December 1, 2012

Written by Matthew Salerno

December 1, 2012 - From the opening race through the final relay, the Bison swimmers demonstrated a great deal of skill on fortitude in the CCSA conference competition against visiting Virginia Military Institute.  The Lady Bison were anchored by a number of outstanding performances and rolled to a 156-93 victory over the Lady Keydets. 

Despite taking seven events, including a scintillating final relay, the men's squad fell to the visiting Keydets, 172-115.

The Lady Bison dominance came from a triumvirate of swimmers that claimed the fastest times in each of the four events they swam.  Junior Janai Ederaine (Corona, CA) grabbed the spotlight early.  Swimming the 1650 freestyle for the first time in her career, Ederaine blasted her way into 3rd all-time in the Howard books with a winning time of 19:14.88.  In fact, Ederaine's lead-off 1000 split inside the 1650 was clocked at 11:37.46, which seats her 6th all-time in the 1000 freestyle all-time for the Lady Bison.  After intermission, Ederaine opened the restart with a victory in the 100 freestyle, clocking a 58.17.

Junior Ashley Douglas (Missouri City, TX) continued her masterful season with two dominant victories, running her season total to six individual wins on the season.  In the 50 freestyle, Douglas swam her fastest dual meet time of the season with a 25.22.  In the 100 butterfly, Douglas touched well ahead of the competition with a 1:04.32.

Sophomore Briana Dillon (Katy, TX) had another outstanding meet, also earning her fifth and sixth individual wins of the season.  In the 100 backstroke, Dillon took charge in the final 25 yards to triumph in a time of 1:01.36.  In her first 200 breaststroke race at Howard, Dillon took control early and finished with a winning time of 2:42.55.

Ederaine, Douglas and Dillon joined with senior Summer Davis (Laverock, PA) to set the tone for the Lady Bison in the first event.  The women's 200 medley relay swam the Bison power past the Lady Keydets with a victorious time of 1:57.12.  The meet for the women ended with Ederaine, Douglas and Dillon joining freshman Benta Horton-Gee to split the fastest time of the event in the 200 freestyle relay.   Their time of 1:43.30 paced the field by over six seconds. 

Davis had her most decorated meet in her Howard career.  Not only leading the charge in the 200 medley relay, but Davis went on to conquer the 200 butterfly (2:29.95) and the 200 backstroke (2:26.65) as well as scoring a second place finish in the 200 individual medley with a season-best time of 2:27.53.

Senior E'lan Brewer (Lansing, MI) and junior Nandi Ross (Capital Heights, MD) chalked-up victories for the Lady Bison.  Brewer battled the field in the 200 freestyle and came away with an impressive 2:06.00.  Ross overcame an oncoming field in the 100 breaststroke to notch a season-best, victorious time of 1:17.26.

The men's team brought some of their finer performances of the seasons to the home contest.  The loudest fireworks on the afternoon came in the final event with the 200 freestyle relay.  Anchored by senior Zadok Isaacs (Cantaro Village, Trinidad and Tobago,) the men's team of freshman Matt Wilson (Murietta, CA,) sophomores Trent Popovich (Morro Bay, CA) and Benjamin Skelding (Palmdale, CA) and Isaacs went toe-to-toe with Keydets.  Isaacs split of 21.15 was just enough for the Bison to finish a winning time of 1:31.05, just 0.03 seconds in front of VMI.

Earlier, Isaacs had an equally impressive come-from-behind win in the 200 backstroke.  His 2:02.43 time was his fastest dual meet split in the event.  Prior to taking the 200 back, Isaacs finished first in the 200 butterfly  with a 2:09.86.  His first individual race of the afternoon, saw the senior finish fourth in the 1650 freestyle.  His time of 18:15.67, though, was good for fourth all-time at HU in the event.

One of the swimmers in front of Isaacs was sophomore Miles Hector (Omaha, NE,) who took control midway through the event to win the 1650 freestyle in a time of 17:16.83.  Fellow sophomore Skelding accomplished the impressive feat of winning the 200 individual medley, the event immediately before the final 200 freestyle relay.  His time of 2:06.53 marked his first victory of the season.

Senior Kelvin Goodman (Berkeley, CA) also snatched his first victory of the year in the 200 breaststroke.  Goodman improved his season-best mark by over five seconds with a time of 2:22.11.  Junior Darell Hungerford (Clinton, MD) took the 100 breaststroke crown with a time of 1:02.15 and finished just behind Goodman in the 200 breaststroke for second place.

The Bison will be in action on Saturday, Decemeber 8th.  Howard will travel across the District to Georgetown to face the hosting Hoyas and Catholic University at 1PM.