ELON – Elon Athletics celebrated the accomplishments of its student-athletes and teams from the 2025-26 academic year during the annual Phoenix Awards on Monday evening inside Schar Center. The evening recognized the department’s achievements from the past year, highlighted by six CAA team championships so far through the 2025-26 campaign.
The prestigious Stein H. Basnight Award, presented annually to Elon’s top male and female athletes of the year, was awarded to Jackson Leavitt of men’s soccer and Katie Blount of women’s cross country and track & field.
Leavitt helped lead Elon men’s soccer to the CAA Tournament championship and the CAA South Division title while earning All-CAA First Team and USC All-Atlantic Region Second Team honors. The Phoenix goalkeeper was named the CAA Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and set a program single-season record with 12 shutouts while earning team MVP honors.
Blount guided the Elon women’s cross country team to a CAA championship while winning the individual conference title. She set school records in the 5K and 6K during the cross country season and later helped the Phoenix women’s indoor track & field team capture the CAA title, earning runner-up finishes in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters at the conference championship. During the outdoor season, Blount broke the school record in the 10,000 meters and owns the CAA’s fastest time in the event this season heading into this weekend’s CAA Championships.
Ashley Lafontaine of women’s golf and Oskar Antihemo of men’s tennis received the Robert C. Browne Leadership & 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 leadership and sportsmanship as determined by the Elon Department of Athletics administrative staff.
Jana Lynn Patterson, Associate Vice President for Student Life, Dean of Student Health & Well-Being and Assistant Professor, received the department’s Unsung Hero Award.
The A.L. Hook Scholar-Athlete Awards were presented to Evan Taylor of men’s cross country along with a five-way split of the women’s honor going to lacrosse’s Mia Zebley, softball’s Greta Hessenthaler and women’s soccer student-athletes Jordan Green, Jenna Abousaab and Maya Abousaab. 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 included below.
