STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The New Jersey City University men's and women's track & field teams were in action for indoor competition today, Friday, Dec. 3, for the first time in 640 days after last year consisted of only an outdoor season. The Gothic Knights were one of many programs to take part in the FastTrack Season Opener, hosted at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex. The day was highlighted by NJCU's men's senior captain Dave Etienne (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson), who set a personal record in the 500m with a time of 1:04.75, placing him second overall out of 35 runners, including ahead of 20 of 21 Division I and II competitors. On the women's side, junior Tiffany Ortiz (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter) made her debut in the 800m and took home 11th out of 31 runners with a time of 2:49.56.

There was no team scoring on the day and overall, a total of 23 Gothic Knights competed at Ocean Breeze on the day. Some other top performances for Jersey City on the day on the women's side came from freshman Nyla Boyd (Thomson, Ga./Thomson) and sophomore Shantel Worrell (Jersey City, N.J./Snyder). Boyd ran in the 800m and place 19th with a time of 2:49.72 and was also NJCU's only representative in the 200m, placing 37th out of 56 runners with a time of 29.14. Worrell notched a throw of 8.16m in the shot put, placing 29th overall.

On the men's side of things, several other Gothic Knights had standout performances. Junior Xavier Freeman (Newark, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep) also ran in the 500m and placed 24th with a time of 1:12.95. Sophomore Jake Sisk (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) was the lone JC representative in the 800m and came in 21st of 32 runners with a time of 2:05.84. Senior Fahim Chowdhury (Bayonne, N.J./County Prep) had a strong showing in the 5,000m, leading the way for NJCU with a 10th-place finish out of 20 runners with a time of 16:39.66. It was his first-ever indoor 5,000m race, but the time demolished his previous personal best, set outdoors last season at 18:25.19. Sophomore Julius Libutsi (Jersey City, N.J./William L. Dickinson) was right behind him in 11th with a time of 16:43.78 — that tops his personal best of 16:47.72, also set outdoors last season.

See below for the full batch of NJCU results on the day. Click this link (or the link above) for the full MileSplit results.
 

NJCU Women's Results
800m	Tiffany Ortiz (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter), 2:40.56 (11th of 31) Nyla Boyd (Thomson, Ga./Thomson), 2:49.72 (19th of 31)
200m	Nyla Boyd (Thomson, Ga./Thomson), 29:14 (37th of 56)
Shot Put	Shantel Worrell (Jersey City, N.J./Snyder), 8.16m (29th of 35) Destiny Gittens (Newark, N.J./Newark Tech), 7.29m (32nd of 35) Destiny Sabb (Irvington, N.J./North Star Academy), 6.32m (35th of 35)
5,000m	April Gutierrez (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson), 21:13.02 (9th of 9)
NJCU Men's Results
500m	Dave Etienne (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson), 1:04.75 (2nd of 35) Xavier Freeman (Newark, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep), 1:12.95 (24th of 35) Donald Luxama (Woodbridge, N.J./Woodbridge), 1:21.02 (32nd of 35)
800m	Jake Sisk (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway), 2:05.84 (21st of 32)
200m	Tyneil Jackson (Jersey City, N.J./Ferris), 24.28 (41st of 69) Josiah Ramkellawan (Jersey City, N.J./James J. Ferris), 27.04 (68th of 69) Raphael Castro (Union City, N.J./Union City), 28.20 (69th of 69)
3,000m	Elvis Rosas (West New York, N.J./Memorial), 10:17.90 (23rd of 31) Adnan Kpodo (Irvington, N.J./Irvington), 10:24.21 (26th of 31) Denilson Lopez (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth), 10:43.67 (29th of 31) Vladimir Pericles (Elizabeth, N.J./Thomas Edison Academy), 10:47.20 (30th of 31)
Long Jump	Tyneil Jackson (Jersey City, N.J./Ferris), 4.99m (38th of 40)
Triple Jump	Tyneil Jackson (Jersey City, N.J./Ferris), 11.21m (14th of 14)
5,000m	Fahim Chowdhury (Bayonne, N.J./County Prep), 16:39.66 (10th of 20) Julius Libutsi (Jersey City, N.J./William L. Dickinson), 16:43.78 (11th of 20) Jose Recinos (Union City, N.J./Union City), 16:46.68 (12th of 20) Jaime Tlatelpa (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter), 16:47.94 (13th of 20) Topu Saha (Jersey City, N.J./William L. Dickinson), 16:59.29 (16th of 20)

Up Next:
The Gothic Knights now take a week to recover before returning to the same place at the same time next Friday, Dec. 10, for the Seahawk Shootout, hosted by Wagner College.