WASHINGTON, DC --- On Thursday night, the Howard Bison swimmers renewed their annual rivalry with the Catholic University of America Cardinals.  The Bison took nine races on the evening, but fell to the larger Cardinal squad.  The Lady Cardinals defeated the Lady Bison, 109-67 and the men fell to the host Cardinals, 111.5-82.5.
 
Juniors Benjamin Skelding (Palmdale, CA), Trent Popovich (Morro Bay, CA) and Dexter Brown (Pearland, TX) earned four of those victories for the Bison.  Skelding commenced his strong November competition month with two wins.  First in the 200-yard individual medley, Skelding earning a first-place, season-best mark of 2:06.50.  Later in the 100-yard backstroke, Skelding took first place honors with another season-best time of 57.58.
 
Popovich powered his way on the final lap of his 100-yard butterfly to earn a first-place tie with CUA in a time of 55.72.  Brown took his first race of the young season in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:03.64.
 
Freshman Jared Miller (Washington, DC) won for the third straight meet in resounding fashion.  In the 1000-yard freestyle, Miller took first place with his time of 10:50.01.  Later in the 500-yard freestyle, Miller finished in second place with a final time of 4:59.89, which etches him into fifth all-time in Bison history for the event. 
 
The women of Howard also took four first place finishes of their own.  Junior Ashley Douglas (Missouri City, TX) padded her victory total of the season to five with a convincing win in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 26.35.  Fellow junior Janai Ederaine (Corona, CA) took her fourth race of the season.  In the 200-yard individual medley, Ederaine swam a season-best mark with a winning time of 2:22.32.
 
Freshman Sydney Cooper (West Greenwich, RI) and sophomore Benta Horton-Gee (Baltimore, MD) garnered their first victories of the season.  Cooper took first place honors in the 100-yard breaststroke for her first career collegiate victory with a time of 1:15.40.  Horton-Gee was victorious in the 100-yard backstroke with a season-best time of 1:04.96.
 
The Bison will next be in action again in two days when they travel north to Baltimore to face the Loyola Greyhounds for a 1pm contest.