Lake Washington junior Claire Cocales picked up her first win of the young cross country season on Wednesday, Sept. 21, edging Mercer Island junior Kayla Lee by just over a second at Marymoor Park in Redmond.

Cocales won the varsity meet with a mark of 20 minutes, 56 seconds — well off her season best, but still enough to beat the four Mercer Island runners on her tail.

Lake Washington sophomore Belle Brandenfels wasn’t far behind, finishing sixth in 21:08, leading a pack of Kang runners: Kristen Buckingham, Makena Billington, Bethany Clowers and Malia Lakman finished seventh through 10th, respectively.

The Lake Washington girls finished second as a team, with 31 points. Mercer Island won the girls’ meet with 25 points, while Sammamish finished third with 171 points.

The Lake Washington boys finished second as well, with 41 points. Mercer Island won the meet with 29 and Sammamish finished third with 55 points.

Kang sophomore John Hentges led the way for the Lake Washington boys, finishing third overall in 17:35. Hunter Toyoda finished fifth and Brendan Ball finished seventh. Freshman Nathan Hackley (11th) and sophomore Oliver Norred (15th) rounded out the top five.

Mercer Island senior Ben Stoops won the boys’ varsity race in 17:11.

Next, Lake Washington is scheduled to compete in the Bellevue Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 24.

Bellevue, Liberty at Juanita

The Bellevue boys barely beat out the Juanita High boys’ cross country team on Wednesday at Saint Edwards State Park in Kenmore, finishing with 26 points and winning by five.

The Rebels had three of the top five finishers, led by a second-place finish from senior Adrian Goodwin in 17:10. Fellow senior Michael Gengo finished third in 17:37 and sophomore Eric Marnadi finished fifth in 17:56.

Corey Ryder (10th) and Aidan Reilly (11th) rounded out the top five for the Juanita boys.

Bellevue senior Ian Van De Camp, the top runner so far among Class 3A KingCo Conference boys, won the meet in 16:46. Liberty finished third with 84 points.

Freshman Felicity Strzelec led the Juanita girls on Wednesday, finishing fifth overall in 21:45. Sophomore Laura Benson wasn’t far behind, finishing sixth in 21:58.

Payton Palsson finished eighth, Katrina Teo finished 17th and Chloe Cochener finished 19th.

Led by freshman Kate Forsberg’s first-place finish, the Bellevue girls won the meet with 25 points. Liberty placed second with 49 points, and Juanita finished third with 54 points.

Next, Juanita is scheduled to compete in the Nike Portland XC Classic at Portland Meadows Race Track in Portland, Ore.