WASHINGTON, DC - The Howard University Bison opened their season in the water on Friday by traveling to American University for the Potomac Relay Invitational.  Competing against host American, Georgetown, George Mason, George Washington, Mary Washington and Towson, the Bison swam 17 tough relays and came away with some very impressive showings.

The loudest fireworks for Howard came on the last two events of the evening.  The women's 200 freestyle relay featured junior Cachanda Evans (Plainfield, NJ,) sophomores Chelsea Andrews (Glenside, PA) and E'lan Brewer (Lansing, MI) and freshman Janai Ederaine (Corona, CA.)  Their final time of 1:42.53 was good for sixth place, thier best of the evening, just ahead of Georgetown and Mary Washington.

The men's 200 freestyle relay closed the evening with a tremendous effort of their own.  Led by senior Damjan Strbac (Zagreb, Croatia,) junior Steven Lott (Los Angeles, CA,) sophomore Zadok Isaacs (Cantero Village, Trinidad and Tobago) and freshman Darell Hungerford (Clinton, MD,) the Bison battled to a sixth place time of 1:29.55, just 1.11 seconds behind first place Georgetown.

Other noteworthy relays were the women's 500 freestyle relay.  Senior Monique Major (Philadelphia, PA) joined Evans, Brewer and Andrews for a solid ninth place finish at a time of 5:03.51.  The men put up some excellent splits in their own 500 freestyle relay as senior Omar McKenzie (Nassau, Bahamas) teamed with Hungerford, Strbac and Isaacs to earn a seventh place time of 4:27.89.

"This was a terrific way for our team to begin our competitive season," said head coach Matt Salerno.  "It's always great to swim against such high-caliber, local talent.  We certainly are ahead of where we were last season and look to build from this start into the rest of the year."

The Bison women and men will now travel to Fredricksburg, VA to face the University of Mary Washington and the College of William and Mary on Saturday, October 16th.