STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The New Jersey City University men's and women's track & field programs, who hosted to the first New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships since 2019 on Monday, Feb. 21, had an up and down day at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex. The highlight of the event for the Gothic Knights was junior jumper Polina Agutina (Evaptoria, Ukraine/Number 6), who — in just the second triple jump competition of her career — claimed the NJAC title with an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) qualifying personal-best leap of 11.20m.

Overall, Rowan University claimed the men's team championship, while the Gothic Knights placed 10th. On the women's side, The College of New Jersey earned the team title, while NJCU placed ninth.

For Jersey City, starting on the men's side of things, senior sprints captain Dave Etienne (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) was the first to score, grabbing three points in the standings. He competed in the men's 200m dash finals and placed sixth overall out of 24 runners with an ECAC qualifying time of 22.31 on the banked track. Also scoring on the day for the NJCU men was the 4x200m relay squad — comprised of Etienne and juniors Jason Garcia (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson), Xavier Freeman (Newark, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep) and Roger Campbell (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) — which placed fifth overall despite a drop of the baton. The Gothic Knights posted a time of 1:34.31 to earn four points to their team score.

Jersey City grabbed two more points in the standings with a seventh-place finish in the 4x400m relay as sophomore Jake Sisk (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) and juniors Donald Luxama (Woodbridge, N.J./Woodbridge), Emmanuel Chinonso Abarah (Irvington, N.J./Irvington) and Adnan Kpodo (Irvington, N.J./Irvington) came in with a season-best time of 3:47.92. Lastly, the Gothic Knights' distance medley relay squad grabbed one point in the standings by placing eighth. The team of junior Jaime Tlatelpa (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter), Abarah, Sisk and sophomore Topu Saha (Jersey City, N.J./William L. Dickinson) finished with a season-best time of 11:17.88.

On the women's side in the track events, NJCU's 4x200m relay squad of Agutina, junior Tiffany Ortiz (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter), freshman Ashley Adames and freshman Nyla Boyd (Thomson, Ga./Thomson) scored three points for the Gothic Knights with a sixth-place finish in a season-best 1:54.46. Then, JC's distance medley relay placed sixth to earn three points, as well, as the team of sophomore Jackeline Lopez (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth), Boyd, Adames and senior captain April Gutierrez (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson) finished with a season-best time of 15:00.69.

On the field side of things, Agutina — after a tough no-scoring showing in the long jump with a 4.76m to place 13th — came roaring back to claim the NJAC Women's Indoor Track & Field triple jump championship with her personal-best jump of 11.20m. This earned her team 10 points in the standings and also garners Agutina First Team All-NJAC accolades to go with her Second Team honors from last year's outdoor long jump.

Up Next:
Jersey City returns right back to Ocean Breeze in several days as the squads are set to compete at the Fasttrack Last Chance Invitational on Friday, Feb. 25, beginning at 2:00 p.m.