View source for Elon Phoenix

{{Short description|Intercollegiate sports teams of Elon University}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox college athletics
| name = Elon Phoenix
| logo = Elon Phoenix logo.svg
| logo_width = 200
| university = [[Elon University]]
| association = NCAA
| conference = [[Coastal Athletic Association]]
| division = [[NCAA Division I|Division I]] ([[NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision|FCS]])
| director = Dave Blank
| location = [[Elon, North Carolina]]
| teams = 17
| stadium = [[Rhodes Stadium]]
| baseballfield = [[Walter C. Latham Park|Latham Park]]
| basketballarena = [[Schar Center]]
| soccerstadium = Rudd Field
| arena2 = Jimmy Powell Tennis Center<br>Hunt Softball Park
| mascot = Elongated Muskrat 
| nickname = Muskrats 
| fightsong = "Elon Fight"<ref>[http://www.elon.edu/e-net/sound/elonfightsong.mov] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528114814/http://www.elon.edu/e-net/sound/elonfightsong.mov |date=May 28, 2010 }}</ref>
| pageurl = https://elonphoenix.com/index.aspx
| altlogo = [[file:Elon_logo_from_NCAA.svg|50px]]
}}
[[File:CAA logo in Elon colors.svg|thumb|200px|Colonial Athletic Association logo in Elon's colors]]The '''Elon Phoenix''' is the official mascot of [[Elon University]], located in [[Elon, North Carolina]]. It is the name that each of the sports teams at the university are referred to. The university is a member of the [[Coastal Athletic Association]] and that league's technically separate [[College football|football]] arm of [[Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference|CAA Football]]. Elon competes in the [[NCAA Division I]] [[Football Championship Subdivision]], fielding 17 [[Varsity team|varsity]] teams in 11 sports.

All of Elon's varsity teams currently compete in sports sponsored or administered by the CAA (CAA Football is administered by the multi-sports CAA).

Elon moved to the Coastal Athletic Association, then known as the Colonial Athletic Association, on July 1, 2014.<ref>{{cite web|title=Elon University Accepts Invitation To Join The CAA In 2014-15 |url=http://www.caasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=48484&SPID=4660&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=207795069&DB_OEM_ID=8500|publisher=CAA|access-date=27 May 2013|date=23 May 2013}}</ref>

== History ==
The turn of the century saw the foundation of then-Elon College athletics begin to form. The school's first intercollegiate athletic event came in 1900 when the school played two baseball games against Guilford College in a home-and-home series and the first gymnasium was built in 1905. Football began play in 1909, while men's basketball followed in 1911.

In 1921, the team was first called the Fightin' Christians. The moniker is said to have been coined by a sportswriter covering a contest between Elon and nearby [[Guilford College]], a Quaker school. The school became a charter member of the [[North State Conference]] in 1930 and remained a member of the conference and its successors until departing for the [[South Atlantic Conference]] in 1989. The Fightin' Christians saw great success in the North State Conference, winning numerous conference titles and national championships. The football team won [[National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics|NAIA]] national titles in 1980 and 1981 under Coach [[Jerry Tolley]], who was named national coach of the year for the 1980 season. Both titles were won in championship games played on Elon's home field in neighboring [[Burlington, North Carolina]]. The men's golf team and men's tennis teams also claimed NAIA national championships in 1982 and 1990, respectively.

Women's sports became a part of the Elon athletic department in the early 1970s, as legendary coach [[Kay Yow]] began her college coaching career by guiding the first-ever women's basketball and women's volleyball teams at Elon. Softball was added in 1977, while women's tennis began play in 1979. Six other women's teams have been added in the years since, including soccer, cross country, golf, indoor track, outdoor track and lacrosse.

In 1993, the South Atlantic Conference and its members moved from NAIA competition to [[NCAA Division II]], where Elon would remain through the 1996–1997 season. In 1997, Elon began the transition into [[NCAA Division I]], becoming a full member in 1999. Division I membership meant a new conference and Elon joined the [[Big South Conference]]. The women's soccer team quickly earned the school's first ever NCAA Division I tournament berth by winning the Big South tournament in the fall of 1999.

Still known as the Fightin' Christians at the time, many did not feel that the nickname was universal enough for a team making the transition to Division I athletics, and in 2000, Elon College officially changed its mascot to the [[Phoenix (mythology)|Phoenix]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Anna|last=Griffin|title=Fightin' Christians torch name|work=[[The Charlotte Observer]]|date=May 10, 2000|page=4B}}</ref> The choice refers to a 1923 fire that destroyed nearly the entire campus.  Soon after the fire, the university trustees began planning to make Elon "rise from the ashes".  The Phoenix was a mythical creature that rose from the ashes of its predecessors.

At the beginning of the 2001–02 season, the school was renamed Elon University to better reflect growing educational options. Change was not far behind in athletics as the Phoenix became members of the [[Southern Conference]] beginning in 2003.

== Sports sponsored ==
{| class="wikitable" style= ""
! width= 120px style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Elon Phoenix|border=1|color=#ffffff}}"| Men's sports 
! width= 120px style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Elon Phoenix|border=1|color=#ffffff}}"| Women's sports 
|-
| [[Elon Phoenix baseball|Baseball]] ||[[Elon Phoenix women's basketball|Basketball]]
|-
| [[Elon Phoenix men's basketball|Basketball]] || Cross country
|-
| Cross country || Golf 
|-
| [[Elon Phoenix football|Football]] || Lacrosse 
|-
| Golf || Soccer
|-
| Lacrosse || Softball
|-
| [[Elon Phoenix men's soccer|Soccer]] || Tennis
|-
| Tennis || Track and field{{sup|1}} 
|-
| || Volleyball 
|-
| colspan="2" style="{{CollegeSecondaryStyle|Elon Phoenix|color=white}}" | {{small|{{sup|1}} – includes both indoor and outdoor}}
|}

==National championships==
===Team===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
{{CollegePrimaryHeader|team=Elon Phoenix|Sport|Association|Division|Year|Runner-up|Score}}
|- align="center"
|rowspan="1"| Men's Tennis (1)
|rowspan="1"| [[National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics|NAIA]] (1)
|rowspan="1"| [[NAIA Men's Tennis Championship|Single]] (1)
|1990
|1983
|[[North Florida Ospreys men's tennis|North Florida]]
|31–26
|}

==Facilities==
Elon's sports facilities include the [[Schar Center]], [[Alumni Gym (Elon University)|Alumni Gym]], [[Walter C. Latham Park]], [[Rhodes Stadium]], the on-campus [[American football|football]] stadium, Alumni Field House, Koury Field House, Rudd Field, Hunt Softball Park, Jimmy Powell Tennis Center, the Jeanne and Jerry Robertson Track and Field Complex, Rudd Field and the Worseley Golf Center. Schar Center, the replacement for Alumni Gym as the home of Phoenix men's basketball, women's basketball and volleyball, opened on August 28, 2018 with a volleyball match against North Carolina A&T.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.elon.edu/E-Net/Article/165584 |title=Elon volleyball to host N.C. A&T TONIGHT in Schar Center's first athletics contest |publisher=Elon University |date=August 28, 2018 |access-date=September 7, 2018}}</ref>

== Notable former athletes ==

[[File:Elijah Bryant.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Elijah Bryant]]]]
* [[Hal Bradley]], Football (1936)

* [[Jesse Branson]], Basketball (1965)

* [[John Brebbia]] (born 1990), Baseball

* [[Elijah Bryant]] (born 1995), Basketball

* [[Ward Burton]], NASCAR driver (1985)

* [[Joey Hackett]], Football (1981)

* [[Greg W. Harris]], Baseball (1987)

* [[Clint Irwin]], Soccer (2010)

* [[Steven Kinney]], Soccer (2009)

* [[Daniel Lovitz]], Soccer (2013)

* [[Chad Nkang]], Football (2007)

* [[Aaron Mellette]], Football (2013)

* [[Oli Udoh]], Football (2018)

* [[Shane Gillis]], Football (2006)
* Zora Stephenson, Basketball<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-04-13 |title=Zora Stephenson ’15 makes history calling play-by-play for the Milwaukee Bucks |url=https://www.elon.edu/u/news/2021/04/13/zora-stephenson-15-makes-history-calling-play-by-play-for-the-milwaukee-bucks/ |access-date=2023-03-27 |website=Today at Elon |language=en}}</ref> (2015)
* Sydel Curry, Volleyball (2017)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons cat}}
* {{Official website}}

{{Elon University}}
{{Coastal Athletic Association navbox}}
{{College sports in North Carolina|state=collapsed}}
{{North Carolina Sports}}

[[Category:Elon Phoenix| ]]