Girls’s Swimming & Diving Strikes into First After Day Two at NEC Championships

GENEVA, Ohio (February 18, 2026) — Howard University girls’s swimming & diving sits atop the group standings after day two of the 2026 NEC Championships on the SPIRE Institute.
 
The Bison lead the seven-team area with 321 factors, edging Central Connecticut State (305) and holding a large benefit over Wagner College (145), Saint Francis (125), LIU (117), Stonehill College (111) and Le Moyne College (111) heading into the ultimate two days of competitors.
 
Howard continued to stack factors Wednesday night time, highlighted by a second-place end within the 800-yard freestyle relay. The quartet of Alyssa Napier (Wilmington, Del.), Zenya Posada (Norwalk, Conn.), Julianna Gibson (Elk Grove, Calif.) and Zuilda Nwaeze (Colombia, Md.) touched the wall in 7:30.35 to earn 34 group factors and saved the Bison forward within the championship race.
 
In the 500-yard freestyle, the Bison showcased spectacular depth with three championship closing scorers. Iala Cropper (Rochester, N.Y.) completed fourth, adopted by Gibson in fifth and Kali Garcia (Altamonte, Fla.) in sixth as Howard collected 32 worthwhile factors within the distance occasion to assist construct the group lead.
 
Howard returns to the pool Thursday, Feb. 19, aiming to keep up its lead and proceed the pursuit of what could be this system’s first NEC championship title.
 
For extra info, go to the official Howard Athletics web site at www.hubison.com.