LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- For the next two weeks, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference will recognize and honor all of its senior spring sport student-athletes who had their final seasons cut short by the COVID-19 outbreak.
After the NCAA made the unprecedented decision on Thursday, March 12 to cancel all winter and spring championships due to the coronavirus pandemic, the SCAC Presidents Council decided to indefinitely suspend all regular season conference and non-conference competition.
"This was a heartbreaking decision we had to make," said SCAC Commissioner Dwayne Hanberry. "No one wanted it to come to this, but at the end of the day we are tasked with prioritizing the health and well-being of thousands of students and student-athletes on each of our campuses. That has to to be the focus above all else."
Although the league held out hope that by only suspeding play a window of opportunity may present itself for an abbreviated spring season with some form of tournament play the following month, with the virus continuing to spread throughout the country which has caused campuses who had originally hoped to remain open to close for the semester, the 2020 athletics season has effectively ended for over a thousand of the league's spring sport student-athletes along with the careers of 100+ seniors.
And even though some of the league's student-athletes may take advantage of a blanket waiver that would grant an additional season of participation, the SCAC office would like to honor and recognize all of its spring sport senior student athletes.
Today, the league turns the spotlight on its senior softball student-athletes. Represented among these 27 student-athletes is:
- 43 SCAC All-Academic selections
- 22 NFCA All-America Scholar Athletes
- 2 SCAC All-Sportsmanship selection
- 13 All-SCAC First Team selections
- 8 All-SCAC Second Team selection
- 1 SCAC Player-of-the-Year
- 1 SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year
- 1 SCAC Elite 19 recipient
- 1 NCAA Elite 90 recipient
- 6 NFCA All-Region selections
- 23 SCAC Championship titles
- 11 SCAC All-Tournament selections
- 23 NCAA Tournament appearances
- 9 NCAA National Championships
- 1 NCAA Super Regional Most Outstanding Pitcher
Centenary's four Ladies softball seniors share their favorite memories below:
Favorite memory as a SCAC student-athlete:
Ashley Albright | All the crazy bus rides and hotel stays that made my teammates family
Haley Campbell | I have a ton of favorite memories as a SCAC student-athlete, but one in particular is all of the lasting friendships I have made. Strangers that have become family. From the early morning workouts to the late night bus rides after playing weekend long series, it cannot be beat!
Madison Fremen | The intense Mario Party games with my teammates. Fun fact: the mini-games are very difficult.
Kaitlyn Price | When the Southwestern coach got coach kicked out of the game. As he sat up on the hill by the lacrosse field and watched us play and we fought back and ended up winning that game.
