ELON, N.C. - The Elon University Department of Athletics celebrated the 2024-25 school year with the Phoenix Awards on Monday evening, May 12 at Schar Center. The department recognized and remembered the many outstanding achievements from the past year.
Both team and department awards were handed out. Scott Vatne of the Elon men's soccer team and Kaitlyn Wells of the Phoenix softball team received the prestigious Stein H. Basnight Award for the top Male and Female Athletes of the Year, respectively.
Vatne became Elon's first conference Player of the Year in Elon's CAA era after helping the Phoenix to its second league regular season title in the past two seasons. The Klepp, Norway, native finished his senior season with team highs in goals (10), assists (seven) and points (27), finishing second in the CAA in goals and points while finishing third in the CAA in assists. He was also the only player to be top three in all three categories. Vatne was selected to the All-CAA First Team for the third consecutive season and received First Team All-Region honors.
Wells earned All-CAA First Team laurels after helping the Elon softball team to its best finish ever in league play with 21 victories. The Roswell, Ga., native leads the Phoenix in several categories including batting average (.417), slugging percentage (.785), runs scored (41), hits (68) and total bases (128). She broke the program's single-season school record in home runs (16) and RBI (58) and was named the CAA Most Outstanding Player at the league championships after helping the Phoenix to win the CAA tournament title at Campbell and earn a berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Matthew Doyle of men's golf and Gabi Schaal from the softball team earned the Robert C. Browne Sportsmanship Award. The Browne Award was established in 1972 in memory of Elon alumnus Robert C. Browne by his sister, Pretto Browne-Crumpton, and her husband, Dr. J.L. Crumpton, and is presented annually to the Elon male and female athletes who have best displayed exemplary qualities of sportsmanship as determined by the Elon Department of Athletics administrative staff.
Ashley Lafontaine of women's golf and Evan Taylor of the Phoenix men's cross country team were co-winners of the A.L. Hook Scholar-Athlete Awards. The Hook Award has been presented annually since 1975 in honor of Dr. A.L. Hook to the Phoenix male and female junior or senior athletes who possess the highest cumulative grade-point average with a minimum of two years of playing time at Elon.
A full listing of award winners is listed below.
