This year's Tiger Torch Banquet honored 171 Auburn athletes with outstanding academics by giving them the Top Tiger Award. Among those, special awards were given to student athletes who displayed exceptional character.
A.J. Mills, senior gymnast in Marketing, received the first Virgil Starks III Passion Award given in honor of the Senior Associate Athletic Director who passed away last fall.
In addition to being an outstanding student, Mills served as the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has been involved on campus as well as in the Auburn community.
"It's something I couldn't fathom," Mills said. "From the moment I stepped on campus for Camp War Eagle, [Starks] made me feel at home."
Mills knew Starks' family because of their involvement with the Auburn Athletic Department and through the Big Sis/Lil Sis program which his daughters, Victoria and Anna, were involved with.
Despite Starks' reliable involvement in the lives of Auburn athletes, Mills said family came before students.
"In everything he always put God first," Mills said.
Benjamin Jones, a senior in Mechanical Engineering, was named male Scholar Athlete of the Year.
He is a member of the baseball team who received the Most Improved Community Service Award.
"We did a bunch of stuff as a team," said Jones when asked what was different about this year.
The baseball team participated in the "Strike Out Cancer Run," a 5k race hosted by the Auburn University Diamond Dolls to honor Auburn baseball coach John Pawlowski's daughter who is fighting childhood cancer.
The team also visited the Children's Hospital of Alabama before playing Samford last March.
At this year's Tiger Torch Banquet, Auburn athletes with a varsity letter and a 3.4 cumulative GPA could be inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, a National College Athlete Honor Society.
Monica Afanador, junior soccer player majoring in Public Relations, is among those inducted.
With a 3.58 cumulative GPA, she says grades have always been just as important to her as soccer.
"Being an Auburn athlete is more than just playing well on the field. It means being disciplined in the classroom and having good character as well. No one can deny that being a collegiate athlete is time-consuming, but my coaches and teachers have taught me to manage my time well," Afanador said.
The Auburn student athletes were encouraged to invite a professor who has been influential in their academic careers and who has encouraged them to succeed. Afanador invited Julie Gregory, a public relations professor.
"Mrs. Gregory really supports the athletic program and I always felt like she made sure I was doing my best," Afanador said.
According to the Official Web site of Auburn Athletics, among the Auburn athletic teams represented at the Tiger Torch Banquet were Baseball with nine Tiger Torch Award recipients, Men's Basketball with one, Equestrian with 15, Football with 20, Men's Golf with seven, Women's Golf with seven, Gymnastics with 12, Soccer with 16, Softball with 10, Men's Swimming and Diving with 13, Woman's Swimming and Diving with 19, Men's Tennis with four, Woman's Tennis with seven, Men's Track and Field with 18, Woman's Track and Field with eight and Volleyball with five.
The banquet was held on April 29 in the Auburn University Student Center.
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