Byron-Bergen’s girls cross country team was led by Kimmy Lovett’s second place finish and volleyball by tournament Most Valuable Player Brittany Merrell as each team won their respective Section V championships.
Lovett crossed the finish line of the 5k course at Genesee Community College in 20:48 – just 18 seconds behind the Class DD top time. Teammate Charlene Clay took fourth in 21:05 and Samantha Walker was ninth in 21:57 as the top three finishers leading the Bees to a team score of 30 points. That was nine points better than second place Red Creek.
Other runners helping the Bees to the title were senior Laura Redinger, juniors Sarah Clay and Danielle Foeller, sophomore Ashley Montgomery and freshman Alexandria Loewke.
Bees volleyball lost just one match all season and swept through the playoffs with sweeps over Mynderse, Williamson and Gananda; the latter a 25-18, 26-24, 25-23 victory in the Class C finals played at Avon.
The volleyball championship marked the first for Byron-Bergen since 2006, but their 12th appearance in the Section V finals over the past 13 years.
Senior Merrell had 15 digs and seven kills in the final after her eight kill-four ace effort in the semi-finals against Williamson. Eighth-grader Lauren Burke and junior Abigail Kelley also had two strong efforts with Burke dishing out 35 assists over the two contests and Kelley registering a combined 14 kills.
In addition to Merrell’s MVP award, Kelley and Burke were also All-Tournament selections.
11/10/13
