Michael Leonard, right, was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year for men's tennis April 20, while Damon Gooch was named Freshman of the Year. Read this note for details about awards for Elon's men's and women's teams...
Leonard, a 1991 Elon graduate, was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year while the Phoenix’s Damon Gooch (Gauteng, South Africa) was chosen as SoCon Freshman of the Year by the league’s head men’s tennis coaches.
In just his second season at the helm, Leonard guided Elon (18-4 overall, 8-1 SoCon) to a share of the Southern Conference regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the league’s tournament. After struggling through a 5-17 campaign (0-10 SoCon) last spring, the Phoenix has emerged victorious from 18 of its last 20 matches, including the past eight in a row. A two-time NAIA All-American, Leonard was a member of Elon’s 1990 national championship team.
Gooch entered conference tournament play with a 16-5 singles record this spring – 7-2 against SoCon competition – all at No. 1. He has been ranked as high as No. 120 nationally this month among all NCAA Division I men’s tennis singles players according to the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings. He was named SoCon Player of the Week on March 7 and SoCon Athlete of the Month for February.
Gooch was also selected first team all-Southern Conference in singles. The Phoenix No. 1 doubles team of Gooch and Austin Fenn (Baton Rouge, La.) also received first team all-league recognition. Ranked as high as No. 77 in the nation last month, the Gooch/Fenn combo has compiled a 14-6 record (7-2 SoCon) so far this spring.
Women’s tennis player Elizabeth Kernodle (Burlington, NC) received the Southern Conference Sportsmanship Award. Kernodle posted a 12-8 regular season record in singles and was 8-12 in doubles.