STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The New Jersey City University men's and women's track & field teams resumed competition for their indoor seasons today, Friday, Jan. 12, for the first time in 2024. NJCU competed at the Spartan Invitational, hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas College at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Facility.

As mentioned, the highlights on the day for the Gothic Knights included men's senior captain Jake Sisk (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway), his classmate Jaime Tlatelpa (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter) and sophomore thrower Sirell Clark (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter). Sisk, who placed fourth overall in the 800-meter event out of 49 runners with an indoor-personal-best time of 1:58.19, came as close to breaking that indoor program record as anyone has since 2009. Tlatelpa bettered his one-mile personal record with the second-best time in NJCU indoor history, placing 41st out of 76 runners with a time of 4:37.31. Finally, Clark placed 24th out of 59 throwers in the shot put with a personal record toss of 11.41 meters, while also notching a toss of 11.80 meters in the weight throw — a personal record — to place 27th out of 47. That distance also ranks fourth all-time in program history.

The men's distance medley relay now ranks 10th all-time in indoor program history after placing 15th out of 25 finishing teams with a time of 11:13.38. That squad included Tlatelpa, Sisk, graduate student Adnan Kpodo (Irvington, N.J./Irvington) and senior Topu Saha (Jersey City, N.J./William L. Dickinson). The latter also PRed in the mile with a time of 4:50.68. Sophomore Juan Mercedes Cruz (El Seybo, Dominican Republic/Manville) PRed in the 200-meter dash and place 63rd out of 110 runners with a time of 24.09.

On the women's side, senior co-captain Ayriana Young (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) notched an indoor PR in the 200m (27.74) and a collegiate PR in the 400-meter dash (1:02.29). She placed 21st out of 80 finishing runners in the 200m and came in 14th out of 54 runners in the 400m. Additionally, sophomore Shyanne Anson (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) notched a personal record-toss of 9.59 meters in the weight throw to place 34th out of 51 throwers. She also PRed in the shot put with a throw of 8.70m to come in 32nd out of 48 competitors.

Up Next:
Both NJCU squads prep for their first competition at The New York City Armory this season as they head out there for the Ramapo College Opener on Friday, Jan. 19, beginning at 10:00 a.m.