Swimming Teams Set For SCAC Championships
The Centenary swimming teams are set for the annual Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships, beginning on Wednesday and concluding on Saturday at the Garland ISD Natatorium.
Garland, Texas - The Centenary swimming teams are set for the annual Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships, beginning on Wednesday and concluding on Saturday at the Garland ISD Natatorium.
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL: https://scacsports.prestosports.com/tournament/winter/swimming/26championships/index
The Ladies and Gents will be joined this week by Austin College, Colorado College, Hendrix College, McMurry University, University of the Ozarks, the University of St. Thomas and Asbury University for the four-day event. The Gents finished fourth at the event last season and earned 292 points as they recorded their best finish in the event since also finishing fourth in 2021 while the Ladies placed sixth and tallied 265 points.
Wednesday's schedule begins with the 200 Medley Relay followed by the 800 Free Relay, both set for 5 p.m. Competition begins at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday with the prelims of the 500 Freestyle followed by the 200 IM, then the 50 free and finishes with the 400 Medley Relay. The finals of those events will be held starting at 6 p.m.
Friday's schedule begins with the 100 butterfly at 10:30 a.m. followed by the 400 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, women's 3-Meter Diving, and Men's 1-Meter Diving – both at 12:30 p.m.
A special recognition of all the senior student-athletes is set for 5:45 p.m. on Friday followed by evening finals. Saturday's action begins at 10:30 a.m. and is followed by the finals at 6 p.m.
Centenary is back in action for the first time in nearly a month after finishing its regular season at home on Senior Day (Jan. 17) versus Austin College and the University of St. Thomas.
The Ladies and Gents defeated Austin College by a score of 90-57 and St. Thomas 103-63 while the Gents were defeated by Austin 114-65 and UST 143-40. The Ladies tallied six individual wins and two men's swimmers, Daniel Lewis (Alexandria, La.) and Ubaldo Ayala (Hallsville, Texas) were honored inside the Centenary Fitness Center. The Ladies defeated Austin College by a score of 90-57 and St. Thomas 103-63 while the Gents were defeated by Austin 114-65 and UST 143-40.
Junior Reece Esser (Huntsville, Texas) continued her impressive season with three individual wins to lead the Ladies as she picked up her wins in the 50 free (25.76), 100 fly (1:02.40), and 100 back (1:05.89). Esser, who now owns 16 wins this season, was named the SCAC Women's Swimmer of the Week following the meet.
Season Recap:
Sophomore Hunter Hedges (Murphy, Texas) was named the SCAC Men's Swimmer in November and Hedges has eight individual wins this season. Hedges is one of a handful of talented young swimmers for the Gents this season along with sophomore Adam Stelly (Opelousas, La.), freshman Jack Williams (Lafayette, La.), sophomore Parker Randolph (Shreveport, La.), sophomore Cade Campbell (Ruston, La.), sophomore Jordan Jerrigan (Temple, Texas), and freshman George Arrona (Harlingen, Texas), and freshman Kelvin Ridgley Jr. (Zachary, La.).
Esser's sensational season has highlighted the Ladies' efforts this season and she is complemented by a number of impressive teammates - sophomore Bailey Allemeier (Altus, Okla.), junior Cicely Jackson (Lafayette, La.), sophomore Isabela Vasquez (Lafayette, La.), freshman Anna Hicks (Lafayette, La.), and junior Kennadi St. Clair (Duncanville, Texas).
Allemeier followed up a stellar rookie campaign with an impressive sophomore campaign with multiple wins and runner-up finishes this season. Last season, she was a member of the Ladies' foursome that finished fourth in the 800 Free Relay in a time of 8:25.60 at the SCAC Championships, was also a part of the fourth-place team in the 400-yard medley relay (4:13.41), and helped the Ladies finish sixth in the 400 free relay (3:50.62). Her top individual finish at the conference championship was ninth in the 1650 free (19:45.68).
Esser capped her sophomore season with a sixth-place finish in the championship final of the 100-yard butterfly (59.60) at the SCAC Championship last February and was part of the 400-yard medley relay and 400 free relay teams with Allemeier. Esser also helped the Ladies finish sixth in the championship final of the 200-medley relay (1:58.44), and was part of the Ladies' 200-yard free relay team that swam a time of 1:44.60 to also place sixth.
Cicely Jackson capped her sophomore season with an impressive performance in Garland as a member of the Ladies' 800-free relay team that placed fourth in the championship final (8:25.60) and she added a 10th-place finish in the 1650 free (19:51.92).
Last season, Hedges capped off an impressive rookie campaign by placing eighth in the finals of the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.04 at the SCAC Championships, which was preceded by a time of 59.67 in the prelims- the eighth-fastest time in school history. He also swam the 10th-fastest time in the 100-yard butterfly (51.68) at the championships and was part of the Gents' 400 medley relay team which finished seventh as they swam a time of 3:41.28 to complete a superb week for the rookie
Cade Campbell capped his rookie season with an 11th-place finish in the 1650 free (19:05.73) at the SCAC Championships last February, Parker Randolph recorded an eighth-place finish in the 1650 free at the SCAC Championships last season, and Adam Stelly tallied an eighth-place finish in the championship final of the 200-yard butterfly (2:07.19) at the SCAC Championships.
See the Ladies and Gents' complete season schedule here: https://gocentenary.com/sports/mswim/2025-26/schedule
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