Bowling Green, Ohio – Centenary gymnastics 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.
What an honor," said Fain. I am a bit surprised to have received this award to be honest. We had a fantastic year this year, but the other teams in our region also had some great seasons. I am definitely humbled to know my colleagues see and appreciate what we have done at Centenary this year. I know I am lucky to work alongside so many coaches who have a similar philosophy and who love what they do as much as I do."
We had a phenomenal year this year, and the end of season awards have proven that. I won't lie, it was very challenging early in the year. We lost six very strong seniors last year and brought in eight freshmen, making half our team this year freshman. We had several major injuries coming in from those freshman, putting all of that together would normally be considered a rebuilding year."
"Although it took some time, this team got it figured out and their work ethic and team work has proven with the right people a rebuilding year can turn into something that can essentially begin a new outlook on your program."
Centenary 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. 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.
The Ladies, as usual, picked up several high-profile awards after the season. Seniors Cami Bea Austin and Dorothy Mims, and sophomore Kendall Sanders were named to the 2020 Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association 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 NCGA East Division with a Seasonal Average Score (SAS) of 9.738 and second on the floor with a score of 9.818. Mims placed second on the beam with a score of 9.775 while Sanders placed first in the All Around with an SAS of 38.28.
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. Centenary took home seven All-America honors in all this past season.
Several Ladies were honored with Midwest Independent Conference postseason awards. Austin earned second team honors on both the floor and vault and was named the MIC Senior of the Year, an award which recognizes the most outstanding gymnast in their final season of competition. Austin, Mims, and Sanders were all named to the MIC Scholar-Athlete Team as each earned a 3.25 grade point average or higher during the fall 2019 semester. Mims was selected as the MIC Woman of the Year in a blind vote by an independent committee.
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