By PATRICK MEEHAN, Centenary Sports Information Director
With basketball on the road again this weekend, attention on Kings Highway turns to gymnastics, with the Ladies hosting a home meet Friday evening.
MEN’S BASKETBALL: The Gents (6-11, 4-4 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) are back on the road going to south Texas in league play as they aim to snap a three-game losing streak after road loses at Colorado College and St. Thomas in Houston last weekend. Centenary will travel to Kerrville, Texas on Friday to face Schreiner and to San Antonio on Saturday to face Trinity.
Senior forward Jakobi Greenleaf has 12 double-digit scoring performances this season (tied for most on the team with senior guard Craig Collier).
Collier had his eight-game streak of reaching double figures snapped as he finished with just 6 points in 38 minutes. It came on the heels of a team and game-high 22 points at Colorado College on Friday. He has scored 20+ points eight times this season.
Collier ranks 15th nationally in Division III in free throw percentage (90.9) as he is an impressive 50-55 at the line. He has a chance to set a new season record for best FT aim in a single season in program history currently held by Wayne Waggoner (.918, 56-61) in the 1978-79 season.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: The Ladies (2-14, 1-7 SCAC) lost a pair of conference games on the road last weekend at Colorado College and St. Thomas and are back on the road with the men at Schreiner and Trinity this weekend
Freshman forward Shyanne Phillips ranks third in the conference in rebounding (11.3/game) and is 12th in scoring (13.2 points per game), fourth in free throw percentage (84.0) and 14th in field goal aim (45.3).
GYMNASTICS: Sophomore Olivia Williams is this week’s recipient of the Midwest Independent Conference Coaches’ Choice Award as she earned one of the four individual honors that the conference chooses on a weekly basis. She received it for the first time in her career.
The Ladies competed in a pair of meets last week, highlighted by a season-high team score of 185.725 on Saturday evening in a quad meet against host University of Bridgeport, West Chester, and Cornell inside the Wheeler Recreation Center in Bridgeport, Conn.
Centenary posted a season-best 47.275 on vault and a season-high score on floor (47.475). The Ladies also finished with a 45.650 on beam and a 45.325 on bars.
Senior Sophie Schmitz was one of several Ladies who recorded season and career-best scores as she finished third in the all-around with a new season-high score of 38.150. Schmitz also tallied season-bests on bars (9.675), floor (9.40), and on vault (9.50).
Junior Claire Flores posted a career-high 9.475 on vault and a season-high 9.55 on floor. Williams set a new career high on bars (9.40) and tied her season high on floor (9.625), and senior Emma Lavelle posted season highs on both beam (9.55) and floor (9.425).
Sophomore Hayden Cagle posted a career-best score on vault for the second week in a row, freshman Chloe Gilbert had a season and career-high 9.40 on vault, freshman Peyton Burford recorded a season and career-high 9.525 on vault, and sophomore Brooke Murdock had a season-high on beam. Sophomore Cecilia Paredes made her debut on floor and earned a 9.475.
The Ladies made their home debut last Monday and finished third in a tri-meet with Southeast Missouri State and West Chester, posting a team score of 185.325.
Schmitz competed in the all-around and finished second with a 38.025 as her best score of the meet was a 9.55 on bars, which earned her a fifth-place finish and she tied for ninth place on beam with a 9.60. Schmitz and Burford tied for seventh place on vault (9.50) and Williams was the Ladies’ top finisher on floor with an impressive 9.625 to tie for eighth.
Centenary’s next home meet is this Friday night against Greeneville at 6 p.m. at on “Youth Night” in the Gold Dome.
LOOKING AHEAD: Next weekend (Feb. 7-9), there will be 10 home events on the Centenary campus as men’s and women’s basketball, lacrosse, baseball, and softball will all be in action.
Contact Patrick at pmeehan@centenary.edu