Two Elon men’s basketball recruits honored
The future of Elon University men’s basketball team got a little brighter this past week, as two recruits for head coach Matt Matheny’s squad were named to county all-star teams.
Tanner Samson, of Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Co., was named to the All-Continental League first team for his play during his senior season. He averaged 16.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.3 steals per contest. The 6-foot-4 Samson is from the same high school as current Elon freshman forward Ryan Winters.
Will Trawick, of Fox Lane High School in Bedford, N.Y., was named to the tri-county first team for Westchester County. He led the Foxes in scoring (15.2 points per game) and rebounding (11.1 rebounds per game). Trawick helped his team to a 17-4 record for the 2011-2012 season.
Records fall for Elon track and field at UNC meet Saturday
Two Elon University track and field records were made at the Kent Taylor-Joe Hilton UNC Invitational April 14.
The 4x100-meter relay team, made up of sophomore Bria Bell, senior Dana Cataldo, sophomore Veronica Luedke and senior Amy Salek, set a new Elon record with a time of 46.55 for second place in the meet.
Bell then took sixth in the 200-meter dash by setting a school record with a time of 24.60, breaking her previous record by .07 seconds.
The Phoenix will look to better last year’s program-best finish of third at the SoCon Outdoor Track and Field Championships April 21-22, in Cullowhee, N.C.
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee collects tabs for Ronald Mcdonald House Charities
Elon University student-athletes collected 135,120 tabs from aluminum cans in an effort to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities across the nation.
The Phoenix finished second out of Southern Conference teams in the conference-sponsored “Keeping Tabs on Kids” programs to help raise money for RMHCs, which support programs that “directly improve the health and well-being of children,” according to the charity’s website. Western Carolina University student-athletes brought in 182,264 tabs.
All of Elon’s 18 varsity sports participated in the tab collection with the cheerleading team winning an informal competition among the individual programs.
Elon Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President Dale Riley said he was encouraged by the outpouring of support from his fellow student-athletes and, although Elon did not win, he was happy with the amount of money that will come from the tabs.
Football team visited by NFL veteran Rhodes
Current Arizona Cardinals cornerback Kerry Rhodes visited the Elon Phoenix football team April 5.
According to head coach Jason Swepson, Rhodes was on campus working out for the 2012 NFL season with a track and field coach and was given an opportunity to speak to the team after a spring practice.
“He understands that he still has to work hard to survive in the NFL, and he shared that message with our guys,” Swepson said in a post on ElonPhoenix.com. “It gives validation to the guys that they have to work hard. You might not be the best player on the team, or the best player in the conference, but if you’re not working hard 24/7, someone will beat you out.”
The team will have four more practices before the spring game, including one in Rhodes Stadium at 2:30 p.m. April 21. The 2012 season will begin Sept. 1 against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Phoenix finished 5-6 last season.