GALLOWAY, N.J. — For just the second time since track & field returned as a varsity sport within the New Jersey City University athletics department in 2018-19, a Gothic Knight has claimed an individual New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) championship. The Green and Gold men's and women's track & field teams competed at the 2024 NJAC Outdoor Championships over the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5, on the campus of Stockton University. Senior captain Ayriana Young (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic) ran the eighth-fastest 100-meter hurdle time (14.54) in women's program history on Sunday and took home first place in the event out of the eight runners competing in the finals.
 
Young also became the first NJCU woman to take gold in the NJAC 100m-hurdle event since Denay Caldwell (NJCU Hall of Fame '17) won it three times in 2003, 2004 and 2006. Additionally, Young scored for the Gothic Knights today in the 100-meter finals, where she placed with a time of 12.86 after notching a personal-record time of 12.74 in yesterday's preliminaries. Her performances, combined with several others, helped the Green and Gold women to their best finish at a NJAC Outdoor Championship since 2009, when they also placed sixth.
 
Junior Reyanna Henderson (Pemberton, N.J./Pemberton Two) had a strong second day of competition, as well, as she competed in the finals for both the 200-meter dash and 400-meter race. She PRed in the 200m and placed sixth out of eight runners with a time of 25.81. Then she placed fourth out of nine runners in the 400m with a time of 59.60. Rookie sensation Jezena Aponte (Jersey City, N.J./Snyder) once again shattered records – both already her own – in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter events. She placed seventh out of 22 in the 800m with a time of 2:22.32, which topped her old record by nearly three seconds. Aponte clocked in at 4:49.23 in the 1,500m to place fourth out of 18 runners, topping her old record by nearly four seconds.
 
The women's 4x100m relay crossed the finish line with a time of 51.24, which placed fourth out of nine teams. The squad was made up of junior Ashley Adames (Jersey City, N.J./County Prep), Young, freshman Evelyn Wymer (Toronto, Ont./Notre Dame (H.S.)) and Henderson. Adames, Henderson, Young and Aponte teamed up to place seventh in the 4x400m relay with a time of 4:14.28. Adames also became the first Gothic Knight in history to compete in the NJAC outdoor heptathlon and she placed third overall with a total score of 3,141 – a program record.
 
On the NJCU men's side of things, the Gothic Knights took home 10th place, scoring in a couple of events. Those were the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, in which they placed eighth in both. Sophomore Pratt Charles (Jersey City, N.J./University Charter), senior Jason Garcia (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson), freshman David Reyes (Keasbey, N.J./John F. Kennedy Memorial) and junior Jon De Jesus (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy) combined for a time of 45.49 in the former and then Charles, graduate student Adnan Kpodo (Irvington, N.J./Irvington), sophomore Gerard Victor (Irvington, N.J./Payne Tech) and De Jesus posted a time of 3:33.57 in the latter.
 
In the world of personal records, graduate student Jaime Tlatelpa (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter) placed 17th out of 29 runners in the 800m with a time of 2:04.28, while senior Topu Saha (Jersey City, N.J./William L. Dickinson) was 23rd with a PR of 2:07.73. Kpodo (not a PR) placed 21st with a 2:06.82. Tlatelpa also competed in in the 1,500m event and placed 14th out of 20 runners with a time of 4:12.28, which is now third all-time in the NJCU men's outdoor record book. Finally, sophomore Sirell Clark (Jersey City, N.J./University Academy Charter) notched a PR in the discus throw with a time of 37.56 meters to place 14th out of 27 competitors.
 
Senior Day:
The Gothic Knights also took time during the day to honor its four graduating seniors in Garcia, Young, Saha and Josiah Ramkellawan (Jersey City, N.J./James J. Ferris). See the full album via the link at the top or directly below:
   
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights will send a contingent of competitors to Chester, Pa., on Monday, May 13, for the Widener University Last Chance meet as they hope to secure more qualifiers for the 2024 Outdoor All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Championships (AARTFC), which take place in Cortland, N.Y., on May 15-16.