Athletes from Alameda and Encinal finished first and second as individuals in the West Alameda County Conference (WACC) league championship women’s varsity meet Nov. 5, at Hayward High.

Hornet sophomore Lauren Lum finished first out of 59 participants in the three-mile race. She came in with a time of 17:54.15. Right on her heels was Jet sophomore Shelby Nelson, who completed the course in 18:06.65 for second place. 

Three other Hornets finished in the top 15. Sophomore Maya Carpenter finished 12th overall with a time of 19:07.28, junior Allie Cvitanovic came in 14th place with a time of 19:11.75 and junior Rachel Wellman finished 15th overall with a time of 19:25.77. 

The strong showing resulted in the Hornets earning third place out of eight teams in the overall team competition. The Hornets scored a 63 in the team competition — lowest score wins. Team score is determined by adding the placements of each team’s top five runners. Alameda’s fifth fastest runner was senior Chloe de Verrier who finished in 21st place with a time of 19:56.37. 

Encinal finished in seventh place in the team competition with a score of 165. After Nelson, the fastest Jet participant was sophomore Rebecca Stiling (20:31.47) who completed the course in 29th place. She was followed by freshman Marlene Delgado (37th place), freshman Gabrielle Cassaro (48th place) and freshman Naomi Phillips (51st place). Piedmont won the meet with a team score of 39.

The Alameda men’s team finished fifth out of 11 teams in the men’s varsity meet. Encinal came in ninth place. Hornet junior Ethan West paced Alameda finishing in 10th place overall out of 72 participants with a time of 16:24. The next Hornet to complete the course was senior Julian Aguilar who came in 24th place with a time of 16:54.92. He was followed by junior Devin Rowe (17:00.69) who finished one spot behind at 25th place. Alameda junior Matthew Yep placed 28th overall with a time of 17:08.39, while Hornet senior Cameron Yuen rounded out Alameda’s top five with a 31st place finish in 17:21.98.

Encinal finished ninth overall with a score of 254. The first Encinal runner to cross the finish line was junior Luis Booth who came in 44th place with a time of 18:15.07. The Encinal top five consisted of sophomore Michael Chen (47th place), senior Dylan Auberjuan (48th place), freshman Jaden Taylor (57th place) and junior John Lacaba (58th place).

Bishop O’Dowd won the meet with a score of 44. The North Coast Section finals take place Saturday, Nov. 19, at Hayward High.