No. 19 Vol. 1
My Life Publications • 1-800-691-7549
January 2023
Centenary University Cyclones Women’s Basketball – Where You See Double AND Triple
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By Steve Sears t’s sometimes unusual to see twins as members of the same sports team. Then, if there’s two sets of twins, it’s a true rarity. Now, imagine three sets of twins, all on the same team? This year’s Centenary University women’s basketball team has just that: three sets of twins on its roster. Sophomores Kaylie and Tanya Elsbree are from Freehold Township, and there are first-year students Jasmine and Kayla Sampong of Pompton Lakes, and Sofia and Viviana Mendez out of Weehawken. The Sampongs are identical twins. Cyclone Head Coach Rose Haller, who is also Associate Athletic Director at the university, is in her seventh season at the helm. She has coached both in high school and collegiately and was an accomplished player herself. Therefore, she has seen and experienced a lot on the hardwood. But - three sets of twins?! “We thought it was going to be so fun to be able to have three sets of twins on one team,” agree Kaylie and Tanya Elsbree. “Our main reactions were based on the appearance of the other twins; we think the Sampong twins look so much alike, while the Mendez twins we can easily tell apart.” And they feel right at home at Centenary. “We feel that we bring leadership to the team, and we also feel that we can have two separate opinions that typically are different from each other.” Being the older set of twins on the team, the Elsbrees also show the other sets of twins how to act while again being on one team together, this time at a higher level. “For example, there is no arguing with each other while we’re on the floor. We are excited to spend the next two years of our college careers with the Sampong and Mendez twins!” “It’s kind of funny because it just kind of happened,” Haller says. “Obviously you don’t plan to go out and do something like that.” Haller had gone to an AAU event at East Stroudsburg University and saw Kayla Sampong in action. Haller liked what she saw in her on-court skills and called Kayla to tell her. “She said, ‘Well, what night were you there?’ I said, ‘Friday,’ and she said, ‘Well, you missed my twin. She was at the state track championships. She’s just as good as me. ‘So, it was kind of a joke then; I got a two for one deal and didn’t even know there was two of them until I made the phone call.” “It feels great,” Kayla Sampong says about being a fellow
The Elsbree, Sampong, and Mendez twins
Cyclone with her twin sister. “I really enjoy playing with my twin sister. Being in the game at the same time just brings an extra fire to the game, and I’m really glad that we are playing together at the college level. We feed off of each other’s energy.” Jasmine agrees. “Definitely a feeling of accomplishment,” she says. “It’s a great feeling to continue playing the sport I’m most passionate at a higher level and dominate with my left-hand man (Kayla).” Haller feels her current squad probably as a whole is the best team she’s ever had, and a lot of that has to do with the freshmen that have arrived. Haller says, “This team is the best team in a lot of ways. It’s the best group of students I’ve coached overall. They’re all really nice kids. They each kind of have their own personalities, The Elsbrees are always picking on me, and I always joke with them. The Sampongs are always smiling, and the Mendez twins, they just bring a whole other side to basketball from their experiences. They’re all really different sets of twins.” “I believe we both bring a bond on the court that not many athletes have,” says Sofia Mendez of she and her twin, Viviana. “Being sisters let alone twins, you share an indescribable bond that most teams just won’t understand.
Knowing you have that person who knows you in and out on the court is a great upper hand in this sport. We just hope that others can see it, too.” “They’re definitely all going to contribute big to this team, and already are contributing,” Haller says. “These are certainly deserving young women to be recognized in more than one way.”
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