Rogers Sparkles for Bison Against Hoyas
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In the team's final tune-up
before their most significant meet of the season, the Howard Bison
women's and men's swimming and diving teams braved the snow and
hills of Northwest DC to face the Georgetown Hoyas on Saturday
afternoon. The Bison continue to make their way towards
season-best swims, but the Hoyas proved too much for Howard to
handle. Georgetown took care of both meets by winning the
women's contest 106-81 and the men's 110-101.
"Since October, we have met every challenge head-on with great
intensity and purpose," said head coach Matt Salerno. "We
could not be more pleased with the progress each individual is
making as we head to our Conference Championship."
Senior Alyssa Rogers was the star of the afternoon for the Lady
Bison. Rogers breaststroke times continue to shrink with
every meet. Her first victory on the afternoon was in the 100
breaststroke, going toe-to-toe with the Hoyas' Kathryn Berg.
Rogers was too much, though, out-touching Berg for first
place honors with a time of 1:10.25. Later in the contest,
Rogers gained momentum as her 200 breaststroke progressed.
Her final time of 2:34.84 was a season-best and accounted for
Howard's two individual victories on the snowy afternoon.
Freshmen Chelsea Andrews narrowly missed securing the team other
first place finish. Her time in the 100 freestyle of 53.93
was only 0.10 seconds away from the Hoyas' Lindsay Vickory, but was
still good enough for second place. Andrews also earned third
place finishes in the 100 back (1:03.59) and the 100 fly (1:00.98.)
Her classmate Summer Davis finished third for the Bison in
the 400 IM while senior captain Polo Edwards tallied a third place
mark in the 500 freestyle.
On the men's side, freshman Zadok Isaacs fought valiantly for his
two second place finishes. His first was an exciting 200
backstroke race that saw him reach for a time of 2:03.47. His
second was a well-executed 400 IM that saw the native of Trinidad
and Tobago finish in a time of 4:26.93.
Senior James Washington scored the only other second place finish
for the Bison with his season-best time in the 500 freestyle.
Fellow senior Brad Worrell notched the Bison's only third
place finish with a solid swim in the 100 freestyle.
"The team is taking advantage of every opportunity that they have
to race against some great competition," said Salerno. "Even
though we fell short on the scoreboard, this is a great way for us
to conclude our regular season schedule. We continue to
improve and keep our competitive drive, and that will pay dividends
as we move forward."
The Bison will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee for the 2010 Coastal
Collegiate Swimming Association Championship on February 18-20.