Portfolio
Reporting
It was Elon men’s soccer redshirt junior Ryan Manna’s sophomore year, and the team had recently played the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The following day, the team had a light training session, and that’s when he heard it. Manna’s teammate went in for a tackle, but rather than acquiring the ball, he hit Manna’s knee, and Manna heard the all-too-familiar pop. Manna had torn his ACL, forcing him to undergo his third major knee surgery in his soccer career. It took a year for Manna to fully recover, and the rehab process took a mental toll on him. Manna said it’s just a different feeling when you are on the sideline, standing there, uninvolved...
Photo courtesy of Elon Athletics
After going almost two decades without carrying out executions, North Carolina is inching toward a return to the death penalty with the passage of HB 307, a new criminal justice law, in the North Carolina General Assembly.
“Iryna’s Law,” signed into law Oct. 3, eliminates cashless bail in some circumstances, establishes a new mental health evaluation protocol and restricts pretrial conditions for the release of violent offenders. But it also contains an amendment from Senate leader Phil Berger that would direct the state to find another form of execution if lethal injection — currently the state’s method of execution — is found to be unconstitutional or not available. The state would have to choose a method adopted by another state, such as the use of a firing squad.
Photo by Reagan Sizemore
Shiny golden confetti, a water jug poured over head coach Elizabeth Anderson, grins from ear to ear, dancing and an exclamation of disbelief. “I can’t believe I’m actually holding this,” senior Miray Konar screamed as she held the Coastal Athletic Association Championship trophy. Those were the scenes at Jimmy Powell Tennis center in the early afternoon April 27. Elon women’s tennis made history, winning its first CAA Championship in program history by beating William & Mary 4-2 in a thrilling affair that came down to the wire. After the win, sophomore Simone Bergeron said that it felt like a dream. “It still hasn't quite hit me that we just won conference,” Bergeron said. “It’s unreal, it’s actually crazy. We've worked for years and this season has been like a roller coaster of wins and losses, and we've worked so hard, we've conditioned harder than we ever had before, and it paid off in the end.”
Photo by Miles Hayford
Some books in Alamance County libraries may be marked with a bright, yellow sticker in the near future as the Alamance County Commissioners approved a content warning labeling policy. These “parental guidance” stickers, which were approved April 21, will only apply to a book if a patron fills out a form, expressing their reasoning for why it isn’t fit for young readers. From there, a board of high-ranking library staff members will review the patron’s request based on criteria such as sexually explicit content, depictions of substance abuse, references to suicide, underage drinking, graphic violence and profanity. This committee will be made up of the Library Management Team and the Racial Equity Team. The committee will make the final decision on whether the book receives the sticker or not.
Photo by Ethan Wu
When Elon University men’s basketball head coach Billy Taylor arrived at Purcell Pavilion for the team’s Nov. 22 matchup against Notre Dame, he led the team through the back garage door — walking through the tunnel like all visiting teams do when they come to play the Fighting Irish. But as Taylor walked through the tunnel, he noticed his old locker room on his right — the locker room that had held his jersey, shoes and all the gear he needed for the four years he spent playing for the Irish in the 1990s. As Taylor stepped onto the familiar court, he took care to notice the features that had been added since 1995. As he spied the chair-back seating, the jumbotron and the new floor, he reflected on how far Notre Dame’s program has come since he was a team captain 30 years ago...
Photo courtesy of Elon Athletics
As North Carolina continues to recover from Hurricane Helene and now responds to the 2025 hurricane season, federal aid has become a point of contention between federal and state officials. With storms such as Tropical Storm Chantal and Hurricane Erin bringing further damage to the state, Gov. Josh Stein has demanded more federal disaster relief. North Carolina has struggled to get the funding it wants from the federal government in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in 2024.
Photo by Ethan Wu
RALEIGH - As of 8:56 p.m., AP News has called North Carolina’s governor race in favor of Democratic candidate and Attorney General Josh Stein. With 23% of the votes counted, Stein has a 52.7% lead. Robinson has 42.6% of the vote. After the results came in, Gov. Roy Cooper introduced Stein onto the main stage. Stein began by thanking his supporters. As he walked onto the stage, the crowd erupted into applause and its energy reverberated across the room. “Tonight, the people of North Carolina resoundingly embraced a vision that’s optimistic, forward-looking and welcoming,” Stein said during the event. “A vision that’s about creating opportunities for every North Carolinian. We chose hope over hate. Competence over chaos. Decency over division. That’s who we are as North Carolinians...”
Photo by Miles Hayford
It’s been 13 months since sports betting was legalized in North Carolina, and the inaugural year was a success for the state and betting operators but led to an increase in gambling addiction. A total of $6.6 billion in bets were placed in the first year, with players winning more than $5.85 billion. The eight authorized sports betting operators — Underdog Sports Wagering, BETMGM, ESPN Bet, Draft Kings, bet365, Fanatics Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook and Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise — made more than $713 million in the first year and the state received $128 million in tax revenue. The 2025 NCAA Tournament allowed North Carolina to see record numbers in bets as North Carolinans enjoyed their first full March as legalized sports bettors.
Photo by Miles Hayford
Photo by Erin Martin
Five months after the election, North Carolinians are still talking about who might win in the race for the highest state court. North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat, was elected in November 2024, but her seat is still being contested by her opponent in the 2024 election, Republican Jefferson Griffin, after Riggs won by 734 votes after two recounts. Griffin challenged the ballots in November and claimed that 65,782 ballots should not be included in the election results because they failed to follow state law. This is the only statewide race from the November 2024 election that remains uncertified.
North Carolina lawmakers overrode Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act with the power of the Republican supermajority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The new law went into effect at the start of the academic year and bans “students of the male sex” from playing on all “athletic teams designated for females, women or girls.” This includes teams at the middle school, high school, intramural and collegiate level...
Photo by Erin Martin
Photo by Erin Martin
Photo by Erin Martin
Multimedia
Elon University defeats William & Mary 2-1
This is a package I did for Elon News Network's weekly live show, ENN Tonight. I covered the Elon men's soccer team's 2-1 victory over William & Mary on Oct. 5.
Price of play: Impact of injury on Elon University athletes
This is a package I did for Elon News Network's weekly live show, ENN Tonight. I converted my story for the Pendulum listed above into a video package.
NC state budget impasse stand-up
This is a stand-up in studio where I explained the state budget impasse in North Carolina.
Exclusive interview with Wes Durham
This is a one-on-one interview I conducted with ESPN commentator and Elon University's 2025 commencement speaker Wes Durham.
2026 Senate race explainer video
This is one episode of an explainer journalism series on my reporter Instagram page where I explain certain North Carolina political issues. Here I discuss the 2026 senate race between Michael Whatley and Roy Cooper.
Print/Design
Spring Sports Preview
During my time as Sports Editor at Elon News Network, I oversaw the creation of the Pendulum's special Fall Sports Preview edition. I helped plan and outline the edition, helped coordinate visuals, assign stories, wrote some stories, and gave input on the design of the issue. The preview contained nine stories and eleven pages of content, including season previews, features, and schedules.
Fall Sports Preview
During my time as Sports Editor at Elon News Network, I oversaw the creation of the Pendulum's special Fall Sports Preview edition. I helped plan the edition months in advance, helped coordinate visuals, assign stories, wrote some stories, and gave input on the design of the issue. The preview contained nine stories and eight pages of content, including season previews, features, and schedules.
Municipal Elections Voter Guide
During my time as Politics Editor at Elon News Network, I oversaw the creation of the Pendulum's Municipal Elections voter guide. This include profiles on and information on all of the municipal races across the county, along with voting information. I helped plan the edition months in advance, helped coordinate visuals, assign stories, wrote some stories, and designed some of the pages. The preview contained 25 profiles across 12 races.
Pages I've Designed
Pages I've Designed
Photography
