Sports

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SPORTS 12/1/20 2:09pm

Elon men's basketball activity paused due to COVID-19 case

By Caitlin Rundle

The Elon University men’s basketball team currently faces a 14-day pause on all activity after a Tier 1 personnel — which includes athletes, coaches and support staff — identified a positive COVID-19 case on Tuesday, according to a press release from Elon athletics. The positive case comes after the Phoenix played its first two games of the season, leading to victories against High Point University and North Carolina Wesleyan College.

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SPORTS 11/28/20 8:54pm

Elon men's basketball gain second win of the year

By Alex Reynolds

Elon Men’s Basketball (2-0) downed the High Point University Panthers (0-2) 76-75 tonight in Schar Center. The Phoenix struggled to maintain a solid lead over the Panthers, but when it mattered most sophomore guard Hunter McIntosh brought Elon its second straight win. 

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SPORTS 11/26/20 12:29am

Phoenix prevail in long awaited home opener for men’s basketball

By Alex Reynolds

It’s been nine months since Elon men’s basketball has played. But the season opening victory, was about more than basketball. In the months after the Phoenix season ended, the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor led to movements for racial justice across the country and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. Professional sports teams made various statements regarding racial justice through symbols, jerseys and campaigns. Tonight the Phoenix made a statement of its own.

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SPORTS 11/25/20 5:14pm

Men's cross country holds strong despite pandemic

By Max Crider

The pandemic has delayed the start of the season for many fall athletes, stopping players from practicing with each other. Despite this, the cross country team has been able to get back on its feet without a normal season. They are looking to build on a third-place finish at the CAA Championships last fall and a 25th-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships.

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SPORTS 11/25/20 1:28pm

Women's cross country prepares for winter season

By Caitlin Rundle and Hope Suire

As seniors, Bridget Kanaley, a member of the women's cross country team, said they’ve had lots of positive experiences in the past four years. She said that the biggest challenge has been accepting the fact that this season is going to be different than the others, despite their hope that their last year would be the best year.

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SPORTS 11/19/20 3:37pm

Elon women's basketball prepares for upcoming season

By Hope Suire

Disappointment surged through the women’s basketball team last year after the announcement was made that the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. For the upcoming season, the team will take the court at Gardner-Webb University on Nov. 25 for their first game of the 2020-21 season. Their first CAA matchup will be against Northeastern University on Jan. 2.

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SPORTS 11/16/20 10:46am

Elon women's soccer enters the unknown without spring schedule

By Caitlin Rundle

University football and basketball teams have been given a schedule for CAA play, but women’s soccer has yet to confirm that its spring season will actually happen. The team started off practices with small groups of four members and no contact during drills. They’ve now worked up to full team practices with contact and weight training in two groups. 

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SPORTS 11/12/20 6:35pm

Marching through a pandemic

By Ian Taylor

Marching band, like all other clubs and organizations on Elon’s campus, was given a series of guidelines by the administration in order to conduct operations safely and limit the spread of the coronavirus. For the band, these guidelines led to shorter practices and practicing in small groups organized by instrument rather than as a whole, while remaining at least six feet apart.

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SPORTS 11/10/20 5:16pm

Hope springs eternal for Elon football

By Daniel Schulman

The CAA announced that it would be playing on an adjusted schedule in the spring, which includes six conference games with the option for individual teams to schedule two out-of-conference games. The team has been doing what it can to stay ready for the spring. On Oct. 17, the team started full team practices with COVID-19 guidelines. 

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SPORTS 11/9/20 1:06pm

Volleyball seniors adjust to new reality

By Annemarie Bonner

Some of the COVID-19 restrictions include: players not being allowed to physically congratulate each other after plays, something that would be standard in practices and games. If a player breaks this protocol, their coaches will warn them. Players also hold each other accountable. 

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SPORTS 10/28/20 1:04pm

Burlington Baseball unaffiliated with minor league

By Jon Sarver Jr.

Major League Baseball and USA Baseball announced that the Royals’ league — the Appalachian League — will no longer be affiliated with minor league baseball and will become a collegiate summer league. This announcement ended the Burlington baseball team’s relationship with its MLB affiliate the Kansas City Royals.

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SPORTS 10/22/20 4:13pm

Cheer stretches beyond the sidelines for Elon cheerleader

By Anna Terry

Elon senior and cheerleader Zach Wallace started cheerleading in 2011 while he was in middle school and became enamored with the sport. Wallace is a skilled cheerleader and trains at the highest level in the sport on the national level. Although he has cheered on the mat at several international cheerleading competitions, his favorite place to cheer is at Elon football games. 

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SPORTS 10/14/20 11:00am

CAA announces adjusted basketball schedule

By Caitlin Rundle

For Elon, both opening games will be on Jan. 2 against Northeastern, with the men traveling to Boston and the women remaining home. The regular season will conclude Feb. 28. Non-conference games have not been released, as well as ticket and seating information. 

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SPORTS 10/7/20 1:05pm

Club fencing struggles with COVID guidelines

By Ian Taylor

Despite Elon University providing recommendations to keep club sports on campus safe, one sport — club fencing — decided to suspend their operations right away. Will Holzman, senior and club fencing president, cited multiple reasons for why the club thought it was best to not hold a season.

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SPORTS 10/5/20 10:37am

Recruitment in the age of coronavirus: A different look at Friday night lights

By Colby Cook

Prospective college athletes are faced with lots of uncertainty as they decide where they want to continue their education and football career. Division 1 athletics have instituted a recruiting freeze, and lower levels have altered the way that they are recruiting players due to the pandemic.

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SPORTS 10/1/20 10:38am

CAA announces adjusted football schedule for spring 2021

By Caitlin Rundle

The schedule includes a shortened six game schedule with two optional out of conference games, which would not be counted in the conference standings or tie breaking procedures. Play is expected to resume on March 6 and continue on through April 17.

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SPORTS 9/29/20 2:19pm

Elon University mascot spreads spirit, with or without sports

By Katie Bennert

At every game, tailgate and sporting event, you see it. The personality and face of Elon University doing cartwheels down the fields, cheering on fans and making every person around it go wild. Even now, The Phoenix is part of Elon University culture — although it may not be able to do cartwheels on a Zoom call. Elon Athletics determined it was not safe to play sports with close contact this semester. Thus, the Phoenix found itself without its normal schedule of events for the fall.

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SPORTS 9/19/20 6:48pm

2 athletes respond to athletics suspension

By Caitlin Rundle

In Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley’s email informing the student body that Elon University would be rising to Level 2, Dooley said that there was an outbreak of the coronavirus among student-athletes. Dooley went further to pinpoint the sports with clusters: football, lacrosse and baseball. The wording of his emails, to two athletes, gives athletics the brunt of the blame for going to level two, something they say is unfair. 

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SPORTS 9/18/20 5:21pm

2 new coronavirus clusters reported among Elon athletes

By Mackenzie Wilkes

Two additional coronavirus clusters have been reported among Elon University student-athletes, bringing the total to three, according to an email to students from Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley. Baseball, lacrosse and football all have clusters among their teams.

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SPORTS 9/17/20 1:28pm

Elon athletics activity suspended due to COVID-19

By Mackenzie Wilkes

All Elon University varsity athletics have paused practice until further notice due to the spread of COVID-19 among athletes, according to Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley. In an email to undergraduate students, Dooley said 21 student-athletes have tested positive for COVID-19, which includes a cluster of football players.

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