NEW YORK — The New Jersey City University men's and women's track & field squads hit the fast track at the New Balance Center at The Armory today, Friday, Jan. 21, and had some impressive showings. Senior captain Dave Etienne (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) made his first appearance of the New Year and headlined the day for the Gothic Knights.

The NJCU men picked up an 11th-place finish out of the 19 teams that scored, while the women had no team scoring. Etienne played a large part in that overall team score, picking up a first-place finish in the men's 200 meter dash. The fourth-year Gothic Knight took first overall with a time of 22.27, outpacing 50 other competitors in the event, including 27 Division I and II opponents. His time, which is a season-best, now ties him for eighth on the 2021-22 NCAA Division III indoor performance list for the 200m. He also took home second place in the men's 400 meter event with a time of 50.06, finishing ahead of 36 other runners, including 21 DI and II foes.

Some other standouts for the Jersey City men were juniors Jaime Tlatelpa (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter) and Tyneil Jackson (Jersey City, N.J./Ferris). Tlatelpa took home 12th place in the 3,000 meter race with a time of 9:45.15. Jackson made the podium in the triple jump, taking home sixth place with a leap of 12.49 meters.

On the women's side, junior Polina Agutina (Evaptoria, Ukraine/Number 6) just missed out on the podium in the long jump, clocking in with a season-best leap of 4.85 meters to place ninth out of 18 competitors, including six Division I and II foes. Sophomore Shantel Worrell (Jersey City, N.J./Snyder) notched a season-best throw of 8.47 meters in the shot put to place 17th overall.

Up Next:
The Gothic Knights will now take a week off before resuming competition back at The Armory on Friday afternoon, Feb. 4, for the NYC DIII Invitational. Action is scheduled to being at 4:30 p.m.