By PATRICK MEEHAN, Centenary Sports Information Director
On an open date weekend for Centenary football, there’s home action in cross country and volleyball, with local products shining in swimming and golf.
FOOTBALL: The Gents are off this Saturday and return to action at home on Nov. 9 against the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs in a Southern Collegiate Athletics Conference contest, their final home game of the season set for 1 p.m.
The Gents (4-4, 4-2 SCAC) earned a memorable 41-21 comeback victory over the Austin College ‘Roos in SCAC play in their Homecoming game last Saturday evening at Atkins Field.
CROSS COUNTRY: Centenary will host the 2024 SCAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championship on Saturday at South Bossier Park, featuring the league’s 22 cross country teams. The women’s 6K race scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and the men’s 8K follows at 10. With the additions of Concordia, McMurry and University of the Ozarks to the SCAC, there will be 11 men’s and 11 women’s teams competing at this year’s meet — the largest fields on both sides since the 2011 championships.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING: Sophomore Hannah Waddell, a Caddo Magnet High School product, was named the SCAC Co-Women’s Swimmer of the Week on Tuesday, sharing the honor with McMurry’s Maddy Rohrer.
Waddell recorded three individual wins last weekend as she helped lead the Ladies to a victory over Millsaps College in a dual meet in Flowood, Miss. Waddell won the 100 breaststroke (1:10.28), 200 breast (2:35.37), and 200 IM (2:23.79), and was also part of the Ladies’ winning 200 medley relay team that swam a time of 2:03.46. Waddell now owns 14 wins in her first five meets this season.
MEN’S GOLF: Senior Andrew Bennett, a former Airline star, was named the SCAC Men’s Golfer-of-the-Week on Wednesday after he claimed his third-career victory on Tuesday, firing a 2-under par 142 to claim the individual title in the Crusader Cup hosted by the University of Dallas at Hawk’s Creek Golf Club. As a team, the Gents finished in a third-place tie with St. Thomas at 27-over par 603.
Bennett finished three shots ahead of runner-up Kaden English of Concordia as they were the only two golfers to finish at or under par this week. Bennett now owns a trio of career wins, nine top-five finishes, and 12 top-10 finishes as he continues to add to his legacy as the program’s top golfer in the Division III era. Bennett, the 2024 SCAC Individual Champion and Men’s Golfer of the Year, has tied for sixth, tied for second, and finished first in three tournaments this fall.
Sophomore Aubrey Snell, who prepped at Parkway, climbed up the leaderboard on Tuesday as he shot a 2-under par 70 to earn a fifth-place finish at 4-over par 148. In Monday’s opening round, Snell shot a 6-over par 78 and was tied for 25th.
WOMEN’S GOLF: The Ladies, who joined the Gents in the same tournament this week, finished sixth on Tuesday in the Crusader Cup as they shot a 171-over par 747. The Ladies, who shot an 88-over par 376 on Monday in round one, completed their Fall season on Tuesday.
Freshman Haylee Crowder of Haughton led the way for the Ladies as she shot a 35-over par 179 (89-90) to tie for 19th place. The rookie was in a tie for 17th place after her 17-over par 89 on Monday and followed with an 18-over par 90 in the final round. Crowder is off to an impressive start to her collegiate career as she has finished in the top 20 in every event this fall.
VOLLEYBALL: The Ladies were swept in a pair of non-conference road matches on Tuesday, falling to both East Texas Baptist and LeTourneau. Centenary (1-21) has now lost 11 matches in a row and is 0-8 on the road.
The Ladies are home this weekend in SCAC play with their final two home matches of the season. Centenary will face McMurry on Friday at 5 p.m. and the University of Dallas on Sunday at noon. The Ladies’ 2024 senior class will be honored in a pregame ceremony on Sunday at 11:45 a.m.
BASKETBALL: The Gents were picked to finish fourth in the conference this season in the SCAC preseason poll released on Wednesday while the Ladies were predicted to finish 12th.
The Gents begin their regular season at home on Friday, Nov. 8 against Arlington Baptist while the Ladies open on the road at Hendrix on Nov. 10 in Conway, Ark.
Contact Patrick at pmeehan@centenary.edu