By Derek Bryant, Sports Information Howard,
The Northeast Conference (NEC) unveiled its 2023 Winter Team Sportsmanship Award winners where Howard men’s swimming & diving team took home the honor for the second consecutive year. The announcement came Monday afternoon.
HU is in its second full season as an associate member.
“It is with tremendous pride that we recognize those teams that prioritize fair play and value winning with integrity at the highest level,” said NEC Commissioner Noreen Morris. “It takes everyone from our student-athletes to coaches to administrators to Presidents to create an environment of respect and support during NEC athletic competitions, to be recognized by your peers for upholding these standards is the ultimate honor.”
The program capped off its 2022-23 campaign by winning the 2023 NEC Championship in dominant fashion. For the second straight year, the coaching staff received NEC Coaching Staff of the Year, led by Howard Director of Swimming & Diving Nicholas Askew.
“We are honored to win the NEC Team Sportsmanship Award for the second year in a row,” said Askew. “Sportsmanship plays an integral part in our recruiting process because when we’re building a team, you want to compete at a high level while displaying sportsmanship. Our men’s team are champions in and out of the pool and I’m so proud of them.”
Instituted by league Presidents in 2008, the awards are designed to acknowledge the team in each conference sport that, in the opinion of its peers, most closely demonstrates good sportsmanship based on the NEC Principles of Sportsmanship and Standards of Conduct. Voting is conducted at the conclusion of each season by each team and head coach, who rank teams within the conference based on a set of criteria.
Coach Askew and the Bison look to repeat as conference champions in the 2023-24 campaign.
