Swimming Teams Open Season On Friday At McMurry
The Centenary swimming teams will begin their seasons on Friday as the Ladies and Gents face McMurry University in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference dual meet set for 6 p.m. inside Phillips Family Center.
Abilene, Texas - The Centenary swimming teams will begin their seasons on Friday as the Ladies and Gents face McMurry University in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference dual meet set for 6 p.m. inside Phillips Family Center.
The teams will also compete against each other on Saturday at 10 a.m. Patrick Garrett, who assisted the Ladies and Gents last season in a volunteer role, enters his first season as head coach. Butch Jordan begins his 25th year with the Centenary men's and women's swimming program and fifth season as assistant coach, and Curtis Melancon enters his third year with the Centenary Swim Program in his assistant role.
The Gents finished fourth at the SCAC Championships 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 at the SCAC Championships.
Six Ladies return this season - sophomore Bailey Allemeier (Altus, Okla.), senior Adriana de la Fuente (Baton Rouge, La.), junior Reece Esser (Huntsville, Texas), junior Cicely Jackson (Lafayette, La.), junior Kennadi St. Clair (Duncanville, Texas), and sophomore Isabela Vasquez (Lafayette, La.). Junior Hannah Waddell (Shreveport, La.) will redshirt as she recovers from offseason surgery after battling through injuries last season.
Eight Gents return - junior Ubaldo Ayala (Hallsville, Texas), sophomore Cade Campbell (Ruston, La.), sophomore Hunter Hedges (Murphy, Texas), sophomore Jordan Jerrigan (Temple, Texas), senior Daniel Lewis (Alexandria, La.), sophomore Parker Randolph (Shreveport, La.), sophomore Adam Stelly (Opelousas, La.), and sophomore Sake Stroderd (Sulphur, La.).
Three newcomers join the men's roster – freshman George Arrona (Harlingen, Texas), freshman Kelvin Ridgley Jr. (Zachary, La.), and freshman Jack Williams (Lafayette, La.).
Following this weekend's season-opening meets, the Ladies and Gents will hold their annual Alumni/Intrasquad meet on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 1 PM. Centenary will return to regular-season competition on Saturday, Nov. 1 for its home opener against the University of Ozarks in a conference dual meet at 1 PM.
The Ladies and Gents will compete in the "Mid-Season Invitational" hosted by Hendrix College on Nov. 21-23 in Conway, Ark. Centenary will compete in a pair of meets in January – the Austin College Invitational on Jan. 10 in Sherman, Texas and will close the regular season at home in a conference tri-meet against Austin College and the University of St. Thomas on Jan. 17 at 1 PM on Senior Day.
Stelly capped his impressive rookie season with an eighth-place finish in the championship final of the 200-yard butterfly at the SCAC Championships, Hedges finished eighth in the finals of the 100-yard breaststroke at the SCAC Championships with a time of 1:00.04 which was preceded by a time of 59.67 in the prelims- the eighth-fastest time in school history. Hedges also swam the 10th-fastest time in the 100-yard butterfly (51.68) on the final day of competition to complete an impressive week and season for the rookie.
Stelly and Stroderd swam a time of 7:22.48 in the 800 free to place sixth and Hedges, Stelly, Stroderd were part of the Gents' team that finished seventh in the 400-medley relay as they swam a time of 3:41.28. Randolph finished eighth with a time of 18:16.77 in the 1650 free and Campbell was 11th (19:05.73).
Allemeier and Esser were part of the Ladies' team that finished fourth in the 400-yard medley relay (4:13.41) at last season's SCAC Championships. Esser earned a sixth-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly (59.60) and she was part of the Ladies' 200-yard free relay team that swam a time of 1:44.60 along with Vasquez.
Jackson, Allemeier, and Esser, teamed with Waddell to swim a time of 8:25.60 to finish fourth in the 800 free relay. Esser and St. Clair were part of the Ladies' foursome that finished sixth in the 200-medley relay and Allemeier (19:45.68) and Jackson (19:51.92) finished ninth and 10th respectively in the 1650 free.
The Ladies aim to over come the loss of Waddell, who has recorded consecutive stellar seasons by tallying 29 individual wins, earned All-SCAC honors, and has been named conference Swimmer of the Week three times. Waddell finished last season in style at the SCAC Championships as she placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke championship final as she swam a time of 1:07.25 and on the final day of competition and she set a new school record in the 200-yard breaststroke as she swam a time of 2:24.28 in the prelims and finished third in the championship final (2:24.59). Waddell earned all-conference finishes in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke as she became the first Centenary swimmer to double up with all-SCAC honors at a single meet since 2022.
The 2026 SCAC Championships are set for Feb. 11-14 in Garland, Texas.
See the Ladies and Gents' complete season schedule here: https://gocentenary.com/sports/mswim/2025-26/schedule
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