Winter sports wrap-up at Centre

RELEASED: March 22, 2007

DANVILLE, KY—After finishing the season with a 6-16 overall record and a 3-11 SCAC mark, Centre's women's basketball team ended the year on a positive note with freshman Chelsea Goodman of Harrodsburg, Ky., being picked as an All-SCAC third team selection in exclusive voting by the SCAC head coaches.

Goodman was first in scoring on the Lady Colonel's squad, both overall with 14 points per game and a conference average of 15.5 points per game, good enough for ninth overall in the conference. Goodman also pulled down five rebounds per game and hit 32 of 88 three-pointers. She ranked 13th in the conference in field goal percentage with 42 percent and was sixth in total steals with a team high 49 (2.23 steals per game).

Swimming and Diving
Head coach Dean Brownley and assistant coach Sarah Holman were chosen women's swimming and diving staff of the year in recent voting by the SCAC swimming and diving coaches.

Coach Brownley was extremely generous when asked about this award, giving most of the credit to his assistant coach Sarah Holman and to the athletes as well.

"Sarah has done an amazing job with our student-athletes over the past several years. She's been invaluable in the recruiting process as well as in taking on the majority of the responsibilities of training the technical aspects of swimming to our athletes."

Brownley also added, "As many coaches know, this honor is more a reflection of the athletes' accomplishments and not my own. It's been a real honor to coach and work with these tremendous young women who have shown an amazing amount of dedication and a great work ethic over the years."

This honor came after the most successful women's swimming and diving season in the history of the program. The program received its first national ranking ever (19th) and finished third at the SCAC Conference Championships.

Besides the team accomplishments, Centre also recorded several individual honors as well. The team had two women winners in individual conference events for the first time in school history: Liz Starr in the 100 fly and Meredith Angel in the 50 free. Both of these swimmers also qualified for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships held March 8-10 at the University of Houston.

Starr, a sophomore from Westchester, Ohio, competed in the 100 fly, 200 fly, and the 200 IM in her inaugural visit to the Swimming and Diving Championship. Starr set a personal record in the 100 fly (57.22) on her way to a 14th overall finish and her first All-American honor. She also set her own personal best time in the 200 fly (2:09.01) and just missed tying her personal record in the 200 IM by .01 seconds swimming a time of 2:11.50.

Brownley added, "Liz showed a lot of composure for a first-time national qualifier. She was very focused and very deserving of the All-American award she earned. To rebreak the school records that she did is a huge compliment to her work ethic and attitude."

Angel, a freshman from Campbellsville, Ky., entered the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 breast and would finish with a personal best in the 100 free (54.72). Angel's time in the 50 free of 24.47 was good enough to rank her 26th overall while her 100 breast time of 1:10.04 would give her a 30th place finish in the country.

Men's basketball
Centre's men's basketball team finished one of the best seasons in school history with a 73-56 loss to the number-two team in the country, The College of Wooster, in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Colonels finished the season with a 24-4 record, the second-best record in the history of the program.

Leading the way in the tournament game was senior forward Matt Jacobson of LaGrange, Ky., who had 20 points, two steals, and seven rebounds. Other leaders for the Colonels were junior guard Matt Nestheide of Edgewood, Ky., who added 12 points and three assists to the effort while senior center John Patterson of Lexington, Ky., chipped in 10 points and continued his defensive domination by swatting down one shot.

In the final regular-season home game of his career, Jacobson scored his 1,000th career point during Centre's Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) win over Sewanee-University of the South on Feb. 18.

During the SCAC Championship game against Trinity University on Feb. 25, Nestheide sank a 60-foot shot that was named Play of the Day on the ABC affiliate in Lexington and was featured on the NBC affiliate, as well (click here to see Nestheide's 60-foot shot).Nestheide was selected as SCAC Men’s Basketball Player-of-the-Year and head coach Greg Mason was named the league’s Coach-of-the-Year. Patterson picked up Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors and first-year forward Danny Noll of Fort Mitchell, Ky., was named Newcomer-of-the-Year, to complete Centre's sweep of the special recognition awards.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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