Howard Swimming crushing records at NEC Championships

By HBCU Gameday Newswire

Posted on February 25, 2022

Courtesy: Howard University

GEVENA, Ohio (February 24, 2022) – Howard University men’s swimming and diving team continues to put on the show at the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championships in Gevena, Ohio.

On Day Three, HU crushed seven records on the day; thus, bringing the total to 13 (nine school and four meet) after three days of competition.

Juniors Mark-Anthony Beckles (Chaguanas, Trinidad & Tobago), Miles Simon (Atlanta) and Arion Solomon (Fairburn, Ga.) and sophomore Spencer Miles (Lynchburg, Va.) shattered not only the school mark, but the meet record as well, clocking in at 1:20.20.

In that same event, Simon swam first leg and broke the school mark and meet benchmark with a new 50 Free record of 19.72.

Individually, Beckles competed in the 100 Fly where he won gold with a record-setting performance. The Trinidad & Tobago native registered a new school benchmark and meet record of 48.84.

Solomon, freshman Brenton Cooper (Baton Rouge, La.) and junior Kevin Claiborne (Queens, N.Y.) also competed in the 100 Fly, producing times of 49.67 (5^th), 49.93 (9^th) and 50.29 (10^th), respectively. For their efforts, all three Bison etched themselves into the school record book with the fourth, seventh and ninth fastest marks in program history, respectively.

Third-year Bison Luke-Kennedy Thompson (Nassau, Bahamas) earned second overall in the 400 IM, producing a new school record of 4:02.06.

Newcomer Erald Thompson III (Nassau, Bahamas) also competed in the 400 IM, finishing with the fifth-fastest time in school history (4:17.03).

Junior Reese Samuel (Pittsburgh) and freshman Tai Afrik (Holland, Mich) saw action in the 200 Free where they placed sixth (1:41.40) and 12^th (1:43.27), respectively. For their efforts, both Bison landed in the school record book at third and eighth all-time, respectively.

Currently, Howard remains in second place with only two days left. HU has scored 325 points during the three-day span.

The NEC Championships continue Friday (Feb. 25) in Geneva, Ohio.

Howard Swimming crushing records at NEC Championships