On the final day of their 2012-2013 competition season, the Howard Bison swimming program finished their campaign with two more university records and more impressive showings during the finals session.
The Lady Bison can claim two new relay records, bringing their total to four for the weekend. Senior E'lan Brewer (Lansing, Mich.) juniors Ashley Douglas (Missouri City, Texas) and Janai Ederaine (Corona, Calif.) and sophomore Briana Dillon (Katy, Texas) all played significant roles in both the 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay. Swimming the 200 freestyle relay for the second time at the meet, the Lady Bison took charge of the heat and grabbed the university record that had stood for over seven years with a time of 1:36.98. Douglas' leadoff leg split of 24.02 now places her 4th all-time in Howard history for the 50 free.
To conclude the evening, Ederaine, Brewer, Douglas and Dillon repeated their feat by posting a new Howard record time of 3:34.92 in the 400 freestyle relay, placing them seventth overall in the event. This marked the highest finish for the Lady Bison in any event in the competition.
Douglas, along with senior Summer Davis (Laverock, PA) and junior Nandi Ross (Capital Heights, Md.) swam their way into the Lady Bison Top-10 list. Douglas' career-best mark in the 100 freestyle – 54.28 – places her ninth all-time. Davis' 200 backstroke time of 2:16.10 has her in fourth place all-time in Lady Bison history while Ross' personal best 200 breaststroke time of 2:40.25 vaults her into 7th place all-time in the event.
The men's team showcased the most swimmers in the final round of the CCSA Championships in any year of the conference's existence. The team's highest finish on the evening came in the 100 freestyle where senior Zadok Isaacs (Cantaro Village, Trinidad and Tobago) swam his final individual collegiate race. In the preliminary round, Isaacs posted a time of 46.41, vaulting him into 3rd all-time at Howard. After his championship round swim, the senior finished in seventh place.
Sophomore Trent Popovich (Morro Bay, Calif.) joined Isaacs in the 100 freestyle. Seeded 16thgoing into the consolation round, Popovich fired a career-best time of 48.27 and moved up to 13th place.
Nine other Bison men earned the right to swim in the final rounds on Saturday night. Sophomore Miles Hector (Omaha, Neb.) was terrific in the 1650 freestyle. In winning the preliminary round, Hector swam a season-best 16:34.81, good for ninth place overall. In the 200 backstroke, sophomore Benjamin Skelding (Palmdale, Calif.) swam a season-best time of 1:59.57 while senior Darien Washington (Detroit, MI) finished with a career-best mark of 2:09.59. Skelding and Washington finished in 13th and 14th respectively. Freshman Matt Wilson (Murrieta, Calif.) returned for a second swim in the 200 butterfly. His career-best mark of 2:07.37 was good for 12th place.
The Bison were well-represented in the 200 breaststroke. In the consolation round, sophomore Dexter Brown (Pearland, Texas) swam a season-best time of 2:11.68 en route to an 11th place finish. Senior Kelvin Goodman (Berkeley, Calif.) swam his best race of the season with his 200 breaststroke time of 2:14.39. Sophomore Mohamed Bouzaghrane (Marrakech, Morocco) earned his way onto the Bison Top-10 with his preliminary round swim. Bouzaghrane's career-best time of 2:16.67 puts him eighth all-time. Junior Darell Hungerford (Clinton, Md.) notched his season-best mark in the event after posting a time of 2:18.20 in the consolation round. Goodman (14th,) Bouzaghrane (15th) and Hungerford (16th) joined Brown to score points for the Bison.
To close the competition the men's 400 freestyle relay comprised of Brown, Skelding, Popovich and Isaacs swam the fourth-fastest time in Bison history with a time of 3:11.20, beating VMI for fourth place.
The Bison women finished the meet in 11th place with 84 points. Florida Gulf Coast University took the CCSA Women's Championship for the fifth straight season, scoring 712 points. The Bison men finished the conference championship in fifth place with 262 points. Davidson College secured the men's crown for the third time with 906.5 points.
