A Look Back: Winter 2019-20 Centenary Athletics Recap

MEN'S BASKETBALL

The Centenary men's basketball team completed its most successful season in the division III era as the Gents won their first SCAC Tournament title to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, losing a heartbreaker, 83-81, at UT-Dallas. The Gents finished 18-10 and went 15-5 in SCAC play. The Maroon and White set division III era program records this past season for conference wins in a single season (15), winning streak (10), and home wins (10) in a single season as the Gents went 10-1 at home. The SCAC tournament title also marked the Gents' first men's basketball conference title since 1980 when the Maroon and White claimed both the regular season and conference tournament championships while a member of the Trans America Athletic Conference (now the Atlantic Sun Conference).

Senior and Shreveport native Cedric Harris, one of the most accomplished players in Gents history, was named the 2019-20 Southern Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Year, an All-SCAC First Team selection, and the 2020 SCAC Championships MVP. He was also named to the 2020 D3hoops.com South Region first team, one of just 15 players to earn that honor. as he ranks in the top 15 in all-time in scoring and rebounding and his 262 career three-point baskets ranks second all-time in program history and third-most in conference history. Harris concluded his career with 1,539 points, 13th-most in SCAC history.

Harris played in all 28 games for the Gents this season, starting 27 of them and ended the year averaging 20.2 points per game, second in the conference, and led the SCAC in three-point field goals made (108), field goals made (196), defensive rebounds (200) and total points (566). The 108 three-point field goals made set a new SCAC high for the most in a single season. Harris also ranked top five in the league for minutes per game (34.6 – third), total rebounds (243 – third) and points per 40 minutes (23.4 – fourth).

Centenary dominated the SCAC postseason individual awards as in addition to Harris being named Player of the Year and a First Team selection, head coach Chris Dorsey was named the 2019-20 SCAC Coach of the Year, Freshman guard Ralph Johnson was named the 2019-20 SCAC Newcomer of the Year, sophomore Ty Price earned second team honors, and Johnson and sophomore forward Neil Hawkins (Titusville, Fla.) earned Honorable Mention honors.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Centenary's Bre Frierson was the offensive star for the Ladies during the 2019-20 season. Frierson, a junior forward from Shreveport, was named to the All-SCAC Third Team after averaging a team-leading 12.1 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game, second on the team. She capped off her great individual season with 21 points and 12 rebounds in 23 minutes on Feb. 22 in the Ladies' dominant 22-point home victory over Dallas in the regular-season finale at home.

Frierson posted five double-doubles last season and ranked in the top 10 in the SCAC in points, rebounds, field goal percentage, and offensive rebounds. She was also twice named the LSWA Women's Basketball Player of the Week by the Louisiana Sportswriters Association during the season. The Ladies experienced a tough season as they only won two games but thirteen of Centenary's losses last season were by 14 points or less, with nine by 12 points or less and six by single digits displaying how hard the Ladies played and how competitive they were.

SWIMMING

The Centenary swimming teams earned a pair of top-five finishes at the 2020 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships in February as the Ladies placed fourth overall with a final points total of 407 while the Gents finished fifth with 305 points. The annual Senior Day celebration was held in January in a dual conference meet against Austin College as three seniors: Ellen Atkinson, Jessi Jordan, and Eddie Dyess were honored at Centenary's final home meet of the season.

Ladies sophomore Brianna Serret  had a great season for Centenary and one of the highlights was being named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Swimmer of the Week for performances during meets swam the week of Dec. 2 to Dec. 8. Serret (Alexandria, La.) led the Maroon and White to a third-place finish at the Hendrix Invite as she placed first in the 100 fly, beating her personal best time by two seconds for a finishing time of 58.29. She then finished first in the 200 fly as she recorded a time of 2:14.29 to set another personal best time by four seconds. She also finished third in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.59. Serret helped lead the Ladies to second-place finishes in the 400 medley and the 400 free relay.

GYMNASTICS

The Centenary gymnastics program had an award-filled postseason following another successful regular season. The Ladies finished this past season ranked first in the nation in division III in the Road to Nationals rankings for the second year in a row and finished the season ranked No. 1 on vault and beam and No. 2 on bars and floor in all of division III.

The Ladies had individual athletes finished ranked No. 1 on vault, floor and all-around, second on beam and third, fourth and fifth on bars in division III and were on pace to have the highest season average since 2013 in a season cut short due to COVID-19.

Head coach Jackie Fain was named the Regional Coach of the Year by the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association. Fain, who just completed her ninth season with the Maroon and White, earned the honor following a vote by her fellow head coaches. The award is the second major honor Fain has garnered in her tenure with the Ladies as she was named the 2013 Midwest Intercollegiate Conference Coach of the Year. Fain has mentored 13 different athletes to 31 All-American accolades by the USGA, 16 all-conference recognitions, two USAG National Meet team appearances in her time at Centenary.

Seniors Cami Bea Austin and Dorothy Mims, and sophomore Kendall Sanders were named to the 2020 Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association DIII regular season All-America Team. Austin was named All-America on the vault and Second Team All-America on the floor. Mims earned Second Team All-America honors on the beam, and Sanders was named All-America in the All Around. Austin placed first in the vault in the DIII East Division with a Seasonal Average Score (SAS) of 9.738 and second on the floor with an SAS of 9.818. Mims placed second on the beam with an SAS of 9.775 while Sanders placed first in the All Around with an SAS of 38.28. WCGA all-America awards are DIII regular season All-America awards.

Several Ladies were honored with Midwest Independent Conference postseason awards. Austin earned second team honors on both the floor and vault and was named Co-MIC Senior of the Year, an award which recognizes the most outstanding senior gymnast in their final season of competition. Mims was selected as the MIC Woman of the Year in a blind vote by an independent committee. Sierra Ponder was announced the Sylvia Keiter Memorial Award recipient, which honors one gymnast from the conference who best exemplifies character traits of former Centenary gymnast Sylvia Keiter, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2018.  Twelve Ladies were named MIC Scholar Athletes: Austin, Knaps, Mims, Sanders, Jenny Jackson, Ponder, Kendall Huff, Rose Deshler, Leilani Johnson, Madison McCary, Kennedy Stephens, and Taylor Ann Wilson.

Austin and Sanders were also named 2020 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Nationals All-Americans. Austin received first team honors on vault and floor and Sanders received second team honors in the all-around. Austin and Mims were both named to the USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Senior All-Star Team and Mims, Kendall Sanders and Kendall Knaps were named USA Gymnastics Scholar Athletes, for sophomores and up, earning a 3.5 or higher cumulative GPA. Centenary took home seven All-America honors in all this past season.

Mims was nominated for 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year, it was announced in July. She is one of a record 605 female college athletes nominated for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, which recognizes graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers. The winner of the prestigious award will be announced in the fall.