April 26, 2010
AUBURN - The Auburn Athletic Department honored a record 207 student-athletes at the Tiger Torch Banquet at the Auburn University Student Center Monday. 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 have a record number of Tiger Torch recipients this year, and we are extremely proud of them as they have once again proved to be successful in the classroom as well as in the athletic arena," said Jim Rost, Associate Athletic Director for Student Athlete Support Services. "This is a dedicated collection of student-athletes who are outstanding ambassadors for Auburn University. They have displayed hard work and dedication."
Each of the student-athletes honored invited Auburn faculty members to the banquet who had a significant impact on their academic lives.
"This has been a great academic year with a record number of Top Tigers posting a 3.0 GPA, and we are extremely proud of each one of these outstanding student-athletes," Athletic Director Jay Jacobs said. "We appreciate the Auburn University faculty as well as our Student Athlete Support Service staff for helping our student-athletes reach their full potential in the classroom. Of course, we are also proud to recognize swimmer Jordan Anderson, who was named a Rhodes Scholar and the top student-athlete in the Southeastern Conference academically, as well as gymnast Krissy Voss, the Brad Davis Community Service Leader of the Year for the SEC and Scholar-Athlete of the Year for gymnastics."
Special awards presented included the Virgil Starks III Passion Award, which went to co-winners gymnast Krissy Voss and swimmer Jordan Anderson for their outstanding work in academics, community service, team work and personal growth. The award was named in honor and memory of Starks, who was Senior Associate Athletic Director death until his death in November.
The male Scholar Athlete of the Year was Jager Livingston, track and field; and the female Scholar Athlete of the Year was Melissa Marik, swimming and diving. Women's tennis won the highest team GPA with a 3.24 and men's golf had a 3.11 GPA. The most improved individual GPA awards went to Mike Berry, football; Hunter Morris, baseball; Mallory Kolpin, equestrian; and Danielle Gilchrist, track and field.
The CHAMPS/Life Skills Community Service Award for the teams that had the best record of community service went to co-winners women's tennis and football. The equestrian team won the Life Skills Award.
2009-10 ACADEMIC TOP TIGERS
BASEBALL (14): Zach Blatt, Justin Hargett, Austin Hubbard, Michael Hurst, Jon Luke Jacobs, Stephen Kohlscheen, Cory Luckie, Casey McElroy, Hunter Morris, Trent Mummey, Christopher O'Neil, Kevin Patterson, Patrick Savage, Ryan Welke
MEN'S BASKETBALL (2): Robert Chubb, Joshua Wallace
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (4): Blanche Alverson, Alli Smalley, Morgan Toles, Pascale West
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY (6): Mark Fleming, Kasey Hayes, Elkanah Kibet, Scott Novack, Joseph Peake, Jeffery Sanders
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY (7): Cathryn Albright, Miriam Arusei, Kaci Blackstone, Holly Knight, Laurel Pritchard, Amber Riley, Allison Smith
EQUESTRIAN (25): Anna Becker, Coryn Bergenty, Katherine Breedlove, Mallory Campbell, Rachel Cooper, Casey Fowler, Jillian Fuller, Kelsey George, Lydia Hinshaw, Shannon Hinton, Shelley Kensler, Bailey Kleis, Mallory Kolpin, Andrea Loar, Alexandra Loprete, Margaret McAlary, Kylie Miller, Paige Monfore, Christine Orrison, Kimberly Pope, Jessica Remey, Lauren Rooney, Leslie Roper, Anna Schierholz, Grace Wilkins
FOOTBALL (25): Gabe Barrett, Mike Berry, Chris Brooks, Blake Burgess, Neil Caudle, Wade Christopher, Antonio Coleman, Jared Cooper, John Cubelic, Zac Etheridge, Joshua Harris, Morgan Hull, Charles Kasper, Jacob Kerby, Jacob Lembke, Philip Lutzenkirchen, Walter McFadden, Christopher Otersen, Ryan Pugh, Ashton Richardson, Chris Todd, Tommy Trott, Barrett Trotter, Derek Winter, Bailey Woods
MEN'S GOLF (7): Rosson Anderson, Blayne Barber, Kyle Kopsick, Will McCurdy, Glenn Northcutt, John Stembridge, David Zickler
WOMEN'S GOLF (3): Karlin Beck, Madison Overbey, Patricia Sanz
GYMNASTICS (8): Lauren Brzostowski, Laura Lane, Kelsie Montgomery, Kylie Shields, Kendall Swartz, Leah Vining, Kristina Voss, Petrina Yokay
SOCCER (16): Monica Afanador, Maddie Barnes, Mary Coffed, Stephanie Fransoso, Mary Frierson, Heather Havron, Amy Howard, Rebecca Howell, Julie King, Mary Nicholson, Jenni Prescott, Addison Ragsdale, Jessica Rightmer, Christine Schweer, Lydia Townsend, Jessica Wolfe
SOFTBALL (11): Kelsey Cartwright, Katie Colton, Janelle Green, Lindsey Harrelson, Amber Harrison, Jenee Loree, Holly Ragsdale, Aurora Salter, Baylee Stephens, Anna Thompson, Liana Wuchte
MEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING (19): Jordan Anderson, Anthony Cox, William Dove, Stuart Ferguson, Adam Godzinski, Samuel Kiefer, George Klein, Christopher Kramer, Gideon Louw, Kelly Marx, Dan Mazzaferro, Tyler McGill, Andrew Mitchell, Scott Morgan, Kyle Owens, Genaro Prono, Evan Rutherford, Brandon Siemasko, Pascal Wollach
WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING (19): Anna Aguero, Maggie Bird, Vanessa Dantin, Emile Ewing, Darcy Fishback, Stephanie Horner, Laura Johnson, Rebecca Jones, Micah Lawrence, Abigail MacGregor, Melissa Marik, Julianne McLane, Erica Meissner, Lauren Norberg, Lindsey Norberg, Ava Ohlgren, Melanie Roberts, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Jennifer Von Jouanne
MEN'S TENNIS (6): Milan Krnjetin, Powell Porter, Tim Puetz, Aleksandar Stamchev, Davis Taylor, Michael Wardell
WOMEN'S TENNIS (9): Heather Bybee, Whitney Chappell, Fani Chifchieva, Dunja Djuranovic, Alexandra Haney, Jil Hastenrath, Paulina Schippers, Daniela Vukadinovic, Pascale West
MEN'S TRACK & FIELD (11): Gerard Brown, Milan Dekich, Ryan Fleck, Stephen Fly, Charles Gaines, Nicholas Green, Raphael Keegan, Tyler Kennedy, Jager Livingston, Benjamin Robinson, Stephen Saenz
WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD (7): Erika Akins, Danielle Gilchrist, Megan Hill, Brittany Mattrella, Latoya Parkinson, Maya Pressley, Shaquela Williams
VOLLEYBALL (8): Elizabeth Crouch, Katherine Culwell, MacKenzy Harper, Morgan Johns, Lauren Mellor, Sara Shanks, Christina Solverson, Jonelle Wallace