AUBURN, Ala. – Returning to Neville Arena after two years of virtual presentation, Auburn's 12^th annual AUSPY Awards honored student-athletes for excellence and inspiration Monday in an orange-carpet gala.

Gymnast Sunisa Lee and men's basketball's Walker Kessler won Athlete of the Year honors, selected by a vote of student-athletes and Auburn Athletics staff.

Lee won the NCAA beam championship and helped lead the Tigers to the program's first Final Four appearance, while Kessler helped lead Auburn to an outright SEC regular season championship, earning conference and national defensive player of the year honors.

"It means the world to me to win this honor," said Lee, who enrolled at Auburn after winning three Olympic medals in Tokyo last summer, including gold in the all-around. "Every single one of my teammates deserve this. I'm really proud, and we did the best we could.

"My first year at Auburn has been more than amazing. The crowd has been amazing, my teammates are incredible. I love Auburn. I love everything about it. To have this award is so exciting."

Kessler's teammate, Jabari Smith, was selected as Newcomer of the Year, along with softball's Shelby Lowe, whose 179 strikeouts in 2021 led all SEC true freshman.

Four programs shared Team of the Year honors, with women's golf, men's basketball and equestrian all recognized for their SEC championships, while gymnastics was honored for reaching the NCAA Championship finals.

Georgie Axon from women's tennis and football's Brodarious Hamm received the Inspiration Award.

Soccer's M.E. Craven and men's golf's Graysen Huff received the Sportsmanship Award.

Track and field's Joyce Kimeli and football's Jacob Quattlebaum received the Starks Passion Award for displaying exceptional spirit and character.

Gymnast Allie Riddle and track and field's Dontavious Hill earned the Athletic Director's Spirit of Auburn Award for giving unselfishly of their time and talents for the betterment of their teams. 

Soccer and men's cross country sported the highest grade-point average in spring 2021 while men's tennis and women's swimming and diving shared GPA honors in fall 2021.

Distance runner Hannah Tarwater and baseball's Josh Hall earned Scholar-Athlete awards.

Softball's Samantha Yarbrough took home the SASS Academic Achievement Award.

A total of 172 student-athletes earned recognition on the AD Honor Roll.

Four events in an eight-day span combined to win the War Eagle Moment Award.

"The Week," as Voice of the Auburn Tigers Andy Burcham narrated it, began Jan. 22 with men's basketball's 80-71 victory vs. Kentucky, a win that earned Auburn the No. 1 ranking in the AP poll for the first time in program history.

Four days later, women's basketball earned a 71-61 win over No. 4 Tennessee, Auburn's first victory over a top-five opponent in 25 years.

Twenty-four hours later, in a top 10 gymnastics showdown at Neville Arena, Lee won the all-around and Derrian Gobourne put the exclamation point on a memorable night with a crowd-pleasing floor routine to lead Auburn over Alabama.

"The Week" ended like it began, with a men's basketball victory - Auburn's 17^th straight - 86-68 over Oklahoma in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

In an award determined by student-athletes votes during the AUSPYs, gymnast Drew Watson and swimming and diving's Grady Wheeler were chosen as the Best Dressed attendees.

Former Auburn track and field standout Ty Akins, the 2007 NCAA outdoor hurdles champion, served as AUSPYs host.

Ain't no drip like the AUSPYs drip 💎#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/6duXcnq044

— Auburn Track & Field (@AuburnTFXC) April 25, 2022

📸 Views from the Orange Carpet. #WarEagle | #AUSPYS pic.twitter.com/EZboGCI1XA

— Auburn Tigers (@AuburnTigers) April 26, 2022

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer