, they claim the section title and advance to state.

In Section 3AA fastpitch, the Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Tigers have advanced to the championship series. They have one loss, however, after suffering an 8-inning loss in the winner's bracket final to Jackson County Central.

Area fastpitch playoff scores on May 28:
Dassel-Cokato 1, Windom Area 0
Jackson County Central 3, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 2 (8 innings)
MA/CA 1, Dassel-Cokato 0

Three Jaguars All-CMC in golf

To conclude the Central Minnesota Conference season today at The Lynx golf course in Sauk Centre, three members of the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team earned All-Conference honors. They are Walker Winter, Hudson Reed and Jaxxon Koetter. ALSO! Let it be known that the boys' golf team earned CMC runner-up honors! They took second place with a cumulative score of 1,426. Paynesville Area won the boys' CMC title with a 1,343. In third place was A-C-GC with a 1,436.

For members of the B-B-E Jaguars girls' golf team, Olive Olson shot a 110 at The Lynx across 18 holes, and fellow 8th grader Kragen Wiener shot a 119. They are terrific scores considering they were golfing in 40 mile an hour wind. Yikes!

Other results and scores will be published in the next issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.

The schedule for the Section 5A meet may be altered due to the rain.

Slowly, but surely, I've been adding albums to the online Spring Sports photos folder. You can find it at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's SmugMug gallery: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/BBE-Spring-Sports-2025.

And a quick change of pace to a different subject...

Here's the last video I recorded on Friday night at Smilin' D Arena:


The Toby Keith Tribute Ranch Rodeo drew a huge crowd that night. The parking lot was almost full. That's great to see!

It will be difficult, if not impossible, to fit everything I have in mind for this week's paper to fit on the pages. We'll see how Tuesday goes. My sacrifice of not going to the golf meet in Sauk Centre paid off in a huge way: the Class of 2025 graduation section is done! All 55 graduates have a spot, and it's all shined up with just some editing to complete on Tuesday.

A huge golf win, plus a win and a loss (VIDEO)

In the fifth Central Minnesota Conference meet of the season, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team competed at the Little Falls course today with Royalton as the host school. The Jaguars came away with a huge win by 3 strokes, as they defeated second-place Paynesville by a 167 to 170 margin. Also, Walker Winter and Hudson Reed are both in the Top 8 of the current CMC standings.

Next: the boys' golf team has an 18-hole invitational at Sauk Centre's Greystone Golf Club.

In home fastpitch action today...
With the weather stopping a home game on Monday to take place, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team hosted a doubleheader today featuring two teams coming to town.

In the first game, the Jaguars faced Long Prairie-Grey Eagle in a non-conference game. The Jaguars put up some big innings on their way to an 11-1 win in five innings. LP-GE, who competes in Section 6A, fell to 2-6 overall.

Against LP-GE, the Jaguars had just 4 hits but took advantage of 8 walks against just 2 strikeouts.

Here's a video featuring the postgame huddle after the LP-GE win:


In game two, the Jaguars faced Paynesville Area in a CMC border battle that started just before 6 p.m. The Bulldogs won 13-1 as they kept pace with undefeated (9-0) Kimball Area in the CMC standings.

Paynesville, who is a half game behind Kimball, out-hit the Jaguars by a 12 to 5 margin. Two Bulldogs pitchers combined for 8 strikeouts with just 2 walks.

The Jaguars sit at 7-3 overall with their best record through 10 games since the 2008 season. In 2008, they went 11-5 in the regular season before the Section 5A playoffs. Next: the Jaguars travel to River's Edge Softball Park in Waite Park on Thursday to face Holdingford (3-6, 2-4) in a CMC doubleheader. The first game is set for 4 p.m.

Central MN Conference fastpitch scores on April 29:
Kimball Area 10, Holdingford 0
Kimball Area 14, Holdingford 0

Area fastpitch scores on April 29:
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 26, Benson 0
Minneota/Canby 11, Renville County West 0
Lac qui Parle Valley 18, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 6
Maple Lake 12, Upsala 2 (5 innings)
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 5, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 2
Minnewaska Area 12, West Central Area 10
BOLD 14, Montevideo 3
Eden Valley-Watkins 12, Osakis 2 (6 innings)
Dawson-Boyd 2, Ortonville 0
Swanville 14, Royalton 7
Melrose Area 8, Sauk Centre 2
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 18, Lakeview 8
BOLD 5, Montevideo 2
West Central Area 9, Minnewaska Area 7

The sun is shining as sports gets back in the groove

It won't get "warm" today, but we are going to enjoy the strong sunshine for the day of activities ahead. The fastpitch team is hosting a doubleheader, and the boys' golf team is at the Little Falls invitational.

At Prairie View Community Golf Course...
The Prairie View Community Golf Course in Brooten is offering a May special starting on Thursday this week. It's quite the special deal! On Mondays through Fridays, they are offering 18 holes of golf with a cart for $35 after tax. This excludes Memorial Day and League nights. For reservations, please call 320-346-2677. Come out and support your local golf course! It is a major asset for Jaguar Country.

Update: the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team emerged as 3 stroke champions of a Central Minnesota Conference meet held at Little Falls today. They shot a 167 to defeat second-place Paynesville Area's score of 170. In third place was Royalton with a 175. B-B-E's Walker Winter led the team with a 40.

Schwinghammer medals at state golf

Senior Brady Schwinghammer went out in style at the state golf meet. After helping lead the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team for the past three seasons, Schwinghammer added to his success this season by medaling at state with a 151, good for seventh place. He fired a 72 yesterday and then a 79 today. His golf career will continue at Alexandria Technical College with the Legends men's golf program.

As a team, the Jaguars had a total score of 688 with a 349 today to take sixth out of eight teams. Lakeview won the Class 1A state title, while Walker-Hackensack-Akeley took second. Fertile-Beltrami placed third.

And just like that, the spring sports season goes from 100 miles an hour to zero. The incredible ride that was the 2022-2023 school year in Jaguar Country has concluded. Beyond some postseason awards reporting, that's all she wrote for spring sports at B-B-E......***I jump the gun there, literally, and forgot about the clay trap shooting state tournament which I'm going to on Friday in Alexandria. Uffda, not quite done yet.

This week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper features information on numerous upcoming events. One event on the horizon is in Elrosa on Sunday, June 29, and you can also read about that by clicking here: https://tinyurl.com/6nx6kxs4.

This is all that I have to post as of Thursday, June 15...the day of Thursday will be chewed up as the Miss Brooten Royalty entourage prepares and participates in the Paynesville parade tonight. After that there's more gardening to get done!

Golf is off to state

The boys' golf team has left for the state tournament. They departed this morning from Belgrade just after the crack of dawn. Exciting times!

I also learned that the Padua Pub will close on Tuesday mid-afternoon for the rest of the day (tomorrow) so Dave and Clara and family can travel to St. Cloud to cheer on the baseball team at the state tournament. More exciting times!

I just read about the Class 1A state fastpitch tournament. The Section 3A champions, Edgerton-Southwest Christian, won the state title with a 10-5 win over Badger/Greenbush-Middle River in the finals. They edged Section 6A champion Upsala 2-1 in the semifinals.

Repeat trip to state golf! (VIDEO)

This was one playoff finish for the ages!

Settled in a rare and total deadlock after 27 holes of playoff competition, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team won the final 9 holes of the Section 5A finals at Eagle Creek in Willmar against Dawson-Boyd to grab a second straight trip to the state golf meet. The final tally showed the Jaguars defeating the Blackjacks by just four strokes after all 36 holes were recorded: 703 for the B-B-E to 707 by Dawson-Boyd.

Just as exciting: Brady Schwinghammer earned the Section 5A individual title by a significant margin: 149 strokes to 156 (Carson Besonen of Lac qui Parle Valley). It was a tremendous win for the senior and third-year varsity member after he entered today down four strokes from Besonen. In today's 18 rounds, Schwinghammer carded an incredible 71, which was 11 strokes better than Besonen. His nearest competition for the last 18 holes was Dawson-Boyd's Carson Stratmoen, who shot a 76 today.

Eli Gregory tied for 14th place, and Matt Walz placed 19th overall. Schwinghammer, Gregory and Walz are the three returning golfers from last year's Section 5A championship squad.

Here's the moment that Brady Schwinghammer was welcomed by his teammates after he sealed the section title today at Hole No. 9:


Section 5A boys' golf final team standings (today's scores in parentheses):
1. B-B-E 703 (356)
2. Dawson-Boyd 707 (356)
3. Willmar Community Christian 708 (354)
4. Yellow Medicine East 736 (381)

The Class 1A state golf meet is at Pebble Creek golf course in Becker on June 13-14.

More to come. I haven't gotten results yet from the Section 5A track and field meet.

Boys' golf tied for first...sections not complete

It will literally be a photo finish at today's Section 5A boys' golf finals in Willmar!

Through the third round of sections (and first round today), the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team are in a full-blown tie with Dawson-Boyd for first place.

Final results will be posted here after 3 p.m. The Voice is enroute!

**Brady Schwinghammer shot a 71 today to earn the Section 5A individual title! It appears that the Jaguars are headed back to state!!!

** It is official! The Jaguars are heading back to state.

*A new blog post was added at 10 p.m. tonight**

Boys' golf team earns another trophy

This has been a great week for the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team. Today at the Ken Helling Invitational in Kimball, the Jaguars shot a 346 to take third place and come home with another team trophy. Brady Schwinghammer led the Jaguars with a 77, good for a tie for third place. Minnewaska's Zach Gugisberg was medalist with a 72. Osakis won the team title with a 328.

Tomorrow is a busy, busy day with the Max Bats Wood Bat invitational in Elrosa getting underway. The B-B-E Jaguars baseball team plays Sauk Centre at 7 p.m. at Saints Field. The Jaguars (4-3 overall) look to get back on the winning track after dropping a conference game to Eden Valley-Watkins on Monday. In the earlier game tomorrow in Elrosa, No. 10-ranked Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg faces Browerville at 4:30 p.m.

Also tomorrow in home action, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team hosts defending Central Minnesota Conference champion Maple Lake at 4 p.m. in Brooten. The fastpitch team (2-8 overall) is also gearing to get back on the winning track after they've suffered four straight losses in the past week. In the Sub-Section 3A-North standings, the Jaguars are holding firm in fourth place.

Here's video from last Saturday in Spring Hill in game 2 against Kimball:


In that video, Kaden DeRoo is closing during the top of the fifth inning for the baseball team in their doubleheader sweep of the Cubs. Their 4-3 record has them sitting in third place in the Sub-Section 6A-South standings behind Border West and K-M-S.

Here's video from the first inning in Tuesday's home fastpitch doubleheader just as the storm clouds were approaching town:


After the conclusion of the first inning as the Jaguars were set to take the field for the top of the second, the game was put on hold as rain started to fall and lightning appeared on the horizon. About two-tenths of an inch of rain fell over the next half hour, but game one resumed shortly after 5 p.m. It was great to be able to get both games in the book. Fastpitch playoffs are set to begin on Tuesday, May 23, and nine games remain on the regular season schedule.

Boys' golf first at Lakeview!

Good grief!

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team won the Lakeview Invitational in Cottonwood by one stroke today! They beat the host Lakers 332 to 333 in a field of 10 teams. Osakis, who has a wide lead for first place in the Central Minnesota Conference, took third with a 339. Yellow Medicine East, one of the top challengers in Section 5A, fired a 345 for fourth place.

This was a colossal, confidence-boosting win for the Jaguars, who were led by Brady Schwinghammer's score of 76. Eli Gregory shot an 80, and Tate DeKok had an 84. Rounding out B-B-E's scores were Matt Walz (92), Walker Winter (100) and Jamison Reed (103). Schwinghammer earned tri-medalist honors and shared first place with Osakis's Chase Triebenbach and YME's Cooper McCosh. Gregory's score earned him a tie for sixth place, and DeKok tied for 12th place.

That's all I've got for tonight. I have another 14-page behemoth at the Bonanza Valley Voice to get ready for press.

Getting this posted late Wednesday night, over 24 hours past publishing of the newspaper...
On Tuesday at the home diamond, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team lost both games of a conference doubleheader to Eden Valley-Watkins. The Eagles improved to 7-5 overall with the wins, while the Jaguars fell to 2-8 overall.

Area fastpitch scores on May 9:
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 17, Minnewaska Area 0
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 16, Minnewaska Area 0

, con

Boys' golf fourth at Paynesville

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team placed fourth today at Paynesville in a Central Minnesota Conference meet with a score of 178. They missed third place by one stroke, as Osakis shot a 179. The host Bulldogs won the meet with a 168, and Kimball/Eden Valley-Watkins was second with a 178. Rounding out the team scores were Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (185) and Royalton (197).

Luke Ashbrook (Kimball/Eden Valley-Watkins) and Winston Carlson (Paynesville) were co-medalists with scores of 36 each. B-B-E's Brady Schwinghammer shot a 40 to tie for third place with Paynesville's Isaac Christensen.

NEXT: the Jaguars travel to the Cottonwood Country Club tomorrow for the Lakeview Invitational. They will face a number of Section 5A teams.

At Benson today in a key Sub-Section 3A-North game, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch team suffered a 9-2 loss. Three errors ultimately led to their demise after they out-hit the Braves by a 10 to 8 margin. NEXT: the Jaguars host Eden Valley-Watkins tomorrow with a CMC doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. in Brooten.

At Watkins today in a CMC game, the B-B-E Jaguars baseball team lost 9-2 to Eden Valley-Watkins. NEXT: the Jaguars host Sauk Centre in Elrosa on Friday, May 12 at 7 p.m. That night features an earlier game with K-M-S facing Browerville at 4:30 p.m.

Also tomorrow...the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams compete in the Section 5A True Team meet at Sauk Centre at 4 p.m. Today I had the privilege of participating in the track and field practice at the high school. I talked to the coaches about it last week, and they were more than willing to let me join the fray. The most important aspect of the experience was learning how to "ease" into it. As I am still recovering from a severely sprained ankle, I had to learn how to sprint while coming off of an injury. Stretching and warming up properly is essential to avoiding getting injured. I have a newfound level of respect for athletes who return to competition after injury! To see it is one thing, but to experience it firsthand is another. I had high hopes of getting official times on the book for 100 and 200 open races today. After stretching and warming up and spending a little time in the long jump pit (12 feet was my best jump), I sprinted through a 100-meter stretch with the pedal about "Halfway down" and (via my phone) got an unofficial time of about 19 1/2 seconds. I don't know just how hard I pushed myself in that first run, but I felt I had more to give. About 20 minutes later I gave it a second try and (unofficially) I booked it out at roughly 18 seconds flat. Then came the real thing. I waited until near the end of practice, and Coach Trish Thieschafer positioned herself at the finish line. I lined up on the blocks and got a crash course on "take off" from Coach Sean Biehn on how to do that properly off of a block. I was certainly confused! What an experience, though...Coach Thieschafer yelled "go" and I was off to the races...literally. I could tell I did not have all the gas I had on the first run, but I sprinted as hard as I could go. She clocked me at 19.5 seconds. All I could think is: good grief! I am SLOW! It's not a time that will set the world on fire. Even 18 seconds sounds slow to me, but I likely didn't run that second practice sprint in 18 seconds since I was clocking myself with my phone as I ran. Once the dust settled, I had to tell myself what any athlete should say at the start of a season: it's not how you begin that matters...it's how you finish. SO there we go. There's my official time as of May 8, 2023 for the 100 open race: 19.5 seconds. We'll see what I can do by the end of the month. I do hope to get a 200 open time on the book...but that will have to wait until another practice. Running three 100-meter sprints was enough for one day, especially when I have to play the waiting game to see how my recently sprained ankle feels tomorrow. The thought of sprinting a distance longer than 100 meters does make me light-headed right now. And circling back to the long jump...what I learned from trying that out is that field events are absolutely more difficult than they look. It's not until you actually try it out that you realize what great effort a student-athlete puts in to compete. Again - newfound respect for kids who join the fray and put themselves out there and compete! Perhaps next year I can really give a field event a good, hard push such as the long jump. It's just not something I can do when I'm coming back from a sprained ankle. Now about 6 hours after practice concluded, I can still walk. I think that's a win. I feel a pulled muscle or two in my left leg (upper calf), but other than that I feel really, really good. The true test will be how I feel when I wake up Tuesday morning. If I can walk without limping, I will consider that another win! We'll see.

Area fastpitch scores on May 8:
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 14, Sauk Centre 0 (5 innings)
Litchfield 13, New London-Spicer 3
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 4, Paynesville 3 (Central MN Conference game)
K-M-S 9, Dawson-Boyd 6
K-M-S 15, Dawson-Boyd 0
Lac qui Parle Valley 16, Lakeview 9
MACCRAY 7, Ortonville 3
MACCRAY 13, Ortonville 2

Boys' golf second at conference opener

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team had a strong showing at the first Central Minnesota Conference meet of the season. Yesterday at Kimball, the Jaguars shot a 188 to take second place ahead of host Kimball, who shot a 189. Paynesville Area took fourth with a 190. Osakis won the meet with a 171. Brady Schwinghammer led the team with a 39.

A busy day ahead, and boys' golf opens season (VIDEOS)

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team opened their 2023 season with a meet at Greystone Golf Course in Sauk Centre yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon. Brady Schwinghammer shot a 77 to take second place overall. Today the boys' golf team competes at Kimball.

Today the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teams compete at Sauk Centre starting at 3:30 p.m. Other teams included are Melrose Area, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, Minnewaska Area, Paynesville Area, New London-Spicer and Montevideo.

Here's Tiyana Schwinghammer clearing the bar with ease in the high jump on Tuesday this week:


She cleared 4'4" in that jump, and she topped out at 4'8" to take sixth place in a very competitive field.

The baseball and fastpitch teams both play conference doubleheaders today starting at 4 p.m. The baseball team is at Holdingford, while the fastpitch team hosts Holdingford in Brooten.

Here's Coach Funk with his fastpitch team between innings at Swanville in the season opener on April 14:


We are very thankful that today appears to be a day that all of our sporting events can take place. It does not look like that's the case tomorrow, however.

Top Four Finishes for boys' and girls' golf!

What a week it has been for the local varsity golf teams!

At Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team took third place in the Class 1A state meet. This earned them a team trophy and medals. Also, senior Gannon Walsh earned All-State individual honors with a two-day score of 75-80-155 to take eighth place.

B-B-E junior Brady Schwinghammer shot a 165 to finish in a four-way tie for 25th place.

As a team, the Jaguars shot a 341 on the second day after shooting a 339 on Tuesday.

Class 1A state boys' golf team scores (FINAL):
1.) Fertile-Beltrami 632
2.) Marshall School of Duluth 662
3.) B-B-E 680
4.) Lakeview 682
5.) United South Central 703
6.) Park Christian of Moorhead 702
7.) New Life Academy of Woodbury 714
8.) Rushford-Peterson 757


At Jordan, the Minnewaska Area/B-B-E Blue Jackets girls' golf team earned a fourth-place finish in the Class 2A state meet. The Blue Jackets shot a 539 over three rounds of nine on Tuesday and Wednesday. Earning the Class 2A title was Lake City, who shot a 491. In second was Fergus Falls with a 530, and Pequot Lakes shot a 535 to take third place. Providence Academy took fourth with a 548.

B-B-E's Paige Rupp shot a 154 over 27 holes and finished in 72nd place

Boys' golf battling their hearts out on Day Two: amazing finish!

On the second day of the state golf meet, the B-B-E Jaguars are battling with all they've got while holding on to third place in the eight-team field of Class 1A.

More to come.

UPDATE: after the dust settled on Day Two, the Jaguars finished in third place! They earned a team trophy, and senior Gannon Walsh finished in eighth place overall with a two-day score of 75-80-155.

More to come.

Boys' golf day one at state

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team is in the middle of the Class 1A state meet held at Pebble Creek golf course in Becker. The Jaguars have just wrapped up day one of the tournament today and shot a 339. The Jaguars trail front-runner Fertile-Beltrami by a 16-stroke margin. Fertile-Beltrami shot a 323, while Marshall School of Duluth shot a 333 to sit in second place. Behind B-B-E is Lakeview in fourth with a 346, Park Christian of Moorhead in fifth with a 355, New Life Academy of Woodbury in sixth with a 360, United South Central of Wells with a 362 in seventh and Rushford-Peterson in eighth with a 391.

B-B-E individual scoring: Gannon Walsh 75 (third place overall), Brady Schwinghammer 81, Jack Paulson 89, Eli Gregory 94, Matthew Walz 99, Spencer Lundberg 101.

Boys' golf to STATE!

History was made today at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Willmar as the B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team won the Section 5A championship for the first time ever. The boys' golf program was founded in the 1996 season, and they've had multiple squads finish as section runners-up. This is the first year that B-B-E has landed a boys' golf team in the state tournament!

After heading into today's section finals with a slim two-stroke lead over Benson, the Jaguars dominated the field and won the second round of action by a large 15-stroke margin over Benson, 326 to 341. When all 36 holes were in the book, the Jaguars officially claimed the section title with a score of 664. Benson took second with a 681, and Dawson-Boyd was third with a 717.

Showing the team's strong balance, the top four B-B-E scores were 4 of the top 12 scores in the entire field. Gannon Walsh placed second overall with a 156 behind medalist Carter Besonen of Benson (152). Brady Schwinghammer took third with a 157. Spencer Lundberg took 10th with a 173, and Jack Paulson was 12th overall with a 178.

The Class 1A state golf meet is at Pebble Creek Golf Course in Becker on June 14 and 15.

In other news, I saw that Maple Lake's fastpitch team has won four straight games in the Section 5AA playoffs to put themselves in a commanding position for a state tournament berth. I also read that Holdingford, runners-up in the Central Minnesota Conference with an 11-3 record, knocked Sauk Centre out of the Section 6AA playoffs. Holdingford fashioned a 3-2 mark in the postseason, and they were knocked out of state contention today in a 10-9 loss to former CMC rival Pierz. The CMC is a very rugged fastpitch league!

Boys' golf news!

It's been about seven hours now since I learned the following outstanding news about our B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team: they are in FIRST place in the Section 5A state-qualifying meet after the first day of action is in the book! The Jaguars have a two-stroke lead over second-place Benson and a 13-stroke lead over third-place Dawson-Boyd. This is a razor thin margin with 18 holes yet to golf.

Section 5A Round One team scores:
1. B-B-E 338; 2. Benson 340; 3. Dawson-Boyd 351; 4. Yellow Medicine East 361; 5. Willmar Community Christian 369; 6. Lac qui Parle Valley 379; 7. Central Minnesota Christian-Prinsburg 380; 8. MACCRAY 381; 9. BOLD 385; 10. Renville County West 408.

The Section 5A finals is set for Wednesday, June 1 back at Oak Creek Golf course on the north side of Willmar.

Conference champions

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' golf team, which includes one player who also plays for a paired Minnewaska/BBE boys' golf team this spring, earned the Central Minnesota Conference title today after two meets were held at both Brooten and Osakis. They won the overall title by two strokes over runner-up Osakis. This is a wonderful moment for our boys' golf program.

The Section 5A tournament begins on May 25 at Eagle Creek in Willmar.

More to follow in this week's newspaper.