The Elon University Department of Athletics announced the 2025 Elon Sports Hall of Fame class today, with six members to be inducted during Hall of Fame and Champions Weekend Jan. 30-Feb. 1. The class includes Stefan Fortmann ’15 (tennis), Sydney Griffin ’16 (track & field), David Harrison ’10 (football), Clay Hassard ’85, ’89 (player, coach and administrator) and Casey Jones ’15 (baseball).
In addition, the Fightin’ Christian mascot will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, commemorating the retirement of the university’s former mascot identity in 1999.
“I am excited to welcome this well-deserving group into the Elon Athletics Hall of Fame,” Jenn Strawley, Director of Athletics, said. “We look forward to welcoming them home and celebrating their amazing accomplishments Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2025.”
Stefan Fortmann ’15, Tennis, 2012-15
The 2015 CAA Player of the Year, Stefan Fortmann won 117 matches for Elon tennis over the course of a four-year career.
Fortmann made his mark immediately, earning Southern Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 2012 after going 17-8 in singles play, including 8-2 in conference. He then earned first team all-conference honors in doubles in 2013, when he paired up with Cameron Silverman, a 2022 Elon Sports Hall of Fame inductee, to rank as high as No. 22 nationally. As a team, Elon earned the Southern Conference regular season championship that year.
In 2014, Fortmann was named first team all-conference in singles, going 8-0 against league competition, and second team in doubles. Elon won the Southern Conference Tournament and met No. 2 Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The team went 19-6 that season, including 9-0 in the SoCon.
As Elon transitioned to the CAA, Fortmann continued his onslaught on the court, earning first team all-conference recognition in both singles and doubles in 2015 to go with his CAA Player of the Year honor.
In total, Fortmann’s 61 singles wins rank fourth in school history and his 56 doubles wins are seventh.
Sydney Griffin ’16, Track & Field, 2012-16
The 2016 Basnight Award Winner, two-year team captain and multi-time conference champion, Sydney Griffin set no fewer than eight school records during her career at Elon.
During the indoor season, Griffin set school records for indoor track & field in the 60, 200, 300 and 60 hurdles. Her time of 8.48 in the 60 hurdles remains the top mark today, while she is fourth in the 60, second in the 200 and second in the 300.
In outdoor track & field, she broke records in the 100, 200, 100 hurdles and 400 relay. She is still the 100 hurdles record holder with a time of 13.53 seconds and ranks third in the 100, fifth in the 200 and second in the 400 relay. She was a three-time NCAA regional qualifier in the 100 hurdles.
As a freshman in 2013, Griffin earned all-conference and all-freshman recognition during both the indoor and outdoor season within the Southern Conference. She won the conference championship in the 60 hurdles during the indoor season.
In 2014, she was again named all-conference by the SoCon for both the indoor and outdoor seasons before Elon left for the CAA. She once again won a Southern Conference championship in the 60 hurdles and added an outdoor title in the 100 hurdles.
In 2015, she was named All-CAA in both the 100 hurdles and the 400 relay before a breakout 2016 that included three league titles. She won the CAA Championship in the 100 hurdles, 200 and 400 relay and was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the Meet. She led Elon to CAA team championships in both 2015 and 2016.
David Harrison ’10, Football, 2006-09
A four-year starter on the offensive line, David Harrison earned All-American recognition during his career at Elon.
Harrison was a two-year team captain and two-time first team All-Southern Conference performer on the offensive line who was named Stats FCS Second Team All-American as a senior. College Sports News named him an honorable mention All-American as well in 2009.
The “Emotional Leader of the Team” according to his head coach Pete Lembo, Harrison was named the team’s Most Outstanding Lineman in 2008. He started 42 games over four years, including 12 games in each of his final two seasons.
Elon’s offenses during Harrison’s tenure on the line were some of the most explosive in program history. The 2009 team holds the single-season program records for total offense (5,099 yards) and first downs (267). The 2007 team set the program record for points scored per game (36.4) and tied the record for total points (400).
The team went 8-4 during his junior year, which included wins over No. 14 Georgia Southern, No. 15 Furman and No. 21 The Citadel. He led the 2009 team to Elon’s first ever FCS playoff bid with a 9-2 regular season before a loss to No. 4 Richmond in the opening game. Over the course of his four years, Harrison’s teams beat six ranked teams.
Casey Jones ’15, Baseball, 2012-15
The 2014 Southern Conference Player of the Year, Casey Jones had a Hall of Fame career that included one of the greatest single seasons in program history.
Jones was named second team All-American by both Louisville Slugger and Rawlings/ABCA in 2014 after hitting .418 with a .502 on-base percentage and .668 slugging percentage. His .418 batting average ranked fourth in the country. Jones added 31 extra-base hits, which included 20 doubles and seven homers. His batting average remains the greatest single-season average in program history. At one point, he had an Elon record 26-game hit streak.
Jones was a finalist for the Gregg Olson Award, given to the nation’s breakout player in 2014 and was a third team NCBWA All-American to go with the second team honors.
Heading into 2015, Jones was named a Louisville Slugger First Team Preseason All-American and Jones proved he was not a one-hit wonder. He hit .313 with 15 doubles and six homers as a senior, once again earning first team all-conference honors. He concluded his career with 47 career doubles, ranking sixth in program history, and 106 walks, seventh all-time at Elon.
In 2013, Elon Baseball won the Southern Conference Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Just a sophomore, Jones hit .409 with five runs scored and four RBI to help the team advance to the NCAA Tournament. He was then named to the All-Charlottesville Regional Team after hitting .667 with a double, a run and an RBI.
Clay Hassard ’85 ’89, Football/Coach/Administrator, 1982-2022
A standout player, coach and administrator, Clay Hassard spent 36 years working in the Elon Department of Athletics before passing away on Feb. 9, 2024 at the age of 62.
A 1985 Elon graduate, Hassard earned All-South Atlantic Conference and Academic All-American distinction as an offensive lineman. He went on to spend five seasons on the Elon football staff as an assistant coach while earning his MBA in 1989. He became part of the department’s administrative staff in 1990 and was promoted to associate director of athletics in 1995.
Hassard retired in 2022 as the Senior Associate Director of Athletics. He had a deep dedication to the personal development and holistic success of student-athletes.
Over many years, Hassard was Elon’s chief athletics compliance officer, overseeing NCAA regulations and ensuring that administrators, coaches and student-athletes maintained the highest standards of integrity.
The Fightin’ Christian
For 78 years, the Fightin’ Christian served as the Elon College mascot and the visual identity of the school. It assumed physical form in the 1970s and was a presence in the emergence of Elon Athletics through the NAIA and NCAA ranks, cheering on Elon to multiple conference titles and four national championships. In 1999, the university retired the mascot identity and, in 2000, the Fightin’ Christian was presented with a diploma from Elon.
The “Christians” identity was first used during the 1921 sports season, when Elon took on Guilford College in a big football game billed as the “Christians versus the Quakers.” The term Fighting Christians was first used during the 1922-23 football season and became a customary name for the athletics teams, although it was never officially adopted by the college or its trustees. The Fightin’ Christian mascot did not come into being until the early 1970s and became a beloved symbol for the Elon community.
Elon remained a member of the NAIA through 1993, and the mascot cheered on four national championship teams during that era. Through the department’s transition to the NCAA Division II ranks, the mascot remained. When Elon announced a move to NCAA Division I in the late 1990s, the board of trustees found it to be the right time to retire the Fightin’ Christian moniker and mascot, leading the way for the Elon Phoenix.