AU ROUNDUP: Northcutt, Mills honored

Golfer Glenn Northcutt and gymnast A.J. Mills have been selected to receive the highest awards an Auburn student-athlete can receive, the Cliff Hare Award and the Leah Rawls Atkins Award.

Northcutt and Mills will receive their awards during halftime ceremonies at Saturday’s football game against Furman. Northcutt will receive the Cliff Hare Award and Mills the Leah Rawls Atkins Award.

Both awards are given annually to senior student-athletes “who, in addition to athletic and scholarship achievement, exhibit in great degree the qualities of leadership, integrity and courage.“

The Cliff Hare Award is given in memory of Clifford Leroy Hare, a member of Auburn’s first football team, professor of chemistry, president of the Southern Conference and longtime chairman of Auburn’s Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics.

The Leah Rawls Atkins Award is presented in honor of Dr. Leah Rawls Atkins, noted Alabama historian, world champion water skier and the first woman in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. She also served as Director of the Auburn University Center for the Arts and Humanities.

Both awards are presented in the Auburn belief that “athletics make men strong, study makes men wise, and character makes men great.”

Northcutt is the second consecutive men’s golfer to win the Cliff Hare Award, as Jay Moseley was the 2008 recipient. Mills, meanwhile, is the fourth gymnast to win the prestigious honor, and first since Sally Lynn Cantrell in 2002.

“We congratulate Glenn and A.J. for their accomplishments at Auburn, not only in athletic competition, but in the classroom and in the community,” said Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs. “Both have left an indelible mark as student-athletes and their contributions to society will stretch far beyond their experiences at Auburn. They embody what every Auburn student-athlete should strive to achieve.”

A four-time letterman, Northcutt was an All-Southeastern Conference performer in 2007 and 2008, and finished his career with a 73.18 scoring average, the eighth best in school history. Northcutt posted 13 top-10 finishes during at Auburn and carded 38 sub-par rounds.

A native of Dothan, Northcutt is a four-time Academic All-SEC recipient, a 2009 SEC Community Service team member and a two-time Golf Coaches Association of America All-America scholar.

Northcutt is a 2009 Omicron Delta Kappa inductee, Golden Key International Honor Society member and two-time member of Chi Alpha Simga National College Athlete Honor Society.

Northcutt, who carries a 3.51 grade point average, is scheduled to graduate in May 2010 with a degree in Business (marketing).

A four-year letterwinner, Mills recorded 31 event victories during her career, including 14 as a senior. Mills was ranked as high as 10th nationally in the all-around during her senior season and as a junior finished fifth in the all-around at the NCAA Northeast Regionals.

She was the 2009 recipient of “The Rock” award, given annually to the most consistent Auburn gymnast.

The Floyds Knobs, Ind., native, was a four-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and Auburn Athletics Top Tiger recipient. Twice named an academic All-American, Mills was also a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

A three-time SEC Good Works Team recipient for her civic involvement, Mills was very active in the community, participating in over 50 events during her Auburn career. Mills was a staple in the Auburn Student Athlete Advisory Committee, serving as the secretary, vice-president and president. She was also an instrumental force in the development of Auburn PRIDE, a sportsmanship initiative created by SAAC two years ago.

A marketing major, Mills has a 3.21 cumulative grade point average and is on track to graduate in May 2010. She plans to attend graduate school at Auburn in Fall 2010.

Clanton named SEC Golfer of the Week
Auburn junior Cydney Clanton has been named the Southeastern Conference Women’s Golfer of the Week, league officials announced on Thursday.

Clanton is the only golfer in the SEC to hold the honor this season as she has swept the first two.

Clanton, a native of Concord, N.C., is currently ranked second in the nation by Golfweek and has led Auburn in all four of its tournaments this season, compiling a 70.10 stroke average. The Tigers are ranked No. 3 in the latest Golfweek standings and No. 4 in the Oct. 28 Golf World/NGCA Women’s Top-25 Coaches’ poll.

Clanton wrapped up the fall season Oct. 23-25 by winning the individual title at the NCAA Fall Preview at the Country Club at Landfall in Wilmington, N.C. Playing in an 18-team field that included 17 ranked teams, nine of which were in the top 10, Clanton carded 70s in each of the three rounds to finish at 6-under-par 210. She also led the team to a tie for second in the top-ranked field.

The victory was the second for the season for Clanton as she also won medalist honors at the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship. She also finished in the top five of all four of Auburn’s fall tournaments.

The SEC Golfer of the Week honor is her second of the season after winning it on Oct. 21. She was also named the Golfweek National Golfer of the Week on Oct. 26.

The Tigers will break for the winter and resume their season Feb. 22-23, 2010 at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational.

Women’s hoops hosts dean’s luncheon
Six-year head coach Nell Fortner and members of the Auburn Athletics Department welcomed Auburn University’s deans on Thursday afternoon for a special luncheon as part of a unique partnership between the women’s basketball team and the University deans.

The Auburn women’s team implemented a partnership with the dean’s from the colleges and schools on campus three seasons ago and will once again host the special program during the 2009-10 season, this time with an extra twist.

The different schools will compete for an $3,000 donation to their student scholarship fund with the school with the highest percentage of tickets scanned at the gate earning the award.

“We have had such great success from this program over the past few years that it is nice to be able to give something back to them for all their support,” said Fortner. “It is also a lot of fun to make this a competition of sorts and see what kind of crowds we can come out with this year after such a great season last year.”

At the games, a representative from one of Auburn’s schools or colleges department will serve as a guest coach and will be on the bench at the beginning of the game. In addition, the guest coach will be allowed to join the team in the locker room for the pre-game festivities.

“It is nice to see the level of excitement from the deans going into the fourth year of this program,” said Fortner. “This program is a great opportunity for the colleges and departments to do something special for their families and employees. We appreciate what they do every day and the support they give the team and this is just a little something special we can do for them.

The athletics department will provide each dean a block of tickets for the home games and the departments will be recognized on the video board during the game.

The Dean’s Challenge is coming off a record-breaking year in which it saw a 127 percent increase in average attendance from the 2007-08 season. In all, more than 2,100 faculty and staff members from the various schools and colleges on campus participated in the event.

The Tigers are set to open their season with an exhibition game against Georgia State College and University at 2 p.m. Sunday at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum. The regular season is slated to open on Nov. 13 as the Tigers take on in-state rival Troy at 6 p.m.

Chifchieva falls in 1st round at ITA tourney
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Auburn women’s tennis player Fani Chifchieva lost her first round matchup to No. 2 seeded Irina Falconi of Georgia Tech at the ITA National Indoor Championships on Thursday.

After dropping the first set 6-0 Falconi, the three-time All-American and 2009 ITA Southern Regional Champion held a 3-0 advantage in the second set. However, Falconi rallied to send the second-set into a tie-break that Chifchieva dropped 7-3 to fall into the consolation bracket.

“Fani played a very tough opponent today and after an extremely slow start, got it going,” said head coach Tim Gray of Chifchieva’s match. “She didn’t finish the job in the second set after going up 3-0, and at this level, if you don’t finish the job, these players are so good that they will come storming back and that’s exactly what happened today.“

With consolation matches guaranteed to players that lost their first round match, Chifchieva will play her next match on Friday afternoon.

Following complete results of Thursday’s matches, the Auburn senior will learn her opponent for today’s match.

Volleyball hits the road again on weekend
The Auburn volleyball team takes to the road and travels to South Carolina and Florida for a pair of SEC weekend matches.

The Tigers face the Gamecocks today at 6 p.m. and will take on No. 9/11 Florida on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

Auburn’s match against the Gators will be televised by SportsSouth.

“South Carolina is a team that we match up evenly with,” head coach Wade Benson said. “It will be anybody’s win and we’re ready to have a great match against them.”

“We want to go into Florida and play our very best volleyball,” Benson added. “We’re excited for another opportunity to play against a top-ranked team and will use it to see where we stand this late in the season.”

Auburn dropped two SEC matches this past week, falling to 14-10 overall and 6-7 in conference play.

Entering the weekend, the Tigers remain in the Top 5 in a handful of conference statistics categories. The Tigers are fourth in the SEC in hitting percentage, having a .234 attack percentage. The team has 1099 kills on 2851 attempts. Auburn is also fifth in overall kills, having a 13.08 kills per set average.

With help from team leaders Katherine Culwell and Liz Crouch, Auburn is fifth in service aces per set with 1.18. Katherine Culwell is ninth overall in the SEC with a 0.29 average and a team-best 24 aces.

Auburn setters rank fifth with a 12.39 assist per set average. Leading the way is sophomore Christina Solverson, averaging 5.43 assists per set.

Other top 10 leaders in the conference are juniors Alyssa Davis and Liz Crouch. Davis is sixth overall in attack percentage, recording a .325 hitting percentage with 124 kills on 283 attacks and just 32 errors.

Crouch is seventh in digs with a 4.04 dig per set average.

The Gamecocks enter the weekend with a 12-11 overall record and a 4-10 mark in the SEC. South Carolina is coming off a pair of conference losses, being swept at Mississippi State and falling, 3-1, to Alabama last weekend.

The Gators are currently ranked No. 9/11 in the country and sit at 18-3 overall and 12-2 in the SEC. The squad picked up a pair of sweeps last weekend on the road, defeating both Alabama and Mississippi State in three sets.

Florida traveled to Auburn on Oct. 16 and came away with a 3-0 win. Freshman Sarah Bullock finished with a team-high 10 kills and 11 digs, while junior Morgan Johns added nine kills.

The Tigers rebounded from the loss to Florida with a 3-1 win over South Carolina on Oct. 18. Katherine Culwell and Kelly Fidero each finished with 18 kills on the day, while Bullock finished with 10 kills. Culwell had a team-best 12 digs and Alyssa Davis tallied a match-high seven blocks.