Staten Island, NY | Head Coach Jason McFall and the College of Staten Island cross-country and track & field program is proud to announce the celebratory signing of James I. O’Neill High School senior Ameera Mustafa. The West Point native will be featured on the CSI terrain and the coaches could not be more excited to welcome the former three-sport star to the College.
Mustafa is ready to hit the ground running, pun intended. She was a volleyball, basketball, and track & field athlete while with the Highland Falls school, and as a year-round athlete, she was taken in by the campus and the coaching staff.
“I chose the College of Staten Island because the coaches at CSI have a winning attitude and I knew they would shape me into a better and more competitive athlete,” said Mustafa.
Mustafa was named Most Valuable Player for the Raiders track program during her attendance there. She qualified for the State Championships as a freshman and placed sixth in the 4×400 and as a sophomore in the 4×800. Alongside her exploits on the track, Mustafa played libero for the varsity volleyball squad and ran point on the basketball hardwood.
Her hopes at CSI are simple. “I plan to have an impact on the program by being a hard-working student-athlete,” she said.
Coach McFall is confident that Mustafa will enter with a tremendous head of steam, and will contribute early and often to the infant program.
“Ameera will add much-needed depth to our beginning sprint core as she can range from the 55m to the 400IH,” he said. “Having a capable leg on all the relays; 4×100, 4×400 and even the 4×800 gives us more firepower to work with. Ameera, coupled with our other incoming freshmen, will contend with some of the best runners in our conference and the area. She has competed in one of the tougher regions in the area in Orange County and still has a lot of growing to do. Ameera will not only be an asset as a quality leg on our relays, but she will stand on her laurels as a quality runner as well.”
The daughter of Sheryl Marion and Saeed Mustafa, Ameera has three older siblings, Steve, Juanita, and Halima. A highly-decorated athlete, Ameera is just as accomplished in the classroom, having been named a Menzo & Cathy Mims, and Reverend Robert L Moss Memorial Scholarship recipient.
The CSI cross-country season gets underway this September and will lead to both indoor and outdoor track & field seasons through the winter and spring. Track & Field has operated as a club team but will be full varsity in 2018-19, and thanks to the likes of Mustafa, it promises to be an exciting turn for the young program.
