SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Strong finishes for Elon's women's athletic teams helped the Phoenix program finish in a third-place tie in the race for the Germann Cup, an award presented to the Southern Conference's best overall women's athletics program, as announced by the SoCon on Wednesday.  Elon finished in a tie for fifth in the standings for the Commissioner's Cup which goes to the top men's program in the league.

Elon missed winning the Germann Cup by just one point as the Phoenix amassed a total of 78 points to tie for third with College of Charleston.  Appalachian State took the cup with 79 points while Samford finished second with 78.5 points.  Elon was the only school to have each of its women's programs finish in the top half of the conference.

Despite not sponsoring three of the men's sports that count toward the Commissioner's Cup, the Elon men compiled 59 points to tie with Samford for fifth, just one point shy of fourth-place Furman.  Appalachian State racked up 91 points to win the cup with UNC Greensboro (78) and Chattanooga (70.5) holding the second and third spots, respectively.

The Elon volleyball team collected 11 points for its North Division title while the outdoor track squad earned 10 points.  The Phoenix indoor track and women's basketball programs both collected nine points toward the school's total.  Women's tennis earned seven points.  Scoring eight points apiece were the women's soccer, women's cross country, women's golf and softball teams.

On the men's side, the baseball team's regular-season title was worth 12 points while the men's tennis program collected 11.5 points after sharing the 2011 crown.  The Phoenix football program tied for third in the SoCon to gain nine points while men's soccer picked up 8.5 points.  Rounding out the scoring for the Phoenix were the men's cross country (7), men's golf (6) and men's basketball (5) squads.

Elon had three athletes earn a player of the year award in their sport as Chris Thomas was named the men's soccer player of the year, Veronica Day was the outdoor field performer of the year and John Brebbia was selected as the pitcher of the year in baseball.  Another two Phoenix athletes were chosen as their sport's freshman of the year as Cameron Silverman was honored in men's tennis and Jordan Johnston was recognized in women's tennis.

Three Elon coaches were also honored this year by the SoCon as Mary Tendler (volleyball), Michael Leonard (men's tennis) and Mark Elliston (women's track and field) were all named SoCon Coach of the Year in their sports.