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CCAL #2: Turlock runners tally wins
Turlock boys cross country
Turlock High boys cross country clinched their conference title after stellar performances at River Bluff Regional Park on Oct. 8 (Photo by StanCo Distance).

The Ceres River Bluff Regional Park was the site of the second Central California Athletic League cross country meet of the season on Oct. 8, an event dominated by Turlock-area runners.

Turlock High, for the second league event in a row, had the lowest collective scores in each varsity team competition to clinch the respective conference titles.

In the boys standings, the Bulldogs tallied 24 points, and were followed by Modesto High (59) and Pitman High (74).

Turlock won first place in the girls standings with a low-score of 27, which was 26 points better than runner-up Pitman.

Mirroring the team scores were Turlock High’s individual times.

Turlock girls cross country
Turlock High girls cross country clinched their conference title after stellar performances at River Bluff Regional Park on Oct. 8 (Photo by StanCo Distance).

Winning the boys 5,000-meter varsity race (of 53 runners), as he did at the first CCAL meet on Sept. 17, was senior Larson Wejmar, with his time of 16:41.08. He edged out Downey’s Cesar Bojorquez by just over five seconds.

Over in the girls varsity 5K competition featuring 28 student-athletes, sophomore Ellison Williams claimed victory with a time of 18:28.41. It was just under two minutes faster than runner-up Avery Carlson of Pitman. The Pride senior, who had won the Sept. 17 race over Williams by just over a second, posted a mark of 20:21.93.

A large contingent of Turlock and Pitman runners nabbed top 10 times in each race.

On the boys side, Turlock senior Gabriel Avalos and junior teammate Zayn Hamilton finished 3-4 with times of 16:48.32 and 16:49.88, respectively. Bulldog senior Luke Oliveira earned ninth place after finishing in 17:36.94, while the Pride’s Eli Pimentel, a senior, rounded out the top 10 with a time of 17:38.07.

Following Carlson was Pitman teammate Nayeli Mattison, a senior who finished fourth with a time of 20:50.87. Freshman Gisela Hernandez then led a string of Turlock runners to cross the finish line. Hernandez’ time of 21:09.10 earned fifth place, while teammates Mylie Olson, Elizabeth Christopher and Gretchen Nass were directly behind.

Olson, a junior, posted a sixth-place time of 21:31.45, while Christopher, a senior, had a time of 21:58.62. Nass, another junior, finished eighth with a time of 22:29.25. Pitman senior Emerson Newton claimed tenth position with a time of 22:33.73.

The third and final CCAL meet of the year will take place next Wednesday, Oct. 29, from the Tuolumne River Regional Park in Modesto, the same venue that hosted CCAL #1.