The second Central California Conference Center Meet was in full go on Tuesday morning at Atwater High as Turlock and Pitman looked to top out the charts in both the boys and girls track divisions.
At the end of the day it was the Pitman girls’ varsity team that took first place as a team, with 98 points more than second place Buhach. Pitman’s boys’ team finished in fourth. Total the Pride nabbed six first place finishes.
For the lady Pride it was a total team effort as they saw multiple top five finishes en route to their success with their seasoned team.
One of the few first place finishes for the girls was Sydney Holmes who topped out in the 300 meter hurdle race by .06 seconds.
Kiana Clay, Elisiah Frank, Mackenzie Hassett and Madi Todd made up the varsity girls 4x400 team that beat out all the other schools by at least six and a half seconds.
Jamie Stroup would take the title in the high jump while Cerah Moren dominated the girls’ discus, tossing 108-02 which was good enough for first.
“We have had some strong girls over the years but we have a large bulk of senior girls that run a lot of events and do a great job,” Pitman head coach Thad Moren said. “Overall on the track we do a great job with getting everybody in to do things and we just completely dominated and that has been our strength over the years but they are all very good.”
Aaron Mayfield of Pitman would get a big win in the 800 meter yard dash with a time of 1:57.73, nearly three seconds ahead of second place.
The Turlock girls would see some sparks but not enough for a top spot as they ended in fourth place and the boys topped out in fifth, just behind Pitman.
“We don’t have the depth, for the most part, but our athletes exceeded goals we set earlier in the year,” said Turlock boys head Coach Undrae Walker. “We do have a young group of throwers that are up and coming and will be very successful.”
Although the Bulldogs did not see much success as a team, they had a large number of personal records set along with a few first place wins.
Among them was Ryan Weaver who had a banner day by topping out in the 100 and 200 meter along with a stellar performance in the 4x400 alongside teammates Adrian Rodriguez, Jesus Robledo, and Bryan Montes with a nose to nose finish.
“Weaver continues to prove that he is one of the top sprinters in the Valley,” Walker said.
For the lady Dogs, Cierra Booz and Makenzie Salyer would get a first place win each in their respective events. Booz continued to dominate the jumps as she leaped into first place finishes in both the long and triple jumps, adding a season best in the triple of 34’6”.
Salyer, one of the best distance runners in the area, won the 3200m in a season best of 12:35, while Jocelyne Montes anchored the 2nd place 4x400 team battling a windy back stretch to take third in the 400m.
“What a fantastic day…lots of P.R.’s,” said Turlock girls head coach JoAnn Davison.
Some of the bright newcomers for the Pride of Pitman would prove their talent qualities as the boys and girls notched first place finishes in the JV. Turlock’s JV team finished dead last in the girls and topped out in fourth for the boys category.
“Overall we did well, our frosh-soph kids practice with varsity so were all together as a team and workout together and all that,” Moren said. “We got spring break coming up and we have some time off so looking to get trained before the next center meet and compete and see how well we do.”
