December 12, 2005

NEW YORK - A last-minute invitation to the New York Athletic Club, which includes Olympic gold medal winners on its men’s and women’s swimming teams, provided Ana Ossa a chance to further her hold on the New Jersey Institute of Technology record book.

The NJIT women’s team accepted the invitation to the William McCarthy Memorial Meet at the NYAC, when one of the scheduled teams dropped out. The Highlanders joined a field that included Lehman College and the New York Athletic Club team.

Ossa earned victories in both the 50 and 100-yard breaststroke events, breaking her school record in the shorter race. In the 100, Ossa record in the second-fastest time in school history. In the 50-yard butterfly, Ossa grabbed a second-place finish, but in the process, surpassed her own school record, set a year ago.

The meet offered the NJIT women the opportunity to visit and compete at the NYAC, which sponsors swimming teams made up of former college swimmers who live in the area and want to continue competition after college.

Among those who swam for the New York Athletic Club on the night NJIT visited were Erik Vindt, a silver medalist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, and multiple Olympic gold medalist Jenny Thompson, who swam the final leg of the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay against NJIT’s Ana Ossa.

NJIT’s next scheduled meet is January 21 at 1 pm, when it will host Adelphi.