STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University men's track and field team competed at the 2019-20 New Jersey Athletic Conference Indoor Championships at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on February 24. The team finished with 28 points to take seventh place, a two-spot improvement from their 2018-19 NJAC Indoor Championships finish.
 
Sophomore star, Dave Etienne (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson), led the team with 14 points collected individually, while freshman basketball player turned sprinter Jason Garcia (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) collected the other three individual points for the Knights. The remaining 11 points came from the Knights' four relay teams.
 
Etienne competed in two individual races: the 200- and 400-Meter Dashes. In the 200, Etienne took second, with a time of 22.53; in the 400, he took third with a time of 50.56.
 
Garcia's three points came from a sixth-place finish in the 60-Meter Dash, thanks to a time of 7.20. The freshman sprinter had a PR in the prelims, finishing in a pacey 7.08.
 
In the relays, the Knights' best finish was fifth in the 4x200-Meter Relay. The Knights finished in 1:34.27 and fielded a lineup comprised of: Xavier Freeman (Newark, NJ/St. Benedict's Prep), Jon DeJesus (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy), Garcia, and Kalel Redd (Somerset, NJ/Franklin).
 
They took sixth in both the 4x400-Meter Relay, as well as the Distance Medley, with times of 3:38.09 and 11:19.74, respectively. The 4x4 team was made up of: Freeman, DeJesus, Redd, and Jaskirt Singh (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson), while the Distance Medley was: Jaime Tlatelpa (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter), Samuel Colon III (Newark, NJ/Eagle Academy), Adnan Kpodo (Irvington, NJ/Irvington), and Jose Recinos (Union City, NJ/Union City). 
 
Several Knights finished just a hair outside of the scoring, including Freeman taking ninth in the 200, Singh taking ninth in the 500, and Tyneil Jackson taking 13th in the Triple Jump.

In addition, several Knights had PRs: Matt Davis and Javier Baez (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) in the shot put; Emmanuel Chinonso Abarah (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) and Donald Luxama (Woodbridge, NJ/Woodbridge) in the 500; Denilson Lopez ???????and Ali Chaudhry (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris) in the 800; and Jon DeJesus (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy) in the 60.
 
UP NEXT:
NJCU has their Last Chance meet, coming at the Armory in New York on Friday, February 28 in Manhattan.
 
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