Howard Grows Leads With Sweep of Relays on Day 3 of NEC Championships

2026 NEC Championships

• February 17-20, 2026
• Spire Institute, Geneva, OH
• SCY (25 yards)
• Start Times: Prelims- 10 am ET/Finals 6 pm ET
  • Day 1: Finals only- 6 pm ET
• Defending Champions
  • Women: Central Connecticut State University (3x)
  • Men: Howard (1x)
• Participating Teams: Central Connecticut, Howard, Le Moyne, LIU, Saint Francis (PA), Stonehill, Wagner
• Women’s Championship Central
• Men’s Championship Central
• NEC Championships Preview
• Live Results
• Livestream: NEC Front Row
• Previous Recaps
  • Day 1 | Day 2

The Howard Bison lead both the women’s and men’s competition through three days of action, and have grown their leads thanks to wins in both 400 medley relays on night three.

The Howard men’s relay of Adam Diaz (50.24), Mark Brown (54.67), Taj Benton (47.90), and Mason Green took the tight win over Wagner by just .05 seconds to claim the NEC crown in 3:16.73. On the women’s side, Chanice Posada (54.32), Rhanishka Gibbs (1:03.28), Alyssa Napier (54.50), and Zuilda Nwaeze (49.93) led the way by more than two and a half seconds en route to the relay sweep in 3:42.03.

Mason Green found success individually for the Bison, taking the 100 fly win by over nine tenths of a second in 47.40, leading a 1-2-3 event sweep. Napier also struck gold individually for  Howard in the women’s 100 fly, using her coming home speed to clock the only sub-55-second time in 54.54.

Wagner’s Florian Schumich (3;58.02) and Russell Gavino (4:00.68) were unstoppable as the two of them finished 1-2 in the men’s 400 IM; their teammate Ben McLaughlin finished 4th for an additional points haul. Saint Francis’ Sara Turner earned the win for the women, finishing just under three seconds better than the field in 4:24.80.

Long Island dominated the men’s 200 free, finishing 1-2-3-4 as Mario Poulsen touched first in 1:37.87. All four swimmers were the only competitors in the field to swim under 1:40. The women’s race was much more tightly contested, as Wagner’s Mia Goodale squeaked out the narrow victory over Nwaeze (1:49.90) to be crowned the NEC 200 free champion in 1:49.64.

Le Moyne’s Lucas Clay notched a new NEC record to clinch the 100 breast; Clay’s final time of 53.58 bested Adrian Andres Moreno‘s 2025 mark of 53.63, as he captured NEC gold. Rhanishka Gibbs surged to the women’s 100 breast win, stopping the clock in 1:02.89, the only swimmer under 1:03 in the event.

The tightest finish of the meet came in the men’s 100 back, as LIU’s Martin Beitveit just out-touched Wagner’s Senan Noonan by .04 seconds to claim the win in 49.83. Posada picked up the win for the Bison in the women’s event in less decisive fashion, turning in the only performance under 55 seconds in 55.27.

In the day’s final individual event, Central Connecticut divers Kaitlyn Carroll and Jewell Maziarz finished 1-2 in the women’s 1-meter diving final, with Carroll ultimately topping all scorers with 256.35.

Team Standings After Day 3:

Women:

1. Howard-  613
2. Central Connecticut- 572
3. Wagner- 286
4. Saint Francis- 240
5. Long Island- 228
6. Stonehill- 220
7. Le Moyne- 209

Men:

1. Howard- 611
2. Wagner- 518
3. Le Moyne- 500
4. Long Island- 399