MILTON, N.Y. — The New Jersey City University men's and women's cross country squads put forth yet another competitive set of performances on Saturday, Oct. 9, earning third-place and sixth-place finishes, respectively, at the 13th Annual Mount Saint Mary College Knight Invitational at the Hudson Valley Sports Dome.

On the men's side, the Gothic Knights' third-place finish out of the nine competing programs is NJCU's fourth top-three finish in its four events this season. Today, Jersey City was once again led by sophomore Julius Libutsi (Jersey City, N.J./William L. Dickinson) who placed in the top 10 (ninth) out of 74 runners in the 8K event with a time of 28:47.80.

Behind him was junior Jaime Tlatelpa (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter) who came in 14th in a time of 30:11.20, followed immediately by sophomore Erich Fennelly (Stewartsville, N.J./Phillipsburg) in 15th place with a time of 30:16.90. In 21st place was another sophomore in Topu Saha (Jersey City, N.J./William L. Dickinson) who crossed the finish line with a time of 30:44.80. Then in 25th place was another second-year Gothic Knight, Jake Sisk (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) who posted a time of 31:11.50, followed closely by junior Jose Recinos (Union City, N.J./Union City) in 27th with a time of 31:46.50. Four other Knights placed in the top 50 as well.

On the women's side, sophomore Tiffany Ortiz (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter) notched a seventh-place finish in the 6K event with a time of 28:14.40 to help her team in its sixth-place finish. In all, six Gothic Knights ran for the women. Senior captain April Gutierrez (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) also came in the top 10 as she placed ninth out of the 67 competitors with a time of 28:25.40.

Rookie Nyla Boyd (Thomson, Ga./Thomson), junior Polina Agutina (Evaptoria, Ukraine/Number 6) and sophomore Jonalee Perez (/) all finished within the top 50 on the day with times of 35:15.00 (46th), 35:38.50 (48th) and 36:10.10 (50th), respectively. Sophomore Jackeline Lopez (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) was just outside the top 50 as she came in 53rd with a time of 36:56.90.

Up Next:
Both squads return to the course next Saturday, Oct. 16, for the 21st Annual SJC Invitational, hosted by St. Joseph's College-L.I. at Sunken Meadow State Park in King Park, N.Y.