STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University women's track and field team competed in the Fasttrack Season Opener at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y. on Friday, December 6. The team, sporting a roster nearly triple the size of the first year of the rebooted program under head coach Patrick O'Neill in 2018-19, had 16 athletes in action, covering 11 of the 17 possible events on the day. 
 
"The women had a great showing," O'Neill noted. "The day was highlighted by Tiffany Ortiz (/) qualifying for ECACs in her collegiate debut. For her first 500 she ran a great race. She stayed conservative early on and made a decisive move after 300. She also ran a great leg on our ladies 4x400."
 
Ortiz finished with a time of 1:25.27 in the 500-Meter Dash, while the 4x400-Meter Relay team posted a time of 4:50.23.
 
The full list of athletes who competed for NJCU on Friday were: Zy'Eimah Anderson (Jersey City, NJ/Great Futures Charter) (60 Meter Dash), Xarial Chandler (East Orange, NJ/University) (200 Meter Dash), Zahria Thomas (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) (200 Meter Dash; 4x400 Relay), Arame Diouf (Weehawken, NJ/Memorial) (200 Meter Dash; Long Jump), Shania Robinson (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder) (400 Meter Dash; 4x400 Relay), Annaliza Lagman (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris) (400 Meter Dash), Tiffany Ortiz (/) (500 Meter Dash; 4x400 Relay), Maera Ochieng-Onyango (Montclair, NJ/Montclair) (500 Meter Dash; Long Jump), Grace Sabaya (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) (800 Meter Run), Nahdiyyah Hogue (Newark, NJ/Newark Early College) (1000 Meter Run), April Gutierrez (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) (3000 Meter Run), Natalia Ordonez (Weehawken, NJ/Weehawken) (3000 Meter Run), Kyla Lewis (Roselle, NJ/Abraham Clark) (Shot Put), Destiny Gittens (/) (Shot Put), Shantell Worrell (Shot Put), and Violeta Sanders (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic) (4x400 Relay).
 
Robinson and Lewis put in a pair of the strongest performances, with 19th- and 16th-place finishes in the 400-Meter Dash (1:02.66) and Shot Put (8.65 Meters), respectively.
 
"Kyla got off to a great start with an indoor personal record in the shot put for her," O'Neill noted. "Xarial and Zahria also got off to solid starts in the 200, with a pair of PRs, and Grace had a strong debut in the 800 and showed a lot of potential out there as she adapts to the college racing circuit."
 
UP NEXT:
NJCU heads back to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Friday, December 13 to compete in the Wagner College Shootout with the meet getting under way at 2:00 p.m.
 
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