TRACK

The COVID-19 pandemic hit Clifton’s track squads particularly hard. Numbers suffered the last few years but seem to be ticking up, giving the Mustangs optimism that this spring can be another successful one.

“We always finish respectably,” said girls head coach Kareem West. “But the last few years with numbers down, the girls team hasn’t come in first place in a while. We do have some better numbers this year and hopefully we can overcome that threshold and win something.

As they look to take down rival Passaic County Tech in both division and county competition, they’ll rely heavily on senior Remy Dubac, one of the program’s greatest-ever athletes.

Dubac is the program record holder in the 1500m and 3000m and holds a host of indoor records for Clifton, as well. Junior Deborah Amoh will compete in the high hurdles, long jump, high jump (wherein she jumps an impres- sive five feet) and as one of the legs of the Mustangs’ 4x4 relay team. Sophomore Mia DeVita is positioning herself as the face of the program’s future. DeVita is a sprinter and a leg of the 4x4 group and has impressed West with her consistent improvement.

As for head coach John Pontes and the Mustang boys, the team will look for another big year from senior Hisham Ettayebi, who broke the legendary Jacob Heredia’s indoor mark in the 2-mile with a time of 9:24.

Seniors Ben Nelkin and Christian Grant lead a strong sprinting group. Grant also competes as a long jumper. The Mustangs boast a talented trio of throwers, as well, in senior Nazareth Aquino, senior Melvin Almonte and junior Elias Ragsdale. Sophomore Lamarr Olive is a young standout in distance events.

“I think we’ve got a lot of potential, but as any coach would say, potential is a dangerous thing,” Pontes said. “We can’t make it dangerous to us. We have to make it dangerous to our opponents.”

Mike Velez knows winning lacrosse.

The first-year Mustangs head coach has been part of title teams at Glen Ridge and Madison, and has also had coaching stints at Bergen Catholic and Kean University. And although he is candid about the state of his program as it heads into the 2023 season, he is hopeful that this can be the first year of something special.

“We are young,” Velez said. “It’s a work in progress. I am not going to sugar coat it. But in the end, it’s lacrosse. We have to pick up the ball, have good stick skills and score.”