Belvidere North once again has top girls bowling team

By Bob Balgemann
Reporter
BELVIDERE – For the second consecutive year, Belvidere North High School has finished a bowling season with one of the best girls’ teams in the state.
The Lady Blue Thunder came home this year with an eighth-place finish, to go with taking seventh during the 2015 tournament. For the second straight year they were sectional tournament champions.
Three NIC-10 teams finished in the top 10 on Saturday, Feb. 20, with Freeport in second, just 137 pins behind state champion Joliet West, and Harlem in fourth.
In another state tournament, Belvidere was represented by seniors Gage Brewer and Henry Flores in the wrestling finals at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
North was in second place after the first day of the bowling tournament, trailing leader Joliet West by 133 pins.
Brynn Lambrecht, one of two sophomores on this year’s team, had one of the top series on opening day at The Cherry Bowl, in nearby Cherry Valley. She recorded a six-game 1,347 series, seventh best individually, while averaging 225 a game.
The other sophomore, Kylie Johnson, was close behind with a 1,260 while senior Ashley Platt, a member of North’s 2015 state team, carded a 1,249.
Additional contributions came from senior Annissa Hintt with a 1,175 series; junior Alexis Bendorf with a five-game 1,055; and senior Kaitlyn Trimble with a single-game 164.
Harlem was in seventh place after Day 1, with Freeport in eighth.
North didn’t fare as well on Day 2, recording a 5,831 pinfall for the eighth-place finish.
Lambrecht averaged 223 for the entire tournament, which was good for 21st place. She had her team’s top series, a 713, and best single game, a 266, both Friday morning.
Platt wound up 35th among individuals, averaging 208.
Junior Alexis Bendorf rolled a 246 game, second best among her teammates; Johnson’s 671 series was No. 2 on the team.