BISON WOMEN STORM PAST N.C. A&T
Written by Matt Salerno
The Howard University swimming program finished their dual meet season on Saturday, Feb. 2 competing against some of the best talent the CCSA showcases. Traveling to Davidson College, the trip was highlighted by the Lady Bison coming away with their third victory of the season against the North Carolina A&T Lady Aggies, 162-82.
Howard's men dropped their lone contest to the host Wildcats by the score of 191-87. The Lady Bison fell to Liberty University, Georgia Southern University, Radford University and host Davidson.
In taking down the Lady Aggies, the Howard women won 11 of 14 races against N.C. A&T. The surge was led by juniors Ashley Douglas (Missouri City, Texas) and Janai Ederaine (Corona, Calif.) Douglas picked up two individual victories in defeating Radford and N.C. A&T in the 50 freestyle with her dual meet best time of 25.13. Ederaine notched three individual victories of her own. First, in the 200 butterfly, Ederaine took down the Lady Aggies with a time of 2:24.93. Her final individual event of the day saw the Ederaine defeat the Radford and N.C. A&T women in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:20.89.
Ederaine teamed with sophomore Briana Dillon (Katy, Texas) to finish 1-2 against the Lady Aggies in the 100 freestyle. In defeating N.C. A&T, Dillon also squashed Radford with her time of: 56.21. The three aforementioned Lady Bison joined freshman Benta Horton-Gee (Baltimore, Md.) to win the opening 200 medley relay against Radford and N.C. A&T with a time of 1:56.70. Douglas and Horton-Gee also closed the meet with a victorious 400 freestyle relay against Radford and N.C. A&T. Combined with seniors Summer Davis (Laverock, Pa.) and E'lan Brewer (Lansing, Mich.) the women earned their first two victories of the season in that event with a time of 3:49.05.
Davis corralled two individual victories of her own with two season-best swim. First, Davis captured the 100 backstroke against the Lady Aggies with a time of 1:06.55. Later in the 200 backstroke, Davis took down N.C. A&T with a time of 2:22.72. Brewer notched two victories in the 200 and 500 freestyles against the Lady Aggies. In the 200 freestyle, she won with a time of 2:07.24 and later, in the 500 freestyle, Brewer was triumphant with a time of 5:50.18.
Junior Camille Dykes (Maplewood, Minn.) could also lay claim to a victory. Her time of 12:04.62 in the 1000 freestyle took out the Lady Aggies, her second victory in that event this season.
The Bison men had their share of highlights, as well. Sophomore Miles Hector (Omaha, Neb.) was terrific in winning the 1000 freestyle. His time of 10:11.25 was his best of the season. Fellow sophomore Trent Popovich (Morro Bay, Calif.) swam his fastest 100 backstroke split of the season - :54.72 - en route to a second place finish. Senior Zadok Isaacs (Cantaro Village, Trinidad and Tobago) also tallied a second place finish in the 50 freestyle with a time of :22.09.
The Bison swimmers will now get ready for 2013 Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Championships at the University of Georgia. Competition runs from Thursday, Feb. 21 through Saturday, February 23.
