By PATRICK MEEHAN, Centenary Sports Information Director
Overshadowed by the official return of football at Centenary finally just a couple of Saturdays away, other fall sports teams will get their seasons underway this week.
Gents’ football is now just less than two weeks away from the regular-season opener against the Hendrix Warriors, practicing daily in preparation for its first NCAA football season in over a half-century. The Gents and Warriors will begin their seasons on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Atkins Field on the Centenary campus with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
Coach Byron Dawson’s squad will tune up with a scrimmage Saturday at 6 p.m. at Atkins Field against Louisiana Community Christian. There is no admission charge for the preseason contest.
As part of a five-member Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference football loop, the Gents and other SCAC teams will play a double round robin schedule this season with each team playing the other home and away for an eight-game conference schedule. Conference competition will begin the second weekend of the season, September 14.
Meanwhile, the 2024-25 Centenary Athletics campaign begins this Friday as the Ladies’ volleyball team hosts the Cajun Country Classic in the Gold Dome with matches continuing on Saturday.
The Ladies, led by first-year head coach Kayla Black, will play one match on Friday and a pair on Saturday and welcome Howard Payne, Louisiana Christian, and Millsaps to town for a two-day event with six total matches.
Centenary plays LCU at 6 Friday evening, then competes twice Saturday, at 9 a.m. against Howard Payne and facing Millsaps at 1 o’clock.
On Saturday, the men’s soccer team faces the Piedmont Lions in Columbus, Miss., in a non-conference match at 3 p.m. to open its season. The Gents, led by fourth-year head coach Kevin White, will then face the Huntingdon Hawks on Sunday, Sept. 1 on the campus of Mississippi University for Women at 2 p.m.
The Gents and Lions will meet for the first time while the match against the Hawks will be the third all-time between the two programs. Centenary recorded a 5-2 win over Huntingdon at home last season.
The women’s soccer team opens its season on Sunday at East Texas Baptist in a non-conference match set for 4 p.m. in Marshall, Texas. The Ladies will prep for their opener with an exhibition match at the University of Texas at Dallas on Friday at 6 p.m. in Richardson, Texas.
SPORTS MEDICINE: Brandon Henschel and Hallie Little have joined the Centenary Athletics Sports Medicine department, Director of Athletics and Recreation David Orr announced.
Henschel, a native of Iron River, Mich., is the new head athletic trainer while Little, a native of Shreveport, joins the department as an athletic trainer.
Henschel comes to Centenary from ULM, where he served as an assistant trainer with football, volleyball, beach volleyball, softball, and men’s basketball teams from March 2023 to July 2024.
Henschel earned his bachelor’s in athletic training from Central Michigan in 2022. He is currently working on his master’s in exercise science from ULM.
Little, a 1999 graduate of Arkansas State, is an experienced swimming instructor who has coached for 10 years and teaches ISR, which is a swimming resource that teaches infants six months and older how to survive if they fall in the water.
She became certified in athletic training in 2023 and worked PRN for Willis-Knighton Health System and Christus Health System before coming to Centenary.
Contact Patrick at pmeehan@centenary.edu