Men's Tennis

Patel & Mangum Named Centennial Scholar-Athletes of the Year

LANCASTER, Pa. -- Swarthmore men's tennis senior Rushil Patel and Franklin & Marshall volleyball senior Meredith Mangum have been honored as the 2024 Centennial Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year. 

The Centennial recognizes a Scholar-Athlete of the Year in each of its 24 championship sports to a junior or senior member of the All-Conference team with the highest cumulative grade point average. The overall Scholar-Athletes of the Year are presented to the student with the highest GPA among the 12 men and 12 women's winners.

Patel, a member of the Garnet men's tennis team, becomes the first two-time winner of the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. An economics and computer science major from Duncan, S.C., Patel maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average entering his final semester this spring. Patel earned All-Centennial doubles accolades for the third time in his career this season, landing on the first team along with doubles partner Andres Fente. It marked the first time that Patel received first team All-CC honors after previously earning second team laurels in both 2022 and 2023. Patel notched a 12-4 overall doubles record during the 2022-23 season playing primarily from the No. 2 spot. Patel and Fente were 9-3 when teamed together, including a 5-0 mark in CC play. Patel and the Garnet captured their second consecutive Centennial men's tennis crown, registered a school-record 22 wins (22-2 record), and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament with the program's first NCAA postseason win since 2007. 

Mangum, a senior libero for the Diplomat volleyball team, is the second F&M student-athlete to receive the overall Scholar-Athlete of the Year since the award was established in the 2015-16 academic year. A joint studies major, Mangum held a perfect 4.0 grade point average entering her final semester this spring. The Peachtree Corners, Ga. native is a two-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree, a two-time All-Centennial selection, and the 2022 CC Defensive Player of the Year. A two-time Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Mangum is one of just 19 student-athletes in conference history to be named both player and scholar-athlete of the year in the same season. Mangum completed her career with 1,068 digs (3.87 per set), 213 assists and 79 service aces during three seasons on the court. 

Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award Recipients