EWING, N.J. — The New Jersey City University men's and women's track & field programs competed over a three-day span at The College of New Jersey Invite and Multi this weekend, April 11-13. Among the performances for the Gothic Knights was yet another record-breaking 800-meter time for freshman Jezena Aponte (Jersey City, N.J./Snyder), a history-making display for junior Ashley Adames (Jersey City, N.J./County Prep) and another strong hammer throw from sophomore Sirell Clark (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter).

Starting with the women, Aponte last week broke a 23-year old program record in the 800m by more than six seconds. This weekend, the rookie mid-distance runner one-upped herself by breaking her own mark and is now atop the women's outdoor record book with a time of 2:25.30. That placed her third overall out of 41 runners at TCNJ, including 13 of the 14 other New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opponents. Adames also made Gothic Knight history, become the first student-athlete in the program's existence to compete in the women's heptathlon. She placed eighth overall with 3,032 points, combining the below performances to do so:

• 100-meter high hurdles — 17.71 (eighth)
• High jump — 1.35m (11th, personal record)
• Shot put — 6.72m (10th, personal record)
• 200m — 29.01 (seventh)
• Long jump — 4.29m (10th)
• Javelin — 18.97m (11th, personal record)
• 800m — 2:43.14 (sixth, personal record)

Sophomore Reyanna Henderson (Pemberton, N.J./Pemberton Two) PRed in the 100m (12.77) and 200m (26.32) events, while senior captain Ayriana Young (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) PRed in the 200m (26.46) — she also competed in the 100m. That pair, as well as Adames and Aponte, also teamed up to run the 4x400m relay with a time of 4:13.89 to place third out of nine teams, including four NJAC opponents. In the field, rookie Lucy Pelaez (Jersey City, N.J./Snyder) PRed in the shot put (7.87m) and debuted in the discus (20.40m) and hammer (18.39m), while junior Evie Tahmazian (Tinton Falls, N.J./Monmouth Regional) PRed in the hammer (31.28m).

For the NJCU men, senior Jaime Tlatelpa (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter) once again competed in the 1,500m and he ran the sixth-fastest time in program history at 4:19.35. Clark, as mentioned, shined in the hammer as he placed 12th out of 31 throwers with a toss of 39.12m, which ranks third all-time in program history. Freshman Ethan Graham (Woodbridge, N.J./John F. Kennedy Memorial) also competed in the shot put (8.39m) and PRed in the hammer (16.78m).

Up Next:
The Gothic Knights get ready to travel down to Maryland for the second time this outdoor season. NJCU will competed on Friday and Saturday, April 19-20, in Baltimore for the Morgan State University Legacy.