PITMAN, NJ --- The College of New Jersey senior Lucia Garcia-Beltran (Hopewell, NJ/Hopewell Valley Central) has been selected as the NJAC's Thomas M. Gerrity Most Outstanding Athlete to highlight the 2026 NJAC Women's Outdoor Track & Field All-Conference Team.
 
Additionally, Rowan University sophomore Nyla Jones (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) was named Outstanding Track Athlete; Stockton University junior Elaina Styer (Estell Manor, NJ/Ocean City) was named Outstanding Field Athlete; and Stockton freshman Joie Buxton (Galloway, NJ/Absegami) was named Rookie of the Year. Rowan's coaching staff led by Shedrick Elliott III was voted the Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
All-Conference honors were determined by finish at the recent NJAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship and major awards were voted on by the league's nine head coaches.
 
Garcia-Beltran turned in one of the standout individual performances of the championship meet, sweeping the 100 and 200 meter dashes and anchoring TCNJ's winning 4x100 relay. She posted an 11.86 in the 100 meters — her season-best 11.74 ranks 10th in NCAA Division III — and tied the NJAC championship meet record in the 200 meters with a 24.19, a time that also sits tied for 10th in D3 this season. To cap her day, she brought home the Lions' 4x100 relay in 46.83 seconds, the 14th-fastest time in D3 this season.
 
Jones swept the hurdles events at the conference championship for the second straight year, earning gold in both the 100 and 400 meter hurdles. In the 100 hurdles, she clocked a 13.95 to break the NJAC championship meet record of 14.03 set by Rowan's Darielle Cross in 2019, and that time ranks among the top 10 in D3 this season. Her season-best 13.92 has her ranked ninth in D3. Jones won the 400 hurdles in 1:02.26, and her season-best 1:00.26 ranks seventh in D3 this season.
 
Styer earned the conference's top field athlete honor after winning the high jump with a season-best clearance of 1.67 meters, which ranks tied for 15th in D3 this season. She also placed second in the long jump with a leap of 5.40 meters and was runner-up in the 100 hurdles, posting a season-best 14.22 in the preliminary round that ranks 14th in D3. Styer additionally ranks fourth in D3 in the heptathlon this season.
 
Buxton, the conference's top newcomer, enjoyed a dominant freshman season in the javelin, winning the event at every meet she entered and earning three NJAC weekly awards in six regular season weeks. She capped her debut campaign by winning the conference championship javelin throw by more than four meters with a season-best toss of 44.25 meters, a mark that moved her to fourth in D3 this season.
 
Rowan's coaching staff — led by Shedrick Elliott III and including Eric DuBois, Joseph Kalnas, Jassina Surles, Ryan Gebhardt, John Oberg, and Milton Goode — earned the Coaching Staff of the Year honor after guiding the Profs to their first outdoor team title since 2019. Rowan accumulated 211.50 points to edge TCNJ by 4.5 points behind five gold medals, seven silver medals, and six bronze medals at the championship meet. The title completed a sweep of the women's track and field season for Rowan, which also claimed the indoor title this year.
 

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