The Centennial Conference has selected Dickinson senior swimmer Ben Shapiro (Wynnewood, Pa. / Friends Central) as the 2019 Centennial Conference Individual Sportsmanship Award winner. This award honors student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior. 

Ben Shapiro was selected for his act of sportsmanship towards an injured competitor at the 2019 Centennial Conference Swimming Championships. During the Men's 100 Butterfly preliminary a swimmer seriously injured his shoulder mid-race. The student-athlete stopped swimming and held onto the lane line awaiting help. Ben Shapiro slid into the water next to him and safely guided him to the ladder to exit the pool. Shapiro assisted in removing him from the water with the help of coaches and swimmers on deck and led him to a chair so that the swimmer's injury could be tended to. Ben Shapiro showed true sportsmanship as he slid into the pool to assist an injured swimmer from another team. He showed care, concern and quick response to an incident that many swimmers, spectators and coaches did not see immediately. Shapiro exemplifies the standard of sportsmanship in the Centennial Conference.

Shapiro was selected from a pool of student-athletes nominated by the Conference’s eleven member institutions and will now be placed on the ballot for the NCAA Division III National Sportsmanship Award this summer.