AEF Alameda Asteroids hosts Middle School Cross Country Meet

By Debra Cramer,  Alameda Asteroids coach

The Alameda Asteroids Middle School Cross Country Club hosted a meet with 11 Bay Area schools from the SACMAL league on Wednesday, September 28th at Crab Cove.  The Alameda Asteroids is a middle school cross country club managed under AEF’s after-school enrichment program.  Sixth – 8th graders from Alameda middle schools participate in the running club from September through November each fall and compete as a team against schools from outside Alameda.

Represented at the meet were students from San Leandro, Newark, Union City, Castro Valley and Piedmont middle schools.  Encinal High Cross Country coach Don Porteous marked the course and timed the event, and the Encinal High School Cross Country team provided course monitors, finish line monitors and tag takers.  Times were recorded for 412 students; 32 of those were Alameda Asteroids.

The boys one mile runners began the meet, followed by the girls one mile runners.  Unique to the Crab Cove meet, there is a two mile course to challenge the more experienced runners and ease them into the 3.1 mile courses they will be expected to run at the high school level.

The Alameda Asteroid girls performed outstanding in the 2-mile race, taking 1st, 3rd, 4th and 9th places with Quinn Sedlachek, Malou Killian, Aila Owens and Zoey Ericson,  respectively, out of 42 runners.   Our 2-mile boy runners were Isaiah Coss, Jesse Salinas, Arlo Rucker, Eli Siltanen, Felix Moon, Aidan Lapachet and Kellen Sellers, who came in 10th,12th,19th, 20th, 40th, 49th and 58th out of 88 runners.  It was an overwhelming successful turnout.  The Asteroids will attend their next meet on Wednesday October 19th at Bancroft Middle School in San Leandro.

You can view pictures from the meet here.