College Notebook
Elon women’s soccer announces 2016 captains
With the 2016 season starting Friday, the Elon University women’s soccer program and ninth-year head coach Chris Neal announced captains for the upcoming season Wednesday. Seniors Alexis de Groot and Sarah Henson and juniors Grace Bennett and Kendall Ballotti will lead the maroon and gold on the pitch this season.
The Phoenix squad returns 20 players from the 2015 season, which posted a winning record of 9-8-2 and started the year with a Division I era program-best, 7-1-1 mark, in the first nine games. Elon will add 10 newcomers, including nine freshmen, three of whom are international student-athletes, and a graduate transfer. De Groot is the only returning captain, after earning the honor last season as a junior.
Men’s soccer
Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons have been selected to finish a narrow second behind Clemson in this year’s release of the conference preseason poll announced Wednesday morning.
UNC: The Tar Heels are the ACC preseason favorite to win the league championship, according to a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches. The squad was named by five coaches as this year’s team to beat for the ACC Championship. Clemson received three votes, followed by Notre Dame with two. Virginia and Wake Forest each received one vote.
Duke: The Blue Devils soccer team will enter the 2016 season picked to finish fourth in the Coastal Division, according to a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches. The Blue Devils finished fourth in the division in 2015.
Women’s soccer
UNC: The Tar Heels start their 38th season under the tutelage of head coach Anson Dorrance this weekend when they host the annual Carolina Nike Classic at Fetzer Field on Friday and Sunday with four games.
Swimming
ECU: Former Lady Pirates swimmer Bailie Monahan has been recognized as one of 24 student-athletes with a 2015-16 American Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award. Monahan was named to the Chancellor’s List during each semester of the 2015-16 academic calendar, posting a perfect 4.0 GPA each term.
Miscellaneous
St. Aug’s: The university baseball program will host its inaugural golf tournament at Riverwood Golf Course in Clayton on Aug. 27, with a shotgun start of 1 p.m. The cost is $75 per player and $300 per team.
From news releases
This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 11:30 PM with the headline "College Notebook."