WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Catholic University men's swimming and diving team dropped a 63-174 decision to the visiting D1 Howard Bison in a dual meet on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals fought hard against the tough competition and recorded fourteen top-three finishes.

Sean Kelty got things started for the Cardinals with a first place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle. Kelty is a true distance swimmer and has been hovering around the ten minute mark throughout his freshman campaign. He clocked a 10:06.40 today. Kelty also placed third in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:03.65.

Shawn Mashburn recorded a second place finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:55.63. He grabbed third place in the 200-yard freestyle and clocked a 1:48.31. 

Also on the leader board was Nathan Ober, whose performance was headlined by a season-best time and a second place finish in the 50-yard freestyle. He improved his time by 1.8% to finish in 22.06 seconds. He showed off his breaststroke speed as well in the 200-yard race with a time of 2:14.18 and a third place finish.

Daniel Green rounded out the top performers with a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle. He finished in 1:48.13 to snag the Cardinals four points. He added another two points to the board with a fourth place finish in the 100-yard freestyle. 

The four Catholic seniors, who were honored before the start of the meet, combine to swim the 400-yard freestyle relay together. Ober led things off and Danny O'Leary dove in after him, Matthew Williams swam the third leg and Elijah Feret completed the relay. Ferret swam the 200-yard IM as well and touched in 2:19.90 to earn sixth place. O'Leary recorded a season best split in the 400-yard medley relay.  

On the diving boards, sophomore Charles Connolly III was the sole competitor for Catholic. He excelled to earn second place on both the one and three meter boards. His one meter performance earned him 240.55 points while his three meter dives combined for a score of 206.00.

The Cardinals will compete in their last dual meet of the season on January 27 as they welcome Salisbury to the Dufour Center Pool. The first event is set to start at 1 p.m.