October 29, 2011

October 29, 2011 -  The Howard University Swimming and Diving team traveled to Lexington, Virginia to the campus of Virginia Military Institute for a clash against VMI and North Carolina A&T.  Led by outstanding performance from a trio of young women, the Lady Bison recorded their first two victories of the year, a 137-81 victory over host VMI and a 132.5-110.5 triumph over fellow HBCU North Carolina A&T.

The men's team took four individual races in their tilt with VMI, but the Keydets speed and depth was too much to overcome as the Bison fell 182-107.

The aforementioned trio was led by freshman Briana Dillon.  Dillon (Katy, TX) won her third and fourth individual events of the season in style.  In her 100 breaststroke, Dillon stormed back in the final 25 to take the win in a time of 1:12.73, 10th fastest in Lady Bison history.  Later in the afternoon Dillon dominated the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:20.21, vaulting her into 7th all-time in HU's history for the event.

Sophomores Camille Dykes (Maplewood, MN) and Janai Ederaine (Corona, CA) joined Dillon in paving the way for the pair of team victories.  Dykes found herself 7th all-time in Lady Bison history after her first place time of 11:59.10 in the 1000 freestyle.  Dykes then took charge of the 200 individual medley, charging ahead in the final 100 for a season-best time of 2:25.96, the fifth Lady Bison victory of the day.

Ederaine showed her versatility with a terrific 500 freestyle victory.  Her time of 5:40.30 was the best for the Lady Bison this season and sits as the university's 9th best all-time.

Ederaine teamed with Dillon, sophomore Ashley Douglas (Missouri City, TX) and junior Summer Davis (Laverock, PA) to conclude the meet with a first place 200 freestyle relay time of 1:44.48.

Davis contributed two second-place finishes to the Lady Bison cause.  Her 1000 freestyle time of 12:08.47 was her best of 2011-2012 by 13 seconds and her 2nd place 200 backstroke time of 2:22.95 was an 8-second drop from two weeks ago.

Douglas tied for second in her 50 freestyle with a season best time of 26.05.  Fellow sophomore Nandi Ross (Capital Heights, MD) swam a career-best time of 2:48.01 in her 200 breaststroke while freshman Caleah Gregoire (Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago) took home second place honors in the 200 IM with a time of 2:32.23.  Junior E'lan Brewer also earned a second place finish in the 100 backstroke with a season-best time of 1:10.87.

The VMI men brought out the best in Bison men as Howard swam to the tune of 20 season best times.  The team's four individual victories were led by freshman Miles Hector.  Hector (Omaha, NE) took control in the front half of his 1000 freestyle and cruised to a first place time of 10:10.64.  Hector then battled early in his 500 freestyle, but pulled away at the halfway mark to earn his fourth individual victory of the season with a time of 4:58.60.

Sophomore Darell Hungerford (Clinton, MD) continued his winning ways.  His 1:00.17 was a season-best mark and Hungerford stands as the only Bison swimmer to defeat three different teams in this young season.  Later Hungerford took second place honors in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:21.07.

Junior Zadok Isaacs (Cantaro Village, Trinidad and Tobago) notched a thrilling victory in the 100 butterfly.  Isaacs used his length in the final 25 to take the race with a time of 54.49.  This victory was proceeded by his 200 butterfly time of 2:07.28, good for second place.

Isaacs concluded the afternoon for the men by leading the 200 freestyle relay to a second place finish.  He blitzed his way to the team's fastest 50 freestyle split of the season (22.04.)  Combining with Hungerford and freshmen Dexter Brown (Pearland, TX) and Trent Popovich (Morro Bay, CA,) the team earned their fastest relay split of the season with a 1:30.04.

Brown also had a career-best swim in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.71, good for second place.

"We've had a rigorous October and we responded with some gritty swims," said head coach Matt Salerno. "It's great to see the Lady Bison generate two wins with some all-around performances.  The men fought very hard and we couldn't be more pleased with how tough they fought against a terrific, deep team."

The Bison will host their first home meet on Saturday, November 12 at 1PM against the Loyola Greyhounds.