The first Central California Conference Center meet of the season took place Wednesday, and while plenty of Turlock and Pitman high school stars finished at the top of their races, only the Turlock varsity girls were able to take the top spot.
Pitman varsity girls finished behind Turlock in second place, while the Turlock and Pitman varsity boys teams came in second and third place, respectively, behind first-place Golden Valley High School.
“I have a hard time putting their performance into words,” said THS Head Coach Bergann Hernandez. “The girls, the boys, JV, varsity, all of them, they left it all on the track and put their hearts into it.”
For the Turlock girls, Jocelyn Harris placed first in the 100 Meter race with a time of 12.65. In the 200 Meter race, Julia Handy ran a 26.70 to finish in second place, and Katja Guerrero came in third, finishing just .12 seconds behind Handy. Handy also ran her way to another second-place finish in the 400 Meter race. Emily Ramirez ran the 800 Meter race in 2:35.54, quick enough to earn her third place, and Pitman’s Bianca Garcia came in second place with a time of 2:34.86. Mavleen Mann of Pitman came in second place in the 3200 Meter race, and Maria Varela earned another third-place finish for Turlock.
“As far as where we stack up, our league is competitive and it’s going to be work to win the CCC,” said Hernandez. “I have high expectations for this team and I think that’s a possibility for us this season.”
Turlock girls also found success during the hurdles races, with Harris earning a third-place win in the 100m Hurdles. Her teammate Adelae Fredeen came in second place in the same race with a time of 15.94. Fredeen also came in second place during the 300m Hurdles.
Fredeen, Harris, Handy and Sarah Romo combined their athleticism for the 4x100 Relay, where their time of 49.69 earned the Bulldogs first place. Pitman’s team of Grace Willming, Cerah Moren, Madi Todd and Serena Walls came in second. The Turlock girls also came in first in the 4x400 Relay, where Fredeen, Handy, Guerrero and Bernadette Hollcraft ran a 4:12.54, while Hannah Green, Bianca Garcia, Walls and Todd of Pitman finished the race third.
Pitman’s Whitney Barnes dominated the shot put competition, coming in first place thanks to her 40’1.5 toss. Nikohl Jordan of Turlock was able to throw for 32’5.5, earning her a third-place finish.
In the Discus competition, Pitman’s Moren came in second with a distance of 121’3, and Turlock’s Katie Green’s clearance of 111’6 earned her a third-place finish.
In the High Jump, Turlock’s Desmine Washington and Jazmyn Tubbs came in first place and third place, respectively. The Pole Vault was won by Hannah Tinley of Turlock, followed by Pitman’s Lindsay Berryhill in second place and Turlock’s Alyssa Nunes in third. Turlock’s Kishauna Mavis finished third in the Long Jump, and Alissa Fuentes of Turlock earned a third-place finish in the triple jump while Pitman’s Michelle Griffin came in second with a distance of 34’3.75.
For the Pitman boys, Quincey Williams came in third place in the 400 Meter race with a time of 52.68, and the school’s team of Michael Moore, Guillermo Francis, Josh Fletcher and Williams took third in the 4x100 Relay with a time of 43.77, finishing just behind Turlock’s team of Gabriel Cordero, Colton Cummings, Sammy Wilson and Bailey Vandergriff, who took second place. In the 4x400 relay, Ty Thomson, Azriel Gutierrez, Francis and Williams came in third place.
In the 800 Meter race, Turlock’s David Bosquez’s time of 2:06 earned him second place, and fellow Bulldog Vandergriff came in third during the 300m Hurdles with a time of 42.91.
Pitman’s Vladimir Montejo came in third place in the shot put competition with a toss of 44’7.5, and Turlock’s Cordero finished the discus competition in first place with a distance of 154’4.
Turlock boys dominated the Pole Vault competition, with Nathan Garibay and Silas Fredeen taking the top two spots. Turlock’s Dustin Grein and William Ashman finished in second and third place in the Long Jump event, while Pitman’s Brendan Patterson took first with a distance of 22’.5. Patterson also came in first in the Triple Jump, with Turlock’s Andrew Adamson and Harbeer Panesar taking second and third place.
Despite Turlock’s success at the meet – particularly the Varsity Girls – Hernandez said they still have some things to work on as league gets underway.
“There are some tweaks that need to be made, like some of our point getters were in some events that weren’t their primary events,” she said. “We can make some adjustments moving forward, points wise.”
