ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Alaina Pundsack was just looking for something to do during her final high school months.
 
She wound up discovering a passion she's carried with her to the College of Saint Benedict.
 
Pundsack, a Mounds View High School graduate, was part of the Mustangs' flag football team during the inaugural season of the sport at the high school level in Minnesota last spring.
 
She enjoyed the experience so much that she and teammate Lily Ryan emailed CSB Athletic Director Kelly Anderson-Diercks this past summer about starting a team at CSB, where both enrolled as first-year students this fall.
 
"I discovered something new about myself and I wanted the opportunity to continue to explore it," said Pundsack, who earned All-State honors at defensive back for Mounds View. "One of our high school teammates was going to Wisconsin-Stout, and they'd started a team there last year. They were getting in contact with the coach, and it sparked an idea in my head. 
 
"This sport is growing so fast, and a lot of schools the size of Saint Ben's are starting teams. I thought it might work here too."
 
Pundsack and Ryan will now be trailblazers as the sport gains footing at CSB. On Monday (Oct. 20), the school announced it is partnering with the Minnesota Vikings to launch flag football, starting with an inaugural team this spring.
 
The Bennies will join the Midwest College Women's Flag Football League, which begins its second season in 2026. Augsburg, Concordia-Moorhead, Bethel, Gustavus Adolphus, Northwestern (Minnesota), Augustana (South Dakota) and Wisconsin-Stout all fielded teams in the league's debut earlier this year.
 
CSB will be joining what has already become the nation's fastest-growing emerging high school sport. As of this past summer, 17 states had girls flag football sanctioned at the high school level while 17 other states are in the pilot program stage of growth.
 
Since 2022, the Vikings have invested more than $1 million in growing girls' and women's flag football at the high school and college levels in the Midwest.
 
"As an institution, we want to be on the front end of what this sport is going to be," Anderson Diercks said. "It's going to be exciting. It will already be an Olympic event in 2028 (in Los Angeles). Who knows, maybe a player or two from the Bennies' program could be part of that team."

For now, Pundsack and Ryan are just focused on getting the program off the ground. A search for a head coach is already underway, and 25 students expressed interest in joining the team when the two staffed a table at an involvement fair held on campus in early September. 
 
"I remember when Kelly told us (the sport was being added)," said Ryan, a wide receiver who will also play basketball for the Bennies this winter. "All I could say was 'Wow!' I was in complete shock. It's so crazy that a simple email Alaina and I sent has grown into something real. 
 
"It's super exciting to know we're going to be part of a group that gets to start a whole new thing here."
 
It's a process the two were already part of at Mounds View last spring.
 
"That was like nothing I'd ever experienced before," Pundsack said. "I can remember running track during my freshman year in high school and they brought back four of the athletes who had been on Mounds View's first girls track team. They came back and spoke to us and it was really powerful. 
 
"When flag football started, I remember thinking that could be us in 30 years. We could be the ones coming back to talk about getting a program started. It's the same thing here. I'm just proud to be part of starting what I think can grow into something incredible."
 
And judging by what they've already heard, that enthusiasm is shared by others on campus.
 
"One of the (women) we talked to kept asking us if this was really happening," Pundsack said. "She didn't want it to be a joke. I told her 'It's not a joke.' She was very, very excited about it."
 
Both Pundsack and Ryan expect that excitement will only increase as the team begins practice and playing games in a few months.
 
"I think you're going to see lots of energy and lots of competitiveness," Ryan said. "Most importantly, you're going to see women out there having fun. That's the biggest thing.
 
"This is going to be a group that wants to be part of a community and try something new."
 
"We're going to work our hardest on the field to get a successful tradition going right away," Pundsack said. "I can't wait to get started."