WASHINGTON (October 8, 2022) – Howard University men's and women's swimming & diving teams dominated Mount St. Mary's (MSM) Saturday afternoon inside Burr Gym Pool, winning 10-of-12 events on both sides.
The women defeated MSM, 144-69, while the men cruised to victory, 151-47.
BISON WOMEN 144, MOUNT ST. MARY'S 69
Senior
Teyana Johnson (San Antonio), reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Women's Diver of the Week, gave the Bison their first win of the day when she won the 1-Meter Dive with a score of 216.75.
Recording a time of 4:00.13,
Jorden Hill (Birmingham, Ala.),
Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson (Nassau, Bahamas),
Zuilda Nwaeze (Colombia, Md.) and
Isabella Fountain (White Plains, N.Y.) kicked off the swimming events with a first-place finish in the women's 400 Medley Relay. The group maintained a healthy lead throughout the event, beating the competition by over six seconds.
HU's Fountain,
Rianna Martin (Pompano Beach, Fla.),
Eryn Levy (Humble, Texas) and
Skylar Debnam (Chandler, Ariz.) went on to win the 400 Free with a time of 3:37.91. Howard's A relay team was not far behind, swimming to a second-place finish (3:38.24).
Z. Thompson and Debnam had standout performances individually. Both Bison finished the meet with two individual first place finishes in addition to their relay wins.
Thompson claimed first in the 200 IM (2:11.86) and 200 Breast (2:27.66). With a time of 1:59.07, Debnam raced to an exciting finish in the 200-Free, beating The Mount's Abby Steckiel by 00:00.05. The freshman went on to pull away from the competition, easing pass the closest competitor by nearly seven seconds in the 500-Free (5:21.13).
Howard also found individual first place finishes from Zwaeze (200 Fly; 2:11.12),
Courtney Connolly (White Lake, Mich.; 100 Free; 55.30) and
Jorden Hill (Birmingham, Ala.; 200 Back; 2:14.59).
BISON MEN 151, MOUNT ST. MARY'S 47
The men's team had just as strong of a showing. For the second time this season, HU swept the relay events. Howard's A relay team, consisting of
Miles Simon (Atlanta, Ga.),
Darin Johnson (Atascocita, Texas),
Mark-Anthony Beckles (Chaguanas, Trinidad & Tobago) and
Arion Solomon (Fairburn, Ga.), swam a time of 3:24.48 in the 400-Medley Relay.
With a time of 3:07.36, HU's Beckles, Solomon,
Taj Benton (Baltimore) and
Spencer Miles (Lynchburg, Va.) took the top prize in the 400-Free Relay.
Simon earned two induvial first place finishes in the 200 IM (1:57.29) and 100 Free (45.72) while Beckles continued his contribution to today's win with his first-place title in the 50 Free (20.99).
Sophomore
Tai Afrik (Holland, Mich.) aided the Bison's win with his victory in the 200-Free (1:46.26).
Benton and
Ty Triche (Humble, Texas) collected first-place wins in the 200 Fly (1:58.04) and 500 Free (4:59.71), respectively.
The biggest lead of the day came in the 1000 Free when senior
Luke-Kennedy Thompson (Nassau, Bahamas) blew the competition out of the water, beating the next competitor by nearly 35 seconds (10:05.94).
Sophomore
Jordan Walker (San Antonio) eclipsed the competition, scoring 209.70 in the men's 1-Meter Dive, 33 points ahead of the next opponent.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The Bison are back in the pool Friday, October 28 at 5 p.m. as they compete against American University at the Reeves Aquatic Center.
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at
www.HUBison.com.
