JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University women's track and field team will be sporting a roster of 20 athletes, nearly three times what the team had last year, as the Gothic Knights will look to make strides in year two under head coach Patrick O'Neill. 
 
"Entering year two is an exciting time for us as a staff and a team," O'Neill said. "We have a lot of new faces this year as the team more than doubled in size. We are still very much in the building process, but I feel like we have a solid foundation in place to establish ourselves this year."
 
Key Returners
The Gothic Knights will return a half dozen athletes from last year: April Gutierrez (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson), Nahdiyyah Hogue (Newark, NJ/Newark Early College), Giovania Jones (Newark, NJ/Columbia), Annaliza Lagman (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris), Kyla Lewis (Roselle, NJ/Abraham Clark), and Shania Robinson (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder). The 2018-19 season was the first year the program had at NJCU since 2009-10. All six returners will be key contributors, with one name their coach is looking to in particular. 
 
"Shania is going to be key for us, looking to build on a solid freshman campaign," O'Neill noted.
 
Fresh Faces
With a roster more than doubling in size, there are plenty of fresh faces on the 2019-20 roster. For the men, their coach highlighted mostly the track side of things with several key names in the sprints, middle distance, and long distance that will be key contributors in 2019-20.
 
"We have quite a few new faces to keep an eye on this year," O'Neill said. "In the sprints we have Tiffany Ortiz (/), Lamya Young (Audobon, NJ/Audobon), Shaneeka Benekin (Jersey City, NJ/Lincoln), and Zahria Thomas (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson). On the mid distance side Grace Sabaya (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) will make an immediate impact."
 
There are also plenty of fresh new faces looking to make their mark on the field side of things for the women, as well. 
 
"Leading the way for jumps on the women's side is Lamya Young (Audobon, NJ/Audobon) and Arame Diouf (Weehawken, NJ/Memorial) in the high jump and long jump, respectively. In throws, Destiny Gittens (/) and Shantel Worrel are two names to keep an eye on."
 
Expectations
Now in the second year of the program return, O'Neill and his athletes are looking to make a little noise. The team finished 10th at NJACs and 21st of 25 at ECACs, a pair of results that will be circled on the calendar for this year's versions of those meets.
 
"There are a lot of expectations on the team," O'Neill noted. "Moving up at the NJAC Championship and ECAC Championships are a high priority. These freshman are hungry and I expect them to contribute right away."
 
The team will open up their campaign on Friday, December 6 in Staten Island at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, where they will have five meets this year, including the 2019-20 NJAC Championships. 
 
More Key Dates

• Season Opener: Friday, December 6, Fastrack Season Opener Invite, Staten Island, N.Y. (2:00 p.m.)
• NJAC Championships: Monday, February 24, Staten Island, N.Y. (4:00 p.m.)
• ECAC Championships: Friday/Saturday, March 6-7, New York, N.Y. (10:00 a.m.)

 
Coaching Staff

• Head Coach: Patrick O'Neill 
• Assistant Coaches: Terry Pearson, Bradford Lawrence

 
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