Baseball swept by
Northeastern
^ „ PHOTO COURTESY OF HANNA WENTZ
The Elon University dance team performs at the Daytona fieach Bandshell in the finals of the National Dance Alliance Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship April 7.
i^TWO MINUTE
Elon’s dance team takes the
stage at NDA Nationals and
sets the bar for next year
DANCE I from cover
coming back this year, we had
the idea that we needed to make
it to [finals].”
While it may not be a sport in
the spotlight much, and at times
not even recognized by some as
a sport, the training that goes
into the team getting into shape
shows otherwise.
“We have three- to four-hour
practices about three to four
times a week, and then especial
ly when it got close to nation
als, we had to dance every day,”
said freshman Brielle Ricciardi.
“And then we condition; we run
around campus; we do stadium
stairs; we work out our arms and
our abs and legs, so its a full-
body workout.”
While nationals is not the only
thing on the minds of the danc
ers all year, Riccardi summed up
II
the weekend simply.
“This is our equivalent to the
Super Bowl.”
The team began their time at
the NDA competition this week
end on Thursday with their jazz
routine. Though they didn’t qual
ify for nationals in that disci
pline, they were still pleased with
their performance.
“Even though
we didn’t qualify
for finals, we did
well regardless,”
Ricciardi said.
From there, on
Friday the team set
out on their quest
for hip-hop great
ness. Though not
every dancer has
a strong hip-hop
background, the
team was confident
in its abilities.
“One of our team’s strengths is
hip hop,” said freshman Hana Se-
divy. “It’s different than what a lot
of us have done in the past, but
we came to Elon’s dance team,
and that’s what we practice, and
that’s what we’re strong at.”
“As freshmen, we don’t have
as much experience on the team,
but we’ve worked hard all year,
and we know that this is just the
second year that we’ve gone to
nationals.To get to finals was a
really big deal, and we were real
ly excited,” Sedivy said.
While some have seen the
team’s routines
at basketball
and football
games, the rou
tines for nation
als do not com
pare.
“This dance
we did had a lot
more tricks that
we’ve been put
ting an empha
sis on this year
because tricks
are wKat make a
dance really hard but also really
impressive,” Ricciardi said.
But while the routine they do
for nationals may be more in
volved, it doesn’t mean they get
any more time to pull it all off.
They are allotted the same two
minutes at nationals that they get
THIS IS OUR
EQUIVALENTTOTHE
SUPER BOWL.
BRIELLE RICCIARDI
FRESHMAN
to perform at halftime of the bas
ketball games — two minutes to
make eight months of hard work
pay off.’
For head coach Hanna Wentz,
it was a major accomplishment
in a career that began on Elon’s
campus as a dancer herself. The
class of 2014 graduate has taken
the program from not competing
at all in the NDA nationals to
becoming a top performer in the
country.
“This year was about pick
ing ourselves back up and going
in fighting for a space at finals,
which is exactly what we did,”
Wentz said. “I say to the girls all
the time: it’s about moving for
ward with progress and building
the program up each year, and
that’s what we’ve been doing.”
With a triumph this year, the
team has set the bar even higher
for next year.
“Next year, I will hope that we
make it to top five,” Wentz said.
“I think each year, we need to set
a new expectation. We made it
in the top six this year, so I think
top five is a good expectation for
next year.”
WOMEN’S TENNIS
MEN’S TENNIS
BASEBALL
RESULTS
17-15
4/7
4/7
4/8
NORTHEASTERN/BOSTON
NORTHEASTERN/BOSTON
NORTHEASTERN/BOSTON
1-7
5-6
3-9
SCHEDULE
4/11
EASTCAROLINA/ELON
6 P.M.
4/13
HOFSTRA/ELON
6 P.M.
4/14
HOESTRA/ELON
4 P.M.
4/15
HOFSTRA/ELON
1P.M.
4/17
CAMPBELLVELON
6 P.M.
RESULTS
12-11
RESULTS
13-7
4/5 EASTERN CAROLINA/
3-4.
4/6 JAMES MADISON/
4-3
^ GREENVILLE
HARRISONBURG, VA
4/7 RICHMOND/ELON
4/8 CHARLESTON SOUTHERN/
ELON
2-4
4-3
4/10 UNCASHEVILLE/ELON
SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE
■4/11 UNC GREENSBORO/ELON
6 P.M.
4/14 JAMES MADISON/
10 A.M.
HARRISONBURG, VA
TRACK AND FIELD
SCHEDULE
SOFTBALL
RESULTS
20-18
4/14 PHOENIX INVITATIONAIVELON lOA.M.
4/4 L0NGW0000/FARMVILLE,VA
4/4 L0NGW000D/FARMVILLE,VA
7-10
3-2
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
4/7 UNCW/WILMINGTON
4-0
4/7 UNCW/WILMINGTON
4-5
RESULTS
4/6 HOESTRA/HEMPSTEAD.NY
2-8
12-8
SCHEDULE
4/11 DUKE/DURHAM 5:30 P.M.
SCHEDULE
4/14 T0WS0N7T0WS0N, MB 12 & 2 P.M,
4/13 TOWSON/ELON
6 P.M,
4/15 T0WS0N7T0WS0N, MB
1P.M.
4/15 JAMES MADISON/ELON
1P.M.
The Elon University baseball
team fell to Northeastern University
three times last weekend, ending its
four-game winning streak. Last year,
when facing the Huskies, Elon fell
in the opener at Latham Park before
bouncing back to take the final two
games of the series. In game one
last Saturday, the Huskies scored six
unanswered runs in the fourth and
seventh innings to beat Elon 7-1. In
the second game of the double head
er, the Phoenix fell short, losing 5-6.
The Huskies finished the sweep
on Sunday afternoon in Brookline,
Massachusetts, beating the Phoenix
9-3.
Elon’s Aurelia
Hamm earns CAA
Golfer of the Week
Junior golfer Aurelia Hamm
earned CAA Golfer of the Week
last week. In her 2016-17 season,
she finished the season with a 76.46
stroke average over 26 rounds. The
maroon and gold competed in the
Mimosa Hills Intercollegiate, where
Hamm finished the two-round
tournament at four-under par (73-
67-140), three shots ahead of the
runner-up.
On April 13, Hamm and the
Phoenix will close out their season
as they tee off in the 2018 CAA
Championships, at the St. James
Plantation in Southport, North
Carolina.
Phoenix Softball
splits doubleheader
with UNCW
The Elon softball team faced
University of North Carolina at
Wilmington on the road last Sunday
and shut the Spartans out 4-0 in
game one. The Phoenix were unable
to complete the sweep on the day,
falling 4-5 in game two.
Elon (20-18, 4-5 CAA) moved to
fourth in the league standings with
its second CAA series victory.
The team will play at Durham
on Wednesday to take on the Duke
university Blue Devils for the first
time this season.
Football participates
in Third Annual Bone
Marrow Drive
Elon University’s football team
left the field and joined the CAA
Football drive to recruit potential
bone marrow donors in partnership
with the Be The Match Foundation.
This year alone, more than 80 foot
ball teams from colleges and univer
sities across the nation are partici
pating in the program to recruit new
registry members.
Villanova football coach Andy
Talley has been dedicated to raising
awareness to life-threatening can
cers like lymphoma and leukemia
and recruits thousands of people
to become contributors and volun
teers. To find out more informa
tion about the cure and recruitment,
visit BeTheMatch.org or call 1 (800)
MARROW-2 (l-(800)-627-7692).