WASHINGTON (January 20, 2024) - The men of Howard University swimming and diving closed out the last dual meet of the 2023-24 season on a high, defeating the Catholic Cardinals, 174-63.
The Bison capitalized on 12 first-place finishes with both graduate Luke-Kennedy Thompson (Nassau, Bahamas) and junior Jordan Walker (San Antonio) leading the way, scoring two apiece.
The Bison started strong, claiming the 400-yard Medley Relay with a time of 3:38.21 - over six seconds faster than the competition.
Junior Tai Afrik (Holland, Mich.) earned the first individual gold finish for the men in the 200-Free when he outswam one of Catholic's top freestylers by a second, coming in with a time of 1:47.12.
Senior Spencer Miles (Lynchburg, Va.) gave the fans an exciting race in the 50-Free, beating the competition by 0.39 seconds with his swim of 21.67.
In one of the more exciting races of the day, it was Bison vs Bison to the end with teammates L. Thompson (LKT) and junior Erald Thompson III (Nassau, Bahamas) coming in just .05 seconds of each other. LKT took the gold with a time of 1:58.55.
Walker kept the momentum going, winning the men's 1M dive with a score of 251.40 before dominating the 3M as well. The junior set a new record in the feat, winning with a score of 279.70.
Sophomore Taj Benton (Baltimore) cruised to his first-place finish in the 200-Butterfly, beating his runner-up teammate by over four seconds.
Graduate Arion Solomon (Fairburn, Ga.) had a close one with fellow Afrik in the 100-Free. The grad student came out on top with a time of 47.81, just a hand ahead of Afrik.
Bison duo senior Tristan Stevens (Chicago) and sophomore Darien Williams (Philadelphia) gave the fans an exhilarating race, going stroke-for-stroke in the 200-Back. Stevens got the upper hand, coming in less than a tenth of a second ahead of the Philadelphia native.
LKT earned his final top finish in the 500-Free with a comfortable lead over the Cardinals beside him. The Bahamian finished with a time of 4:53.39.
Senior Niles Rankin (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) earned the men's final individual top finish with a swim of 2:11.54 in the 200-Breaststroke.
The men capped the afternoon by claiming the win in the 400-Free Relay with a time of 3:13.84 - nearly two full seconds ahead of the Bison's C relay team.
Next up, the Bison take a month-long hiatus before kicking off this year's Northeast Conference Championships in Geneva, Ohio (Feb. 20-24).
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.
