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Turlock, Pitman sending 52 to Track and Field Divisionals
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Turlock's Alex McKeon took first in the shot put with a distance of 45 feet, 11 inches. - photo by Photo Contributed

There are 52 athletes from Pitman and Turlock who will be moving on to Divisionals for track and field after a successful turnout this past weekend at the Central California Conference Championships.

Combined, Turlock and Pitman captured 17 first place finishes across 32 events for the day and basically dominated outright.

“Our group of young athletes ruled the day along with Pitman basically,” said Turlock coach JoAnn Davison.

“I couldn't be any more proud of the effort and hard work these kids have put in,” said Pitman coach Thad Moren.

The Pitman varsity girls clinched eight first place finishes.

Kiana Clay took first in the 200 meter race after controlling the race with a time of 25.69. Teammate Cerah Moren followed in second with a time of 27.31.

Clay, who was a top finisher in nearly every event, also topped out in the 400 meter race with a time of 59.17 and teammate Madi Todd took second with a time of 1:05.89.

Clay was also part of the 4x1 and 4x4 relay teams and placed first in both events.

Sophomore Whitney Barnes took first in the shot put with a distance of 40 feet and 2 inches.

Moren placed first in the girls discus with a distance of 111 feet and 11 inches.

Lindsay Berryhill took first in the pole vault after clearing 8 feet, 4 inches. Freshman Cierra Verdone topped all with a triple jump distance of 34-05.5.

The Pitman boys added five first place results and were highlighted by the throwing team and also jumper Brendan Patterson, who topped out with multiple first place finishes.

Patterson placed first in the long jump with a clearance of 20 feet, 11 inches. Patterson also took first in the triple jump at 40 feet, 7.25 inches.

Jacob Sylvester took first in the pole vault with a clearance of 14 feet,  4 inches.

The Turlock girls saw two first place finishes and the boys added two.

In the boys discus event, Cristian Cooley, Anthony Carbajal and Arturo Hernandez placed first through third consecutively and scored major points for Pitman.

Isaiah Marable took first in the 400 meter race with a time of 49.72.

“The boys day was highlighted by a 1-2-3 finish in the disk for varsity,” said Moren.

Turlock, which qualified 22 athletes on the varsity side, saw junior Jessica Bettencourt take first in the 300 hurdles with a time of 47.34 and Adelae Fredeen took second with a time of 48.37.

Fredeen also placed first in the 100 meter hurdle race with a time of 16.17 and teammate Jocelyn Harris took second with a time of 16.80.

Turlock's Alex McKeon took first in the shot put with a distance of 45 feet, 11 inches.

Will Hilgen of Turlock took first in the high jump, tying Anthony Kolb with a clearance of 5 feet, 8 inches.

“Also, our new coach in Began Hernandez is building quite the vault crew here at Turlock,” said Davison.