WASHINGTON – The Howard men's swimming and diving delivered a competitive performance at Saturday's Battle at the Burr, collecting multiple podium finishes and two event wins in a spirited dual meet against Georgetown. Despite the effort, the Bison came up short, falling 139-78 in Burr Natatorium.
Howard opened the afternoon with a strong showing in the 200-yard medley relay, where the A relay team of
Kaleb James (Durham, Nc.),
Ayrton Moncur (Nassau, Bahamas),
Taj Benton (Baltimore, Md.), and
Daren Rodgers (Chicago) clocked a second-place time of 1:32.81. The B relay followed in third at 1:36.02, giving the Bison valuable early points.
Reigning NEC Rookie of the Week
Solomon Goins (Dallas, Texas) picked up the next podium finish for Howard, placing second in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:11.50. The first event win for the Bison came shortly after in the 200-yard freestyle, where
Mason Green (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) surged to victory with a time of 1:43.19, nearly a second and a half ahead of the nearest Hoya challenger (1:44.75).
In one of the most exciting sprints of the afternoon,
Taj Benton claimed second place in the 50-yard freestyle, narrowly missing the top spot with a strong 20.87 finish against a winning time of 20.60.
Kaleb James returned to the pool for the 200-yard IM, placing third with a time of 1:56.61, while the Bison divers contributed a combined team score of 287.25on the boards.
Benton came back later to deliver Howard's second victory of the day in the 100-yard butterfly, touching first at 49.02and holding off the pool with a decisive finish. In the 100-yard freestyle, the Bison stacked the podium again, with
Mason Green earning second (46.43) and Ibou Diouf (Arlington, Va.) placing third (48.39). The top Hoya finished just ahead in 46.10, marking another tight race for first.
Howard continued to find points across the board as
Adam Diaz (Manhattan, Ny.) earned second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.20, and Goins added another third-place finish in the 500-yard free, coming in at 4:56.75 — less than a quarter of a second behind the runner-up (4:56.56).
The final individual event saw
Mark Brown (Greensboro, Nc.) take second in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing in 58.52, just behind Georgetown's top swimmer (58.00). In the closing 200-yard freestyle relay, Howard's A team of James,
Jalen Stewart (New Castle, De.), Green, and Rodgers earned second place with a time of 1:26.02, while the B relay team came in exactly one second later at 1:27.02 to round out the podium.
Next up, the Bison head to New Jersey to compete in the NJIT Invitational, October 10–11.
For more information visit the official Howard Athletics website
www.hubison.com.
