Elon Athletics Announces 2012-13 Award Winners

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University Department of Athletics held its 39th annual athletics awards banquet on Monday evening, May 13, in Alumni Gym, recognizing and remembering many of the outstanding performances of the 2012-13 school year. Men’s soccer All-American Chris Thomas and four-time All-Southern Conference softball outfielder Tomeka Watson were selected as the Stein H. Basnight Outstanding Athlete award winners.

The Stein H. Basnight Outstanding Athlete Award has been presented annually since 1958 in memory of the late Stein H. Basnight of Chapel Hill, N.C. The award honors the most outstanding Phoenix male and female athletes of the year, as determined by the Elon Department of Athletics’ administrative staff. Jesse Basnight, Jr. represented the Basnight family at the banquet

Thomas was named the Southern Conference’s Player of the Year for the second time in his career and was recognized as an All-American by two different publications. The senior was also named a semifinalist for the Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy, the most prestigious individual award in collegiate men’s soccer. In 2012, Thomas led the nation in goals scored with 23 and in total points with 51, shattering the single-season school marks. He also became the program’s all-time career leader in goals and total points, breaking a 24-year record in both categories with 53 career goals and 116 total points. He was named College Soccer News and the NSCAA/Disney National Player of the Week after Thomas scored two goals in the Phoenix’s 2-0 upset of then sixth-ranked Charlotte on Sept. 22. Thomas’ performance helped the Phoenix capture the SoCon regular-season and tournament titles for the first time in school history and earn a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Watson earned All-SoCon honors for the fourth straight season after being selected to the first team in 2013. The Jackson, Ga., native led the SoCon in several categories throughout the year, including batting average (.419) and stolen bases (25). Against Hampton on Feb. 24, Watson became the program’s all-time leader in career home runs and tied an NCAA Division I record with a home run in six consecutive games. Watson also became the program’s all-time career leader in hits, runs scored, RBI and set the single-season school-mark with 14 homers this season. On Feb. 8, Watson hit a two-run home run in Elon’s 5-2 upset at then eighth-ranked Georgia and was named the SoCon’s Player of the Month for February. She became the second player in school-history with 100 or more stolen bases and hit the highest batting average for Elon at the Division I level.

Men’s basketball player Jack Isenbarger and women’s soccer player Claire O’Keeffe were recognized as the recipients of the Robert C. Browne Memorial 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.

Isenbarger, a third-team All-Southern Conference and second-team All-District honoree this season, finished the year second in the conference in three-pointers made with 82 and in free-throw percentage at 86.5 percent. Isenbarger finished the season 16th in the league in scoring at 13.2 points per game and 10th in the conference in minutes played at 31.8 per game. The Zionsville, Ind., native scored in double figures 23 times this season, including a season-high 25 at VMI on Nov. 24. Isenbarger scored his 1,000th career point on Jan. 24 against Chattanooga, pouring in a game-high 23 points. Isenbarger helped Elon to its first SoCon North Division title since 2006 and the program’s first postseason appearance at the Division I level this past season.

O’Keeffe was a third team NSCAA Scholar All-Region selection this season. She started all 22 matches on the year and led the Phoenix with 2,101 minutes on the pitch. The Greensboro, N.C., native was part of a back line defense that contributed to eight shutouts this season and helped her earn a spot on the Southern Conference All-Tournament team. O’Keeffe ended her career as the program¹s all-time leader in games started with 82 and helped the maroon and gold to a total of 27 shutouts in her four years at Elon.

Baseball pitcher Grant Fisher and O’Keefe were recipients of the A.L. Hook Scholar-Athlete accolades. Fisher maintains a 3.93 grade point average in public health, while O’Keefe holds a 3.94 GPA in political science with an international studies minor.

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.

Elon Athletics MVP Award Winners

Fall MVP Awards
Women’s Cross Country – Elyse Bierut
Men’s Cross Country – Luis Vargas
Volleyball – Ali Deatsch
Football – Aaron Mellette
Women’s Soccer – Shannon Foley
Men’s Soccer – Chris Thomas

Winter MVP Awards
Men’s Basketball – Lucas Troutman
Women’s Basketball – Ali Ford
Dance – Natasha Whitby
Cheerleading – Andrew Creech
Track & Field – Charlise Morgan
Service – Shelby McKay

Spring MVP Awards
Softball – Tomeka Watson
Baseball – Ryan Kinsella
Women’s Tennis – Frida Jansaker
Men’s Tennis – Juan Madrid
Women’s Golf – Martyna Mierzwa
Men’s Golf – Stuart Kaufman

Women’s Cross Country Team Awards
Allyson Oram (Coach’s Award)
Christine Pacewicz (Most Dedicated)
Tereza Novotna (Most Consistent)
Erin Macbeth (Most Improved)

Men’s Cross Country Team Awards
Ben Perron (Coach’s Award)
Sean Martyn (Most Dedicated)
Adam Bernstein (Most Improved)

Volleyball Team Awards
Ali Deatsch (Coaches’ Award)
Chanelle Smith (Most Improved)
Ana Nicksic (Top Newcomer)

Football Team Awards
Ed Burns (Most Outstanding Defensive Back)
Kyle Herbert (Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman)
Blake Thompson (Most Outstanding Linebacker)
Olufemi Lamikanra (Most Outstanding Defensive Lineman)
Thomas Wilson (Most Outstanding Offensive Back)
Jonathan Spain (Most Outstanding Defensive Player)
Adam Shreiner (Most Outstanding Special Teams)
Jeremy Peterson (Coaches’ Award)

Women’s Soccer Team Awards
Claire O’Keefe (Hard as Nails Award)
Mel Insley (Newcomer of the Year)
Jaclyn Wood (Most Improved)

Men’s Soccer Team Awards
Sam McBride (Top Newcomer)
Nathan Dean (Scholar Athlete)

Men’s Basketball Team Awards
Jack Isenbarger (Coaches’ Award)
Ryley Beaumont (Phoenix Award)

Women’s Basketball Team Awards
Kelsey Evans (Best All-Around)
Kelsey Harris (Defensive Player of the Year)
Nicole Razor (Most Improved)
Sam Coffer (Coaches’ Award)

Dance Team Awards
Hanna Wentz (Coach’s Award)

Cheerleading Team Awards
Eve Grow (Coach’s Award)

Track & Field Team Awards
Sydney Griffin (Outstanding Track)
Megan Kirschling (Outstanding Field)
Caroline McCaslin (Freshman of the Year)
Charlise Morgan (High Point Award)

Softball Team Awards
Carleigh Nester (Golden Glove)
Tomeka Watson (Best Offense Award)
Carleigh Nester (Most Valuable Teammate)
Kayla Caruso (Top Newcomer)
Carleigh Nester (Hustle Award)

Baseball Team Awards
Antonio Alvarez (Top Newcomer)
Dylan Clark (Coaches’ Award)
Kyle Webb (Pitcher of the Year)
Sebastian Gomez (Golden Glove Award)
Chris Bresnahan (Leadership Award)
Andrew MacDonald (Phoenix Award)
Nate Young (Danieley Memorial Sportsmanship)

Women’s Tennis Team Awards
Briana Berne (Most Improved)
Jordan Johnston (Most Outstanding Doubles Player)
Bryn Khoury (Fire of the Phoenix)

Men’s Tennis Team Awards
Jordan Kaufman (Most Improved)
Cameron Silverman (Coach’s Award)
Stefan Fortmann (Heart & Hustle Award)

Women’s Golf Team Awards
Diana Davis (Leadership Award)
Sunna Vidisdottir (Coach’s Award)

Men’s Golf Team Awards
Will DiIanni (Most Improved Award)
John Somers (Leadership Award)
Jack Adkins (Coach’s Award)