The Turlock and Pitman varsity cross country teams turned in solid performances in the first Central California Athletic League meet of the season on Wednesday at East La Loma Park in Modesto.

Pitman’s girls took first overall with a low score of 38 points, followed by Turlock with 52 points. On the boys side, Modesto was first with 38 points, followed by Pitman (61) and Turlock (66).

Individually, Pride senior Maci Day took first place with a time of 19 minutes, 27.1 seconds, nine seconds ahead of Modesto’s Maya Wolfe. 

“I was hoping to go a little faster today,” said Day. “But it was good to get the win.

Shaylan Roy-Williams was the top Turlock finisher, crossing the finish line in fifth place with a 20:55.2 clocking.

“I felt like in the beginning, I could’ve gone faster,” said the junior, who’s been battling a cranky knee this season. “But I’m glad I pulled through in the end.”

Pitman coach Tim McCabe was pleased with his teams’ performances, but wants his team to remain focused on the larger picture.

“Our goal is state … 11 weeks from now,” said McCabe. “The first step toward that is league. Maci is a real team leader and I couldn’t be prouder of her.”

For the boys, Gregori’s Ismael Dominguez won the 3-mile race with a time of 16:46.2. Turlock’s Behniya Esaeilabadi was third (17:17.4) and Pitman’s Diego Cisneros was sixth (17:40.5).

“I’m pleased with where I placed, but time-wise, I think I could’ve gone faster,” said Esmaeilabadi, a junior. “I was hoping to be under 17.”

Cisneros also was hoping to run sub-17 minutes.

“I paced a little too poorly for that,” said the senior, who is hoping to lead Pitman to a fourth consecutive CCAL title. “I was there for the first mile, I was about 5:35. But I dropped off the second mile.”

Pitman won the junior varsity boys race and placed third in the JV girls competition, while Turlock took third in JV boys and second in JV girls.