Football players Elliott Armstrong '94 and Mitch Rippy '80, volleyball player Priscilla Awkard '94 and women’s soccer player Amy Williamson '93 will be inducted into the Elon Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 10.
The induction ceremony will be at 1:30 p.m. in Whitley Auditorium. The four inductees will also be recognized later that day during a halftime ceremony of Elon’s football game between the Phoenix and Concord at Rhodes Stadium.
Armstrong lettered in football from 1990-93, earning three all-league honors and one team MVP accolade. A running back, Armstrong carried the ball 536 times in his career while gaining 3,015 yards and scoring 29 touchdowns on the ground. He also caught 15 passes for 171 yards while donning the maroon and gold. Armstrong returned kicks in three seasons, bringing back 11 kickoffs for 295 yards, including a 98-yarder for a score in a 1990 game against North Carolina Central. Armstrong currently ranks fifth in program history with his 3,015 rushing yards while his 3,015 career all-purpose yards sit 12th all-time at Elon. Also a three-time letter-winner in track, Armstrong qualified for the national meet in the 200-meter dash in 1993 with what was then a school-record time of 21.59 seconds.
A 1994 graduate of Elon, Armstrong resides in Gibsonville, N.C. where he is the executive director of Forest Heights Senior Living in Winston-Salem, N.C. Armstrong and his wife Catherine have one daughter, Victoria.
Awkard lettered from 1991-94 as a setter for the Elon volleyball squad. In that time the program compiled a 117-29 overall record and lost just five league games, going 30-5 in that span. Upon the completion of her career, Awkard held Elon’s career records for both assists (3,939) and assists per game (8.6), marks that still stand. Her 1,307 assists in 1993 also rank as a school record as do her 10.7 assists per game that same season. Her 62 aces in 1994 are sixth in a season in program history and helped her to her career total of 166 that is tied for third in the history of Elon volleyball. On Oct. 9, 1993, Awkard set an Elon record with 83 assists in a match against Presbyterian. Awkard was a three-time all-conference pick and was twice named to the league’s all-tournament squad.
A 1995 graduate of Elon, Awkard resides in Raleigh, N.C., where she is employed by Coastal Federal Credit Union.
Rippy was a three-year letter-winner for the Elon football team (1976-78) and was a second-team all-conference selection in 1977. Upon the completion of his career, Rippy held the Elon record for career PATs made with 102, a mark which continues to rate fourth in program history. Rippy booted a 48-yard field goal at Norfolk State in 1976, a mark that stood as the longest in school history until he bettered it with a 52-yarder against Gardner-Webb in 1977. That record has not yet been broken. Rippy’s 174 career points are currently tied for 14th all-time in Elon history, but ranked fifth at the end of his career in the maroon and gold. His 24 career field goals made are tied for fifth in program annals, but ranked second at the time of his graduation.
Rippy resides in Burlington, N.C. He founded Advanced Research Technology and currently serves the Elon football team as a volunteer assistant coach. He and his wife Lisa have two sons – Macon and Garrett.
Williamson lettered for the Elon women’s soccer team in 1992 and 1993, earning all-conference, all-tournament, All-NAIA South Region and All-America honors in both seasons. In 1992 Williamson also collected region and league tournament MVP accolades. She helped Elon to two league titles, one district crown, a regional championship and a 10th-place national ranking. In 43 career matches Williamson scored 35 goals and dished out 11 assists for 81 points. Her goal total still ranks fifth in program history while her 81 points rate seventh. In 1993 she scored 19 goals, tied for the second-most ever in women’s soccer action at Elon. Her 16 goals a year earlier rank in a tie for sixth on that chart. Williamson accounted for 40 points (seventh all-time at Elon) in 1992 and then amassed 41 points (sixth in program history) in 1993. She is one of just two Elon women’s soccer players to have multiple 40-point campaigns.
Williamson is married to Justin Harris and the couple resides in Richmond, Va. They have two children – Miles and Kaitlyn.