By PATRICK MEEHAN, Centenary Sports Information Director

Before finishing what I started last week with five of the 10 best women’s sports storylines in the 2024-25 competitive year at Centenary, another impressive women’s news flash has just been announced

The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference announced the six finalists for the 2025 SCAC Woman of the Year award, including senior third baseman Viviana Rivero of the Ladies’ softball team.

The award recognizes the conference’s senior female student-athlete who has best distinguished herself throughout her collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence and service and leadership.  The winner will be announced soon.

Rivero carries a double major in psychology and sociology with a 3.75 GPA. Her credentials include being College Sports Communicators Academic All-District (2023, 2025) and an Easton/NFCA Division III All-America Scholar-Athlete (2023, 2024).

A four-year SCAC Academic Honor Roll member (2022-25), she’s been on the Centenary College Dean’s List since her freshman year in 2021. Twice honorable mention All-SCAC as a player (2023, 2025), Rivero made the 2022 SCAC All-Sportsmanship Team.

She has served on Centenary’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for three years and has been president this year after filling the vice president’s post in 2024.

With that, here are the remaining five top stories of the just completed athletic year for the Ladies (not ranked, just five of the best 10, with the other five published a week ago).

Rookie Malagarie takes silver at SCAC track meet

Freshman Gabrielle Malagarie highlighted the Ladies’ participation in the SCAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and capped her impressive rookie season as she recorded a runner-up finish in the high jump with a mark of 4-11 ¾ to earn All-SCAC honors. The rookie earned the Ladies’ best finish in program history in the conference meet.

Softball Ladies set new standards for overall, SCAC wins

The Ladies, led by head coach Whitney Patterson, finished the season at 21-22 overall and 14-15 in SCAC play. They went 2-2 in the SCAC Tournament, falling one game shy of advancing to the championship round, to record one of their best seasons in the D3 era (2013-present) of the program.

Centenary’s 21 wins are the most in a single season in the D3 era and the 14 conference wins are also the most in a single season in the D3 era. The Ladies have now made nine-consecutive SCAC Tournament appearances.

Ladies host SCAC Cross Country Championships

Centenary hosted the SCAC Cross Country Championships last fall at South Bossier Park. Centenary welcomed the league’s fellow cross country teams for the event and with the additions of Concordia, McMurry and University of the Ozarks to the SCAC, 11 men’s and 11 women’s teams competed at this year’s meet — creating the largest fields on both sides since the 2011 championships. 

Hintze, Nagot stand out for Ladies volleyball

Junior setter Kristi Hinze was an impact player in her first and only season with the Ladies. She ranked in the top 10 in the conference in both assists and aces as she totaled team-highs in assists (433) and aces (34). She averaged 0.42 aces per set and 5.35 assists/set. She posted double-digit assists in 22 of 26 matches and did so in her final 13 to end the season.

Junior outside hitter Daly Nagot was named to the 2024 Academic All-District Volleyball team, selected by College Sports Communicators after the season. She became the first Ladies’ volleyball player since 2022 to earn the honor.

The prestigious team recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. Nagot, a business administration major with a 3.58 GPA, played in all 25 of Centenary’s matches this past season and tallied a team-high 253 digs (3.33 digs per set), 31 assists, and eight service aces.

Ladies’ soccer goes on the offensive

Centenary scored 22 goals last fall and added 18 assists as 13 different players scored at least one goal and 11 had at least one assist.

Senior midfielder Aubrey Burkhardt and sophomore midfielder Sarah Crenshaw represented Centenary on the All-SCAC Team. They had identical offensive stats as each scored two goals and tallied two assists for a total of six points apiece.

Next week: a spotlight shines on five of the top men’s sports stories from 2024-25 along Kings Highway.

Contact Patrick at pmeehan@centenary.edu