The New Jersey City University men's and women's track and field teams opened their spring campaign today, March 29, as both squads sent contingents to compete in the Towson University Invitational. New personal records were set on both sides, including a few all time NJCU performances. On the men's team, sophomore thrower Sirell Clark (Jersey City, N.J., University Academy Charter) highlighted the day by smashing the school record in the hammer throw. For the women, freshman distance runner Jezena Aponte (Jersey City, N.J., Snyder) also crushed a school record, beating out the previous Green and Gold record by nearly 10 seconds, to place eighth in today's meet. After all was said and done in Maryland, seven Gothic Knights put up new personal bests, as well as a couple more etching their name in the record books.

Men's:
Five athletes finished with new personal bests. Starting with Clark, he now holds the furthest mark in NJCU history in the hammer throw with a toss of 40.03 meters, just shy of three meters more than the previous record holder. Including his top spot, he holds four of the top 10 throws in program history. Clark also set a new personal best in the discus with a toss of 34.41 meters, destroying his previous best by over 10 meters.

Two more Gothic Knights added to the record books today. Graduate distance runner Adnan Kpodo (Irvington, N.J., Irvington) set a personal record in the 1500-meter dash with a 4:20.24 finish. Kpodo now has three top 10 Green and Gold marks ever in the event, and has the sixth best time in history with his performance today. Graduate distance runner Jaime Tlatelpa (Jersey City, N.J., University Academy Charter) also continued adding his name to NJCU history by running 16:37.65 in the 5000-meter dash today, good enough for fifth all time and 10th in today's competition. Tlatelpa now has six top 10 marks in Green and Gold history in the 5000 event.

Senior sprinter Jason Garcia (Jersey City, N.J., Dickinson) put up two new personal records. In the 200-meter dash, he ran a 22.56, and competed in the 100-meter dash, finishing with a mark of 11.08 seconds,. Sophomore sprinter Juan Mercedes Cruz (El Seybo, Dominican Republic, Manville) also set a new personal best with a mark of 11.27 seconds.

Women's:
In what was her collegiate outdoor debut, Aponte continued her impressive rookie campaign with an all time performance. She now hold's the best 1500-meter dash time in Green and Gold history with a debut mark of 5:08.98, beating out the previous record by 9.61 seconds.

Another pair of Gothic Knights set personal records. Senior sprinter Ayriana Young (Jersey City, N.J., McNair Academic) debuted in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.84 seconds, while also setting a personal best in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.56. Junior thrower Shyanne Anson (Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Poughkeepsie) threw a new career best in the shot put with a mark of 9.16 meters.

Up Next:
The next stop for the Gothic Knights will be in Collegeville, PA, as they are set to compete in the Ursinus Invite next weekend, April 5th-6th.