AUBURN HONORS TOP STUDENT-ATHLETES AT TIGER TORCH BANQUET

April 15, 2008

Auburn, Ala. -

The Auburn Athletic Department honored 176 student-athletes at the Tiger Torch Banquet at the Auburn Hotel and Conference Center Tuesday. In order to qualify for the banquet, student-athletes had to achieve a minimum 3.0 grade point average for the last academic year or for their career.

"We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of these student-athletes and congratulate them for their hard work and dedication," Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said. "Academic success is very important to us and this list of student-athletes is very impressive. They are a credit to this institution and athletic program."

Each of the student-athletes honored invited Auburn faculty members to the banquet who had a significant impact on their academic lives.

"This collection of student-athletes represents the tireless work of our student-athletes, professors and academic counselors who joined together with a common goal of academic excellence," Virgil Starks, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Student Services said. "Auburn University is committed to creating leadership qualities of intelligence, integrity and fairness in our scholar athletes through the classroom experiences and on the fields of competition. Each recipient should feel proud of their accomplishments as Tiger Torch honorees."

2007-08 ACADEMIC TOP TIGERS

BASEBALL (10): Paul Burnside, Evan Crawford, James Drinkard, Justin Hargett, Jon Jacobs, Benjamin Jones, Cory Luckie, Chezz McCann, Christopher O'Neil, Kevin Patterson

MEN'S BASKETBALL (3): Judson Brooks, Mills Riddick, Andrew Smith

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (4): Ruth Ketcham, Cassie Moore, Alexis Ogubie, Juanitta Wallace

EQUESTRIAN (18): Jennifer Barbero, Anne Boheler, Jessica Braswell, Elise Fraza, Shannon Hinton, Jennifer Jordan, Alexandra Loprete, Erin McMahon, Kylie Miller, Paige Monfore, Jennifer Reinhart, Rebecca Rifkin, Avery Sams, Courtney Schafer, Anna Schierholz, Kimberly Tidwell, Sarah Whitaker, Mary-Elsye Winchester

FOOTBALL (20): Cole Bennett, Jason Bosley, Neil Caudle, Richard Cherry, Wade Christopher, Jared Cooper, John Cubelic, Michael Gibson, Zachery Gilbert, Adam Herring, Morgan Hull, Charles Olatunji, Danny Perry, Ryan Pugh, Zachary Shaw, Carl Stewart, Joshua Thompson, Jackson Timmerman, Tommy Trott, Bailey Woods

MEN'S GOLF (7): Rosson Anderson, Nils Bjorling, Brent Cooper, Steven Groover, Cole Moreland, James Moseley, Glenn Northcutt

WOMEN'S GOLF (5): Karlin Beck, Lauren Hawkins, Mariana Macias, Margaret Shilrey, Sara Thead

GYMNASTICS (10): Lauren Brzostowski, Julie Dwyer, Kayla Gies, Aimee Goheen, Adrienne Mills, Karmen Pinckney, Lindsey Puckett, Claire Seiffert, Leah Vining, Kristina Voss

SOCCER (15): Monica Afanador, Carolyn Cohen, Stephanie Fransoso, Heather Havron, Kori Hoelscher, Rebecca Howell, Jennifer Johnson, Kara Kasten, Jenni Prescott, Addison Ragsdale, Summer Ragsdale, Samantha Towne, Kasey Warren, Jaime Wheeler, Allison Whitworth

SOFTBALL (10): Jorja Bell, Katie Colton, Lindsay Harrelson, Alicia Hunoit, Krista Klein, Megan Mitchell, Aurora Salter, Anna Thompson, Cassie Trosclair, Kyndall White,

MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING (16): Jordan Anderson, Cesar Cielo, William Dove, Caleb Dunnichay, Jonathan Hiett, George Klein, John Long, Robert Looney, Kelly Marx, Daniel Mazzaferro, Tyler McGill, Andrew Mitchell, Scott Morgan, Marshel Renz, John Snyder, Pascal Wollach

WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING (15): Margaret Bird, Katherine Caldwell, Kara Denby, Alana Dillette, Emile Ewing, Julie Golden, Chelsea Haser, Kristen Hastrup, Abigail MacGregor, Melissa Marik, Julianne McLane, Erica Meissner, Ava Ohlgren, Melanie Roberts, Josefin Wede

MEN'S TENNIS (5): Pawel Dilaj, Lukas Marsoun, Thomas Mills, Michel Monteiro, Alexey Tsyrenov

WOMEN'S TENNIS (4): Heather Bybee, Whitney Chappell, Dunja Djuranovic, Jil Hastenrath

MEN'S TRACK & FIELD (14): Jacob Dunkleberger, Mark Fleming, Stephen Fly, Charles Gaines, Raphael Keegan, Stephen Livingston, Cory Martin, Andrew Novack, Charles Oliver, Joseph Peake, Patrick Philbin, Benjamin Robinson, Gregory Rogers, David Wall

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD (13): Erika Akins, Cathryn Albright, Rebecca Bell, Katherine Childs, Madeleine Collins, Sabrina Fischer, Megan Karl, Holly Knight, Katalin Mate, Brittany Mattrella, Amy Shaffer, Katelyn Simpson, Danielle Threatt

VOLLEYBALL (7): Milena Bukinac, Nicole Gerig, Whitney Jacob, Lauren Mellor, Rachel Shanks, Sara Shanks, Kaitlin Simon