Elon Phoenix

The Elon Phoenix is the name given to several sports teams of Elon University, located in Elon, North Carolina. The university is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association and competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, fielding 17 varsity teams in 11 sports.

All of Elon's varsity teams currently compete in sports sponsored by the CAA.

Elon moved to the Colonial Athletic Association on July 1, 2014.

Teams

History

The turn of the century saw the foundation of then-Elon College athletics begin to form. The school's first intercollegiate athletic event came in 1900 when the school played two baseball games against Guilford College in a home-and-home series and the first gymnasium was built in 1905. Football began play in 1909, while men's basketball followed in 1911.

In 1921, the team was first called the Fightin' Christians. The moniker is said to have been coined by a sportswriter covering a contest between Elon and nearby Guilford College, a Quaker school. The school became a charter member of the North State Conference in 1930 and remained a member of the conference and its successors until departing for the South Atlantic Conference in 1989. The Fightin' Christians saw great success in the North State Conference, winning numerous conference titles and national championships. The football team won NAIA national titles in 1980 and 1981 under Coach Jerry Tolley, who was named national coach of the year for the 1980 season. Both titles were won in championship games played on Elon's home field in neighboring Burlington, North Carolina. The men's golf team and men's tennis teams also claimed NAIA national championships in 1982 and 1990, respectively.